My generation is at an end, and it is rolled away from me, as a shepherd's tent. My life is cut off, as by a weaver: whilst I was yet but beginning, he cut me off: from morning even to night thou wilt make an end of me.
דּוֹרִ֗י נִסַּ֧ע וְנִגְלָ֛ה מִנִּ֖י כְּאֹ֣הֶל רֹעִ֑י קִפַּ֨דְתִּי כָאֹרֵ֤ג חַיַּי֙ מִדַּלָּ֣ה יְבַצְּעֵ֔נִי מִיּ֥וֹם עַד־לַ֖יְלָה תַּשְׁלִימֵֽנִי׃
4 Church Fathers comment on this verse
It is evident that his life was nearing its conclusion, as he was on the verge of passing away, yet he was rescued by God. In this way, it resembled a new act of resurrection; although the sentence of death was not completed, his life seemed to be drawing to a close. In this state of being as good as dead, he was brought back to life by the one who rescues from death.
First and foremost, it must be noted that the Septuagint translates the phrase as "in the height of my days," while other scholars interpret it as "in the half of my days." I find the Septuagint's translation to be quite compelling. The holy city faced siege when Rapsacus and the vast army of Assyria surrounded it. However, God, through the prophet Isaiah, assured that He would perform wondrous and unforeseen acts, delivering those in peril, removing the oppressor from Judah, and that he would succumb to inner turmoil. As these events unfolded precisely as determined by the Sovereign of all, the splendor of King Hezekiah's reign reached its zenith.
Hence, I reflected internally, as he expressed, that during this season of glory, or precisely when my days were at their peak, I would find myself at the gates of Sheol, abandoning the remaining years of my life. He then recounted the sentiments typically voiced in the grip of fear by those confronting illness and perceiving death nearby. These expressions include: "To this I will not see the salvation of God; to this I will not see a man of my kin; I have forsaken the rest of my life, depart from me." He likened himself to a tent that is being dismantled, or like the camp of a woman laboring in her household, actively working or weaving, nearing the completion of her cloth. He further described how, throughout both night and day, he felt as if he were betrayed to a lion that was crushing his bones. Who is this lion? Perhaps it is a severe illness, or death itself, resembling a beast and threatening to pounce, or the terror that awakens within the soul upon anticipating death. For fear and despair weigh heavily on the spirit, sapping it of all its strength.
My existence is removed and shifted like a shepherd’s fold. My days are carried away with my years, much like a shepherd’s fold that appears today and vanishes by morning. My life has spiraled like a thread. Just as a thread is coiled, the duration of my life has been reduced and made brief. I feel as though I am a garment ready to be severed. I am hastening to accomplish the fullness of my days, akin to fabric poised to be cut.
In my sorrow, I declared that I must descend to the gates of the underworld, either by the universal law of nature or to those gates celebrated by the Psalmist, who sings, "Thou liftest me up from the gates of death, that I may declare all thy praises in the gates of the daughter of Zion" (Psalm 9:14-15). I believe these are the very gates of hell that Peter will not conquer (Matthew 16), for he fulfilled the fullness of his days. The saints attain the fullness of their days, demonstrated by Abraham, who passed away in a good old age, satisfied and fully alive (Genesis 25:8). In contrast, the wicked and unrepentant meet their end in their days of fullness. The Psalmist remarks, "The bloodthirsty and treacherous shall not live half their days" (Psalm 54:24). They fill their lives with vices and do not strive to erase their transgressions by repentance. Thus, amidst the journey of life and enveloped in the shadows of sin, they will find themselves destined for hell.
Passages read together with this verse.
THEOSIS