Psalms 107:27

They reel back and forth, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.

World English Bible

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Other translations

WEBBE

They reel back and forth, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.

BSB

They reeled and staggered like drunkards, and all their skill was useless.

KJV

They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end.

ASV

They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, And are at their wits’ end.

BBE

They are turned here and there, rolling like a man who is full of wine; and all their wisdom comes to nothing.

Original Hebrew

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יָחוֹגּוּ ya·cho·gu they staggered H2287 וְיָנוּעוּ ve·ya·nu·'u and they may trembled H5128 כַּשִּׁכּוֹר ka·shi·kor like (the) drunkard H7910 וְכָל־ ve·khol and all H3605 חָכְמָתָם cha·khe·ma·tam skill their H2451 תִּתְבַּלָּע tit·ba·la' it was confused H1104

The early church

"They go up even to the heavens," in daring; "They go down even into the deeps" [Psalm 107:26], in fearing. "Their soul wasted in miseries." "They were disturbed, and moved like a drunken man" [Psalm 107:27]. They who sit at the helm, and they who faithfully love the ship, feel what I say. Certainly, when they speak, when they read, when they interpret, they appear wise. Woe for the storm! "and all their wisdom," he says, "was swallowed up." Sometimes all human counsels fail; whichever way one turns himself, the waves roar, the storm rages, the arms are powerless: where the prow may strike, to what wave the side may be exposed, whither the stricken ship may be allowed to drift, from what rocks she must be kept back lest she be lost, is impossible for her pilots to see. And what is left but that which follows?

Augustine of Hippo · d. 430Expositions on the Psalms

Commentary

Matthew Henry · Verses 23–32

Let those who go to sea, consider and adore the Lord. Mariners have their business upon the tempestuous ocean, and there witness deliverances of which others cannot form an idea. How seasonable it is at such a time to pray! This may remind us of the terrors and distress of conscience many experience, and of those deep scenes of trouble which many pass through, in their Christian course. Yet, in answer to their cries, the Lord turns their storm into a calm, and causes their trials to end in gladness.

Read Matthew Henry on Psalm 107 →

Spurgeon · Verse 27

They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man. The violent motion of the vessel prevents their keeping their legs, and their fears drive them out of all power to use their brains, and therefore they look like intoxicated men. And are at their wit's end. What more can they do? They have used every expedient known to navigation, but the ship is so strained and beaten about that they know not how to keep her afloat. Here too the spiritual mariner's log agrees with that of the sailor on the sea. We have staggered frightfully! We could stand to nothing and hold by nothing. We knew not what to do, and could have done nothing if we had known it. We were as men distracted, and felt as if destruction itself would be better than our horrible state of suspense. As for wit and wisdom, they were clean washed out of us, we felt ourselves to be at a nonplus altogether.

Read Spurgeon on Psalm 107 →

Cross-references

Cross-references: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Hebrew and Greek data from STEPBible.org (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0. Library: sources.