Psalmi 38:9

Clementine Latin Vulgate

cum ponerem nubem vestimentum ejus, et caligine illud quasi pannis infantiæ obvolverem ?

Parallel Translations

Jerome's Latin Vulgate (405)
cum ponerem nubem vestimentum ejus,
et caligine illud quasi pannis infanti� obvolverem?

Nova Vulgata (1979)
cum ponerem nubem vestimentum eius et caligine illud quasi fascia obvolverem?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

thick: Genesis 1:2

Reciprocal: Job 26:8 - bindeth up Job 36:29 - the spreadings

Gill's Notes on the Bible

When I made the cloud the garment thereof,.... For this newborn babe, the sea;

and thick darkness a swaddling band for it; which was the case of the sea when it burst out of the bowels of the earth and covered it, for then darkness was upon the face of the deep, a dark, foggy, misty air, Genesis 1:2; and this was before its separation from the land, and in this order it stands in this account; though since, clouds, fogs, and mists, which rise out of the sea, are as garments to it, and cover it at times, and the surrounding atmosphere, as it presses the whole terraqueous globe, and keeps the parts of the earth together, so the waters of the sea from spilling out; and these are the garments and the swaddling bands with which the hands and arms of this big and boisterous creature are wreathed; it is said of the infant in Ezekiel 16:4 that it was neither "salted nor swaddled at all"; but both may be said of the sea; that it is salted is sufficiently known, and that it is swaddled is here affirmed; but who except the Lord Almighty could do this? and who has managed, and still does and can manage, this unruly creature, as easily as a nurse can turn about and swaddle a newborn babe upon her lap.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

When I made the cloud the garment thereof - Referring to the garment in which the new-born infant is wrapped up. This image is one of great beauty. It is that of the vast ocean just coming into being, with a cloud resting upon it and covering it. Thick darkness envelopes it, and it is swathed in mists; compare Genesis 1:2,” And darkness was upon the face of the deep.” The time here referred to is that before the light of the sun arose upon the earth, before the dry land appeared, and before annuals and people had been formed. Then the new-born ocean lay carefully enveloped in clouds and darkness under the guardian care of God. The dark night rested upon it, and the mists hovered over it.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 38:9. When I make the cloud the garment — Alluding to the cloth in which the new-born infant is first received. The cloud was the same to the newly raised vapour, as the above recipient to the new-born child.

And thick darkness a swaddlingband for it — Here is also an allusion to the first dressings of the new-born child: it is swathed in order to support the body, too tender to bear even careful handling without some medium between the hand of the nurse and the flesh of the child. "The image," says Mr. Good, "is exquisitely maintained: the new-born ocean is represented as issuing from the womb of chaos; and its dress is that of the new-born infant."

There is here an allusion also to the creation, as described in Genesis 1:1-2. Darkness is there said to be on the face of the DEEP. Here it is said, the thick darkness was a swaddlingband for the new-born SEA.