Psalms 38:11 · Bible study
Psalms 38:11 Commentary: Abandoned in Affliction
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Why the psalmist's community abandons him: fear of contagion, dread of divine punishment, or both. Commentary, context, and pastoral application.
Research Summary
- Meaning: The psalmist’s entire community, lovers, friends, and relatives, keeps its distance because of his devastating illness, which they interpret as divine punishment.
- Key words: “Plague” (Hebrew nega‘): a stroke, wound, or leprous disease; “stand aloof” / “stand far away”: deliberate, visible withdrawal.
- Main debate: Whether the abandonment results from ceremonial-legal requirements (leprosy) or from the social stigma of being seen as cursed by God; the two are not mutually exclusive.
- Theological theme: The suffering of the righteous and the isolation that intensifies it; the cry that God is the only friend who remains.
- Best use: A text for lament, for teaching on the proper pastoral response to suffering, and as a type of Christ’s abandonment (Isaiah 53:4).
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
My beloved and friends shun my disease, and my kinsmen stand at a distance.
WEB World English Bible 2000
My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague. My kinsmen stand far away.
KJV King James Version 1769
My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague; And my kinsmen stand afar off.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
My lovers and my friends over-against my plague stand. And my neighbours afar off have stood.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
My lovers and mine associates stand aloof from my stroke; and my kinsmen stand afar off.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
Remove thy scourges from me. The strength of thy hand hath made me faint in rebukes:
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Mis amigos y mis compañeros se quitaron de delante de mi plaga; y mis cercanos se pusieron lejos.
Meus amigos e companheiros observam de longe minha calamidade; e os meus vizinhos ficam afastados.
Mon cœur est agité, ma force m’ abandonne,
Meine Lieben und Freunde treten zurück und scheuen meine Plage, und meine Nächsten stehen ferne.
Mijn hart keert om en om, mijn kracht heeft mij verlaten; en het licht mijner ogen, ook zij zelven zijn niet bij mij.
I miei amici, i miei compagni stan lontani dalla mia piaga, e i miei prossimi si fermano da lungi.
Serce moje skacze; opuściła mię siła moja, a jasności oczów moich nie masz przy mnie.
Отклони от меня удары Твои; я исчезаю от поражающей руки Твоей.
我的良朋 密友 因我的災病 都躲在旁邊 站著；我的親戚本家 也遠遠地 站立。
My lovers and my friends keep away from my disease; my relations keep far away.
Verse in Context
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree this verse depicts total social abandonment in suffering. The central image is isolation: those who once loved the psalmist keep their distance. Barnes notes that the Hebrew word for “plague” (nega‘) means a stroke or blow, often understood as a divine judgment; friends stay away as if he carried a contagious disease. Clarke adds that they considered him “an accursed being” suffering under God’s hand and avoided him accordingly. The Cambridge Bible points out that nega‘ is the technical term for leprosy in Leviticus 13, so the community may have treated him as a leper, standing within sight but at a ceremonial distance. Gill observes that even kinsmen, bound by family ties, “stand afar off,” making the desertion especially bitter. Keil and Delitzsch note that the friends place themselves “far away, but within the range of vision”, close enough to observe his misery yet unwilling to approach. The abandonment is both physical and relational, and it deepens the psalmist’s sense of being punished by God himself.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Ceremonial isolation (leprosy): The Hebrew <em>nega‘</em> is the standard term for leprous plague in Lev 13; the community obeys the Law by staying at a distance.
- Social stigma of divine judgment: Penitential context and the psalmist’s confession of sin suggest that friends see his suffering as evidence of God’s curse and avoid contamination by association.
- Corporate/typological lament: Lange and Hengstenberg argue the psalm is not about David alone but the righteous community, making the abandonment a pattern of how the world treats God’s people.
