I was stone silent; ¹  I held back the urge to speak. ²  My frustration grew; ³ 

biblegateway Psa 39:2

I was mute and silent, I refrained even from good, And my sorrow grew worse.

I was speechless and quiet; I kept silent, even from speaking good, and my pain intensified.

I remained totally speechless. I kept silent, although it did me no good. While I was deep in thought, my pain grew worse.

biblegateway Psa 39:2

But when I was silent and still, not even saying anything good, my anguish increased.

I was mute and silent; I held my peace to no avail, and my distress grew worse.

bibleoremus Psa 39:2

I was silent and still; I held my peace to no avail; my distress grew worse,

I kept utterly silent, I refrained from speech. My agony was quickened,

biblegateway Psa 39:2

I was mute with silence, I held my peace even from good; And my sorrow was stirred up.

I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, [even] from good; and my sorrow was stirred.

biblegateway Psa 39:2

I was stone silent; ¹  I held back the urge to speak. ²  My frustration grew; ³ 

¹ tn Heb “I was mute [with] silence.”

² tn Heb “I was quiet from good.” He kept quiet, resisting the urge to find emotional release and satisfaction by voicing his lament.

² sn I held back the urge to speak. For a helpful discussion of the relationship (and tension) between silence and complaint in ancient Israelite lamentation, see E. S. Gerstenberger, Psalms, Part I (FOTL), 166-67.

³ tn Heb “and my pain was stirred up.” Emotional pain is in view here.