Psalms 42:4

Bible in Basic English (1941)

Let my soul be overflowing with grief when these things come back to my mind, how I went in company to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with the song of those who were keeping the feast.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

הָֽיְתָה־לִּ֬י דִמְעָתִ֣י לֶ֭חֶם יוֹמָ֣ם וָלָ֑יְלָה בֶּאֱמֹ֥ר אֵלַ֥י כָּל־הַ֝יּ֗וֹם אַיֵּ֥ה אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃

Transliteration

hāyətâ-to-me dimʿātî leḥem yômām wā-lāylâ in-ʾĕmōr to-me all-the-yôm where ʾĕlōheykā

Grammar Details

• *hāyətâ*: verb, qal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular - 'has been'
• *dimʿātî*: noun, feminine singular with 1st person singular possessive suffix - 'my tear/tears'
• *leḥem*: noun, masculine singular - 'bread/food'
• *yômām*: adverb - 'by day/daily'
• *wā*: conjunction with prefixed vav - 'and'
• *lāylâ*: noun, masculine singular - 'night'
• *ʾĕmōr*: infinitive construct with prefixed bet - 'in the saying/when it is said'
• *yôm*: noun, masculine singular with definite article - 'the day'
• *ʾĕlōheykā*: noun, masculine plural with 2nd person masculine singular possessive suffix - 'your God'

Word Meanings

• *hāyətâ*: has been/became
• *dimʿātî*: my tear/my tears (collective singular)
• *leḥem*: bread/food/sustenance
• *ʾĕlōheykā*: your God/your gods