What is clear: The psalmist is utterly abandoned by his entire social network in the midst of severe physical suffering, and this abandonment is tied to how his community interprets his affliction — whether as a contagious disease or a sign of divine punishment.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Nature of the “plague” | The word <em>nega‘</em> refers to a severe physical affliction, likely a skin disease, that makes the sufferer repulsive to others. | Some interpreters, following the technical use in Leviticus 13, identify it specifically as leprosy, which required ceremonial isolation. Others see it as a general stroke of divine punishment, not necessarily leprosy. |
| Reason for social abandonment | The community fears contact with the psalmist and treats his suffering as a sign of God’s judgment. | Calvin and others emphasize the penitential context: the psalmist himself confesses sin, so the abandonment is a natural human response to visible divine chastisement. Cambridge and Gill note that even if leprosy is not present, the language deliberately echoes the leper’s isolation, so ceremonial distancing may be in view. |
| Psalm’s original setting | The superscription attributes it to David as a “memorial” or penitential psalm. | Reformed commentators (Calvin, Matthew Henry) take it as David’s personal experience of illness and abandonment. Lange notes that some interpreters, like Hengstenberg, read it as the lament of the righteous personified (corporate suffering). |
| Typological foreshadowing of Christ | The verse resonates with Isaiah 53:4, where the Servant is “plagued, struck by God.” | Some traditions read the psalm directly messianically, seeing Christ’s abandonment by disciples and the Father. Others treat it as an analogy that illuminates the pattern of suffering without being a direct prophecy. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Ancient Israel understood severe illness as more than a medical event. The Law of Moses linked skin diseases like leprosy directly to ritual impurity (Leviticus 13, 14), requiring the afflicted person to live outside the camp and warn others to keep away. Being “plagued” often carried a moral dimension: suffering could be interpreted as God’s chastening for sin (Deuteronomy 28:15, 68). The book of Job demonstrates this assumption, Job’s friends insisted his suffering must be the result of hidden sin (Job 4:7, 8; 22:5). Psalm 38 itself is a penitential psalm, one of seven traditionally used for confession and lament. The psalmist openly confesses his iniquity (vv. 3, 4, 18), so his community may have seen his sickness as a transparent sign of divine displeasure.
In such a world, to approach a sufferer risked both contagion and social defilement. Friends and kin had to decide: draw near and share the shame, or keep away and confirm the judgment. Most chose distance. The cross-references pile up: Job 19:13, 17 describes the same withdrawal, “He has put my brothers far from me.” Psalm 31:11 reports that acquaintances flee. Psalm 88:18 climaxes this theme: “You have put lover and friend far from me.” Isaiah 53:4, looking ahead to the Servant, says “we considered him plagued, struck by God.” This verse thus fits a pattern: the sufferer is treated as cursed, and the normal bonds of love and kinship break under the weight of that assumption.
This communal response is not purely a failure of compassion. It arises from a worldview where sickness and sin are linked, and holiness means separation from uncleanness. Yet the psalmist is not accusing his friends of cruelty without reason: he is lamenting that human solidarity collapses when God’s hand seems to press hard. The historical context helps us see why the abandonment is so theologically charged, it is not merely personal rejection but a commentary on how Israel’s covenant community responded to suffering in their midst.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Psalm 38:11. The Masoretic Text is stable. The Greek Septuagint renders the verse closely (οἱ φίλοι μου καὶ οἱ πλησίον μου ἐξ ἐναντίας μου ἤγγισαν καὶ ἔστησαν), with no substantial differences in meaning. The verse presents no textual difficulties.
Reception History
As one of the seven Penitential Psalms (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143), Psalm 38 has been used in Christian liturgy for centuries as a prayer of confession and lament. Calvin notes that Galileo was required to recite these seven psalms weekly as penance during his imprisonment by the Inquisition. The specific image of friends and kinsmen standing far off has been read as a type of Christ’s abandonment in the Passion, Isaiah 53:4 (“we considered him plagued”) connects the sufferer of Psalm 38 to the Servant who bears the sins of many. In the medieval tradition, verses about social isolation were often applied to lepers, reinforcing the practice of excluding those with contagious diseases. Modern readers, especially in pastoral care, return to this verse as a biblical warrant to draw near to the suffering rather than stand aloof.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Lovers and friends keep their distance. Those who once professed affection now stand aloof. Their absence is as painful as the disease.
- The plague is the problem. The word “plague” (nega‘) is the same term used for leprosy in Leviticus. The community treats his suffering as something to avoid, either from fear of contagion or fear of sharing in God’s judgment.
- Kinsmen stand far away. Even family ties dissolve. The closest relations fail to draw near, leaving the sufferer utterly alone.
Five-point outline
- Total abandonment. Everyone, lovers, friends, kinsmen, stays away.
- The stigma of suffering. The community reads his disease as punishment, so they treat him as cursed.
- The silence of the sufferer. In verses 13, 14 the psalmist becomes like a deaf mute, refusing to defend himself.
- The hope hidden in the lament. Verse 15: “For I hope in you, Yahweh. You will answer, Lord my God.”
- A pattern for Christ. Isaiah 53:4 and the Gospels show Jesus bearing the same “plague” of divine judgment alone, abandoned by friends and kin.
