Passage

Psalms 56.8

Book: Psalms · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

6. They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, They mark my steps, Even as they have waited for my soul. 7. Shall they escape by iniquity? In anger cast down the peoples, O God.

8. Thou numberest my wanderings: Put thou my tears into thy bottle; Are they not in thy book?

Then shall mine enemies turn back in the day that I call: This I know, that God is for me. 10. In God (I will praise his word), In Jehovah (I will praise his word), (Psalms 56:6-10, ASV)

WEB

6. They conspire and lurk, watching my steps, they are eager to take my life. 7. Shall they escape by iniquity? In anger cast down the peoples, God.

8. You count my wanderings. You put my tears into your bottle. Aren’t they in your book?

Then my enemies shall turn back in the day that I call. I know this, that God is for me. 10. In God, I will praise his word. In Yahweh, I will praise his word. (Psalms 56:6-10, WEB)

KJV

6. They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul. 7. Shall they escape by iniquity? in thine anger cast down the people, O God.

8. Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?

When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me. 10. In God will I praise his word: in the LORD will I praise his word. (Psalms 56:6-10, KJV)

YLT

6. They assemble, they hide, they watch my heels, When they have expected my soul. 7. By iniquity they escape, In anger the peoples put down, O God.

8. My wandering Thou hast counted, Thou, place Thou my tear in Thy bottle, Are they not in Thy book?

Then turn back do mine enemies in the day I call. This I have known, that God [is] for me. 10. In God I praise the word, In Jehovah I praise the word. (Psalms 56:6-10, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: the psalmist; the superscription assigns the psalm to David
Audience: God, addressed directly in prayer
Location: the sanctuary and its liturgy, rather than a narrative setting
Time period: the monarchy or later; individual psalms are difficult to date and the Psalter was compiled over centuries

Theological reading

You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?

Three images of divine attention in one verse, and their common feature is inventory. Wandering counted, tears collected, everything recorded.

The bottle is a small skin flask, and the image is of something kept rather than something measured. The point is not quantity but preservation: grief is not lost.

The superscription attaches the psalm to the time when the Philistines seized David at Gath, which the tradition connects to the episode where he feigned madness. Whether or not the notice is original, the psalm's setting is fear, and its argument is that being frightened and being known are compatible. Verse 3 says plainly, when I am afraid I put my trust in you, which does not claim the fear went away.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

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Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Argument from the Universal Tear-Hierarchy Convergence

Notes

Your annotations.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.