So that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat.
Ver. 20. So that his life abhorreth bread] Which is the staff of man's life, and by the Latins called panis, of the Greek παν, as if it were all in all. This the sick man velut sordidum abominatur, abhorreth as some filthy thing, so the original word here signifieth; he nauseateth and cannot away with it, though made of the kidneys of wheat, as Moses phraseth it; he brooks it no better than if it were made of sawdust, or mixed with gravel, or made with man's dung, as that in Ezekiel.
And his soul dainty meat] Heb. Meats of desire. Those dainties which he once sought so passionately, and fed upon so eagerly, he finds no more relish in than in the white of an egg or a dry chip; yea, they are no less horrid to him than rank poison. See a like description of a sick person, Psalms 107:18, which seemeth to be taken from hence.