Bible Strands
Psalms 119:83
Though I am like a wineskin dried up by smoke, I do not forget Your statutes.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist speaks in the first person to God during a period of prolonged waiting for comfort and judgment against persecutors (Psalms 119:82, 84). The speaker describes physical deterioration while maintaining a declaration of covenant loyalty.
The words — The Hebrew כִּי (ki) operates as a concessive "though," while נֹאד (nod) means "wineskin" and קִיטוֹר (qitôr) means "smoke." The literal phrase "like a wineskin in smoke" describes the psalmist's shriveled, dried-out physical condition.
The thread — The physical decay imagery runs parallel to Job 30:30 and Psalms 102:3, where skin, bones, and smoke depict bodily wasting. The same psalmist repeats the vow not to forget divine commandments in Psalms 119:176.
Why it lands — The text states that physical exhaustion does not erase covenant remembrance, requiring the reader to separate bodily decline from spiritual obedience. The passage demands active retention of divine statutes despite the absence of immediate comfort.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statutes.
Cross-references
- Job 30:30 My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever.
- Psalms 119:176 I have strayed like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commandments.
- Psalms 102:3 For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers.
- Psalms 119:16 I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.
- Psalms 119:61 Though the ropes of the wicked bind me, I do not forget Your law.
- Psalms 22:15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You lay me in the dust of death.