Tehillim 107:27

27 They reeled and staggered like a shikkor, and were at their wit’s end.

Tehillim 107:27 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 107:27

They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man
Through the agitation of the water, and motion of the ship, not being able to stand upon deck.

And are at their wit's end;
or, "all their wisdom is swallowed up" ^F14; their wisdom in naval affairs, their art of navigation, their skill in managing ships, all nonplussed and baffled; they know not what method to take to save the vessel and themselves; their knowledge fails them, they are quite confounded and almost distracted. So Apollinarius paraphrases it,

``they forget navigation, and their wise art does not appear;''

so Ovid, describing a storm, uses the same phrase, "deficit ars",

``art fails.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 (elbtt Mtmkx lk) "omnis sapientia eorum absorpta est", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; so Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Tehillim 107:27 In-Context

25 For He commandeth, and raiseth up a ruach sa’arah (stormy wind), which lifteth up the galim (waves) thereof.

26 They [the galim] mount up to Shomayim, they went down again to the tehomot (depths); their nefesh melted in ra’ah (peril, trouble).

27 They reeled and staggered like a shikkor, and were at their wit’s end.

28 Then they cried unto Hashem in their tzoros, and He brought them out of their distresses.

29 He made the sa’arah (storm) a calm, so that the galim (waves) thereof were still [Mk 4:41].