Psalm 107:27

27 You were spun like a top, you reeled like a drunk, you didn't know which end was up.

Psalm 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.

Psalm 107:27 In-Context

25 With a word he called up the wind - an ocean storm, towering waves!

26 You shot high in the sky, then the bottom dropped out; your hearts were stuck in your throats.

27 You were spun like a top, you reeled like a drunk, you didn't know which end was up.

28 Then you called out to God in your desperate condition; he got you out in the nick of time.

29 He quieted the wind down to a whisper, put a muzzle on all the big waves.