Referenced Verses

• Isa 30:29 : 29 You will have a song, as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and you will be glad in heart, as when they go with music of the pipe to the mountain of the Lord, the Rock of Israel.
• Ps 62:8 : 8 Have faith in him at all times, you people; let your hearts go flowing out before him: God is our safe place. (Selah.)
• Ps 122:1 : 1 <A Song of the going up. Of David.> I was glad because they said to me, We will go into the house of the Lord.
• Ps 81:1-3 : 1 <To the chief music-maker; put to the Gittith. Of Asaph.> Make a song to God our strength: make a glad cry to the God of Jacob. 2 Take up the melody, playing on an instrument of music, even on corded instruments. 3 Let the horn be sounded in the time of the new moon, at the full moon, on our holy feast-day:
• Ps 100:4 : 4 Come into his doors with joy, and into his house with praise; give him honour, blessing his name.
• Lam 2:19 : 19 Up! give cries in the night, at the starting of the night-watches; let your heart be flowing out like water before the face of the Lord, lifting up your hands to him for the life of your young children who are falling down, feeble for need of food, at the top of every street.
• Lam 4:1 : 1 How dark has the gold become! how changed the best gold! the stones of the holy place are dropping out at the top of every street.
• Luke 16:25 : 25 But Abraham said, Keep in mind, my son, that when you were living, you had your good things, while Lazarus had evil things: but now, he is comforted and you are in pain.
• Deut 16:11 : 11 Then you are to be glad before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your man-servant and your woman-servant, and the Levite who is with you, and the man from a strange country, and the child without a father, and the widow, who are living among you, in the place marked out by the Lord your God as a resting-place for his name.
• Deut 16:14-15 : 14 You are to keep the feast with joy, you and your son and your daughter, your man-servant and your woman-servant, and the Levite, and the man from a strange country, and the child without a father, and the widow, who are living among you. 15 Keep the feast to the Lord your God for seven days, in the place marked out by the Lord: because the blessing of the Lord your God will be on all the produce of your land and all the work of your hands, and you will have nothing but joy.
• Ruth 1:21 : 21 I went out full, and the Lord has sent me back again with nothing; why do you give me the name Naomi, seeing that the Lord has given witness against me, and the Ruler of all has sent sorrow on me?
• 1 Sam 1:15-16 : 15 And Hannah, answering him, said, No, my lord, I am a woman whose spirit is broken with sorrow: I have not taken wine or strong drink, but I have been opening my heart before the Lord. 16 Do not take your servant to be a good-for-nothing woman: for my words have come from my stored-up sorrow and pain.
• 1 Chr 15:15-28 : 15 And the sons of the Levites took up the ark of God, lifting it by its rods, as the Lord had said to Moses. 16 And David gave orders to the chief of the Levites to put their brothers the music-makers in position, with instruments of music, corded instruments and brass, with glad voices making sounds of joy. 17 So Heman, the son of Joel, and, of his brothers, Asaph, the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brothers, Ethan, the son of Kushaiah, were put in position by the Levites; 18 And with them their brothers of the second order, Zechariah, Bani and Jaaziel and Shemiramoth and Jehiel and Unni, Eliab and Benaiah and Maaseiah and Mattithiah and Eliphelehu and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom and Jeiel, the door-keepers. 19 So those who made melody, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were put in position, with brass instruments, sounding loudly; 20 And Zechariah and Aziel and Shemiramoth and Jehiel, Unni and Eliab and Maaseiah and Benaiah, with corded instruments put to Alamoth. 21 And Mattithiah and Eliphelehu and Mikneiah and Obed-edom and Jeiel and Azaziah, with corded instruments on the octave, to give the first note of the song. 22 And Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was master of the music: he gave directions about the song, because he was expert. 23 And Berechiah and Elkanah were door-keepers for the ark. 24 And Shebaniah and Joshaphat and Nethanel and Amasai and Zechariah and Benaiah and Eliezer, the priests, made music on the horns before the ark of God; and Obed-edom and Jehiah were door-keepers for the ark. 25 So David, and the responsible men of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went with joy to get the ark of the agreement of the Lord out of the house of Obed-edom. 26 And when God gave help to the Levites who were lifting up the ark of the agreement of the Lord, they made an offering of seven oxen and seven sheep. 27 And David was clothed with a robe of fair linen, as were all the Levites who took up the ark, and those who made melody, and Chenaniah the master of those who made melody; and David had on a linen ephod; 28 So all Israel took up the ark of the agreement of the Lord, with loud cries and with horns and brass and corded instruments sounding loudly.
• 1 Chr 16:1-9 : 1 Then they took in the ark of God and put it inside the tent which David had put up for it; and they made offerings, burned offerings and peace-offerings before God. 2 And when David had come to an end of making the burned offerings and peace-offerings, he gave the people a blessing in the name of the Lord. 3 And he gave to everyone, every man and woman of Israel, a cake of bread, some meat, and a cake of dry grapes. 4 And he put some of the Levites before the ark of the Lord as servants, to keep the acts of the Lord in memory, and to give worship and praise to the Lord, the God of Israel: 5 Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, Uzziel and Shemiramoth and Jehiel and Mattithiah and Eliab and Benaiah and Obed-edom and Jeiel, with corded instruments of music; and Asaph, with brass instruments sounding loudly; 6 And Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests, blowing horns all the time before the ark of the agreement of God. 7 Then on that day David first made the giving of praise to the Lord the work of Asaph and his brothers. 8 O give praise to the Lord; give honour to his name, talking of his doings among the peoples. 9 Let your voice be sounded in songs and melody; let all your thoughts be of the wonder of his works. 10 Have glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who are searching after the Lord be glad. 11 Let your search be for the Lord and for his strength; let your hearts ever be turned to him. 12 Keep in mind the great works which he has done; his wonders, and the decisions of his mouth; 13 O you seed of Israel his servant, you children of Jacob, his loved ones. 14 He is the Lord our God: he is judge of all the earth. 15 He has kept his agreement in mind for ever, the word which he gave for a thousand generations; 16 The agreement which he made with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac; 17 And he gave it to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an eternal agreement; 18 Saying, To you will I give the land of Canaan, the measured line of your heritage: 19 When you were still small in number, and strange in the land; 20 When they went about from one nation to another, and from one kingdom to another people; 21 He would not let anyone do them wrong; he even kept back kings because of them, 22 Saying, Put not your hand on those who have been marked with my holy oil, and do my prophets no wrong. 23 Make songs to the Lord, all the earth; give the good news of his salvation day by day. 24 Make clear his glory to the nations, and his wonders to all the peoples. 25 For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised; and he is more to be feared than all other gods. 26 For all the gods of the nations are false gods; but the Lord made the heavens. 27 Honour and glory are before him: strength and joy are in his holy place. 28 Give to the Lord, O you families of the peoples, give to the Lord glory and strength. 