Illustration hooks
- Cancer isolation: A person receiving chemotherapy may find that acquaintances, even friends, stop visiting, uncertain how to help, afraid of saying the wrong thing, or uncomfortable with decline.
- Mental health stigma: A Christian struggling with depression is told to “pray it away” and finds church members keeping a careful distance, as if the condition were contagious or a sign of weak faith.
- Community shunning: An elder who confesses a moral failure is quietly excluded from fellowship by the very people who once praised his leadership.
Questions your congregation is asking
- “When I go through deep suffering, why do some of my Christian friends disappear?”
- “Does my illness or hardship mean God is punishing me?”
- “How can our church do better at standing near those who are suffering rather than standing aloof?”
Leading a Discussion
Psalm 38:11 drops us into a scene of profound isolation. The psalmist is sick, in pain, and his entire support network has pulled away. This small-group guide helps your group explore the pain of abandonment, the assumptions we make about suffering, and how to become the kind of community that draws near when it costs something.
Discussion questions
- What emotions do you hear in the psalmist’s voice when he says his lovers, friends, and kinsmen all keep their distance?
- The word “plague” in verse 11 is the same word used for leprosy in Leviticus 13. Why might that detail matter for understanding the community’s reaction?
- Read Job 19:13, 17 and Psalm 31:11. How do these passages echo the same experience?
- In what ways do people today treat suffering as a sign of God’s disapproval, even without saying it aloud?
- Why do you think the psalmist does not defend himself against his enemies in verses 13, 14? What does that tell you about his inner posture?
- Verse 15 pivots from complaint to hope: “For I hope in you, Yahweh.” What does this shift reveal about the psalmist’s faith?
- How can your small group or church become a safer place for people who are suffering, instead of leaving them to stand alone?
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Job 6:21 | For now you are nothing. You see a terror, and are afraid. |
| Job 6:23 | or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary’s hand’? or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors’? |
| Job 19:13 | “He has put my brothers far from me. My acquaintances are wholly estranged from me. |
| Job 19:17 | My breath is offensive to my wife. I am loathsome to the children of my own mother. |
| Psalms 31:11 | Because of all my adversaries I have become utterly contemptible to my neighbors, a horror to my acquaintances. Those who saw me on the street fled from me. |
| Psalms 88:18 | You have put lover and friend far from me, and my friends into darkness. |
| Isaiah 53:4 | Surely he has borne our sickness and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted. |
| Isaiah 53:8 | He was taken away by oppression and judgment. As for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living and stricken for the disobedience of my people? |
Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes notes that the people described are not just casual acquaintances; they include professed friends, close companions, and even relatives. He emphasizes that all of them stood far off, treating the psalmist as if he carried a dangerous, contagious disease.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin argues that David wrote this psalm as a personal and public memorial, intended to prevent himself and others from quickly forgetting the chastening hand of God. The title "to bring to remembrance" signals this deliberate purpose, not a musical cue. Human nature easily lets divine discipline slip from memory, so David fixed it in song.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The commentator observes that the psalmist's suffering is deepened by how his friends and even close relatives treat him. They stand at a distance as if he were a leper, contradicting the name of "near ones" by keeping far away. This social isolation mirrors the physical separation required under leprosy law.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Note highlights the complete abandonment the psalmist suffers: in his time of plague, even those closest to him keep their distance. Friends and family stand aside rather than offer comfort, underscoring the depth of his isolation.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill examines why the psalmist's friends and family kept their distance, suggesting it was not from ceremonial obligation but from neglect and contempt. He highlights the cruelty of abandoning someone in extreme suffering, especially after they had shown kindness. Such desertion during affliction makes the trial far heavier.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
11, 12. Friends desert, but foes increase in malignity.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch stresses that the psalmist does not speak to inform God of his suffering, since God already knows it perfectly. Instead he speaks to stir God's compassion, then falls silent in conscious guilt, abandoning all self-defense and leaving his cause entirely to God.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange insists the psalm describes a real individual’s actual physical sickness and personal guilt, not a symbolic depiction of the nation or of righteous sufferers collectively. He argues the enemies do not cause the bodily suffering but exploit it when it comes. The psalmist’s true turn comes when he stops defending himself and waits solely on God.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry highlights that this psalm is titled to bring things to remembrance, specifically our sins when God is afflicting us. Times of sickness are opportunities to remember why God is contending with us, humbling ourselves by setting our sins in order before Him. The psalm can also preserve those convictions after recovery for fresh reflection.