Psalms 38:11

“My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore, etc.] As if it was a plague sore, lest they should be infected with it; or because they could not bear the stench of his wounds, and the loathsomeness of his disease, or to see him in his agonies, and hear his roaring and his groans, (<193802>Psalm 38:2,3,5,7-9); or as taking his case to be desperate, as if he was just dying, and no help could be given him, (<193810>Psalm 38:10); If it was the leprosy, as some Jewish writers have affirmed, the word [gn, translated “sore”, being used for the plague of the leprosy, they were obliged by the ceremonial law to keep at a distance from him: but this rather seems to be voluntary, and to proceed from…”

“Friends desert, but foes increase in malignity.”

“My lovers - See the notes at Psalms 31:11. The reference here is to those who professed to be his friends. And my friends - The word used here means properly an acquaintance, a companion, a friend, Job 2:11; Job 19:21; then, a lover, a friend, a neighbor. The phrase here would be synonymous with our word “kinsmen.” Stand aloof - They are unwilling to come near me; they leave me to suffer alone. From my sore - Margin: “stroke.” The Hebrew word means properly a stroke, a blow, Deuteronomy 17:8; Deuteronomy 21:5; then a stroke in the sense of calamities or judgments, such as God brings upon men: Genesis 12:17; Exodus 11:1. The meaning here is, that they stand aloof from him, or refuse to come…”

“lovers: Psa 31:11; Job 6:21-23, Job 19:13-17; Mat 26:56; Joh 16:32 stand: Luk 10:31, Luk 10:32 sore: Heb. stroke kinsmen: or, neighbours afar off: Luk 22:54, Luk 23:49 Psalms 38:12”