Psalms 41:1

(1) Blessed is he.—This general statement of the great law of sympathy and benevolence—fine and noble however we take it—may be explained in different ways, according as we take the Hebrew word dal as poor, with the LXX. and Vulg. (comp. Exodus 30:15), or with the margin, as sick, weak in body (comp. Genesis 41:19), or give it an ethical sense, sick at heart. (Comp. 2 Samuel 13:4.) The context favours one of the two latter, and the choice between them depends on whether we take the author’s sickness to be real or figurative. Psalms 41:3 strongly favours the view that the sickness is physical.

Considereth.—The Hebrew word implies wise as well as kindly consideration. So LXX. and Vulg., “he that understands.”