The Meaning of Psalms 107:17 Explained

Psalms 107:17

KJV: Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.

YLT: Fools, by means of their transgression, And by their iniquities, afflict themselves.

Darby: Fools, because of their way of transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted;

ASV: Fools because of their transgression, And because of their iniquities, are afflicted.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Fools  because  of their transgression,  and because of their iniquities,  are afflicted. 

What does Psalms 107:17 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 107:17-32 - "his Wonders In The Deep"
Sickness yields the third type of suffering. Emphasis is laid on the cause of the suffering, which in the view of the writer is transgression and sin. We shall be justified, therefore, in confining our view of this section to the pain which is directly traceable to wrong-doing. Men ruin their health by evil courses, and the sinner drags down his punishment with his own hands. The portals of death had already opened to receive the sick men, but before they passed through they cried to Jehovah, and though their voice was feeble, they were heard. May we not make our own application of Psalms 107:20, by referring it to that Word of God through whom God's love and healing came to sinners in the days of his flesh?
The storm at sea is the next tableau. We have the sudden gale, the high waves, the ship now on the crest and then in the trough; the terror of the crew; the failure of the helm; the desperation of the sailors; and finally the voice of God above and through the storm. The sudden subsidence of the tempest is a grateful change to the sailors and the crew; and what gladness is theirs when they reach the harbor which they had longed for but had never thought to see again! Such is life, and such will be, by God's mercy our coming into harbor. "Safe into the haven guide"! [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 107

1  The psalmist exhorts the redeemed in praising God to observe his manifold providence
4  Over travelers
10  Over captives
17  Over sick men
23  Over sailors
33  And in diverse varieties of life

What do the individual words in Psalms 107:17 mean?

Fools because of their transgression and because of their iniquities were afflicted
אֱ֭וִלִים מִדֶּ֣רֶךְ פִּשְׁעָ֑ם וּֽ֝מֵעֲוֺֽנֹתֵיהֶ֗ם יִתְעַנּֽוּ

אֱ֭וִלִים  Fools 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: אֱוִיל  
Sense: be foolish, foolish.
מִדֶּ֣רֶךְ  because 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, common singular construct
Root: דֶּרֶךְ  
Sense: way, road, distance, journey, manner.
פִּשְׁעָ֑ם  of  their  transgression 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: פֶּשַׁע  
Sense: transgression, rebellion.
וּֽ֝מֵעֲוֺֽנֹתֵיהֶ֗ם  and  because  of  their  iniquities 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-m, Noun, common plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: עָוֹן  
Sense: perversity, depravity, iniquity, guilt or punishment of iniquity.
יִתְעַנּֽוּ  were  afflicted 
Parse: Verb, Hitpael, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: עָנָה 
Sense: (Qal) to be occupied, be busied with.