29 Give to the Lord the glory of his name; take with you an offering and come before him; give worship to the Lord in holy robes. 30 Be in fear before him, all the earth: the world is ordered so that it may not be moved. 31 Let the heavens have joy and let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, The Lord is King. 32 Let the sea be thundering with all its waters; let the field be glad, and everything which is in it; 33 Then let all the trees of the wood be sounding with joy before the Lord, for he is come to be the judge of the earth. 34 O give praise to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy is unchanging for ever. 35 And say, Be our saviour, O God of our salvation, and let us come back, and give us salvation from the nations, so that we may give honour to your holy name and have glory in your praise. 36 Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, for ever and for ever. And all the people said, So be it; and gave praise to the Lord. 37 So he made Asaph and his brothers keep their places there before the ark of the agreement of the Lord, to do whatever had to be done before the ark at all times day by day: 38 And Obed-edom, the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah, with their brothers, sixty-eight of them, to be door-keepers: 39 And Zadok the priest, with his brothers the priests, before the House of the Lord in the high place at Gibeon; 40 To give burned offerings to the Lord on the altar of burned offerings morning and evening, every day, as it is ordered in the law of the Lord which he gave to Israel; 41 And with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest who were marked out by name to give praise to the Lord, for his mercy is unchanging for ever; 42 And Heman and Jeduthun had horns and brass instruments sounding loudly, and instruments of music for the songs of God; and the sons of Jeduthun were to be at the door. 43 And all the people went away, every man to his house; and David went back to give a blessing to his family.
• 2 Chr 7:10 : 10 And on the twenty-third day of the seventh month, he sent the people away to their tents, full of joy and glad in their hearts, because of all the good which the Lord had done to David and to Solomon and to Israel his people.
• 2 Chr 30:23-26 : 23 And by the desire of all the people, the feast went on for another seven days, and they kept the seven days with joy. 24 For Hezekiah, king of Judah, gave to the people for offerings, a thousand oxen and seven thousand sheep; and the rulers gave a thousand oxen and ten thousand sheep; and a great number of priests made themselves holy. 25 And all the people of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and those who had come from Israel, and men from other lands who had come from Israel or who were living in Judah, were glad with great joy. 26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for nothing like this had been seen in Jerusalem from the time of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel.
• Job 29:2-30:31 : 2 If only I might again be as I was in the months which are past, in the days when God was watching over me! 3 When his light was shining over my head, and when I went through the dark by his light. 4 As I was in my flowering years, when my tent was covered by the hand of God; 5 While the Ruler of all was still with me, and my children were round me; 6 When my steps were washed with milk, and rivers of oil were flowing out of the rock for me. 7 When I went out of my door to go up to the town, and took my seat in the public place, 8 The young men saw me, and went away, and the old men got up from their seats; 9 The rulers kept quiet, and put their hands on their mouths; 10 The chiefs kept back their words, and their tongues were joined to the roofs of their mouths. 11 For when it came to their ears, men said that I was truly happy; and when their eyes saw, they gave witness to me; 12 For I was a saviour to the poor when he was crying for help, to the child with no father, and to him who had no supporter. 13 The blessing of him who was near to destruction came on me, and I put a song of joy into the widow's heart. 14 I put on righteousness as my clothing, and was full of it; right decisions were to me a robe and a head-dress. 15 I was eyes to the blind, and feet to him who had no power of walking. 16 I was a father to the poor, searching out the cause of him who was strange to me. 17 By me the great teeth of the evil-doer were broken, and I made him give up what he had violently taken away. 18 Then I said, I will come to my end with my children round me, my days will be as the sand in number; 19 My root will be open to the waters, and the night mist will be on my branches, 20 My glory will be ever new, and my bow will be readily bent in my hand. 21 Men gave ear to me, waiting and keeping quiet for my suggestions. 22 After I had said what was in my mind, they were quiet and let my words go deep into their hearts; 23 They were waiting for me as for the rain, opening their mouths wide as for the spring rains. 24 I was laughing at them when they had no hope, and the light of my face was never clouded by their fear. 25 I took my place as a chief, guiding them on their way, and I was as a king among his army. ... 1 But now those who are younger than I make sport of me; those whose fathers I would not have put with the dogs of my flocks. 2 Of what use is the strength of their hands to me? all force is gone from them. 3 They are wasted for need of food, biting the dry earth; their only hope of life is in the waste land. 4 They are pulling off the salt leaves from the brushwood, and making a meal of roots. 5 They are sent out from among their townsmen, men are crying after them as thieves 6 They have to get a resting-place in the hollows of the valleys, in holes of the earth and rocks. 7 They make noises like asses among the brushwood; they get together under the thorns. 8 They are sons of shame, and of men without a name, who have been forced out of the land. 9 And now I have become their song, and I am a word of shame to them. 10 I am disgusting to them; they keep away from me, and put marks of shame on me. 11 For he has made loose the cord of my bow, and put me to shame; he has sent down my flag to the earth before me. 12 The lines of his men of war put themselves in order, and make high their ways of destruction against me: 13 They have made waste my roads, with a view to my destruction; his bowmen come round about me; 14 As through a wide broken place in the wall they come on, I am overturned by the shock of their attack. 15 Fears have come on me; my hope is gone like the wind, and my well-being like a cloud. 16 But now my soul is turned to water in me, days of trouble overtake me: 17 The flesh is gone from my bones, and they give me no rest; there is no end to my pains. 18 With great force he takes a grip of my clothing, pulling me by the neck of my coat. 19 Truly God has made me low, even to the earth, and I have become like dust. 20 You give no answer to my cry, and take no note of my prayer. 21 You have become cruel to me; the strength of your hand is hard on me. 22 Lifting me up, you make me go on the wings of the wind; I am broken up by the storm. 23 For I am certain that you will send me back to death, and to the meeting-place ordered for all living. 24 Has not my hand been stretched out in help to the poor? have I not been a saviour to him in his trouble? 25 Have I not been weeping for the crushed? and was not my soul sad for him who was in need? 26 For I was looking for good, and evil came; I was waiting for light, and it became dark. 27 My feelings are strongly moved, and give me no rest; days of trouble have overtaken me. 28 I go about in dark clothing, uncomforted; I get up in the public place, crying out for help. 29 I have become a brother to the jackals, and go about in the company of ostriches. 30 My skin is black and dropping off me; and my bones are burning with the heat of my disease. 31 And my music has been turned to sorrow, and the sound of my pipe into the noise of weeping.
• Ps 55:14 : 14 We had loving talk together, and went to the house of God in company.