Mazmur 102:5

102:5 Because of the anxiety that makes me groan,

my bones protrude from my skin. ¹ 

Mazmur 102:20

102:20 in order to hear the painful cries of the prisoners,

and to set free those condemned to die, ² 

[102:5]  ¹ tn Heb “from the sound of my groaning my bone[s] stick to my flesh.” The preposition at the beginning of the verse is causal; the phrase “sound of my groaning” is metonymic for the anxiety that causes the groaning. The point seems to be this: Anxiety (which causes the psalmist to groan) keeps him from eating (v. 4). This physical deprivation in turn makes him emaciated – he is turned to “skin and bones,” so to speak.

[102:20]  ² tn Heb “the sons of death.” The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 79:11) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.