Psalms 119:53 - Clarke's commentary and critical notes on the Bible

Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law. Horror hath taken hold upon me - The word זלעפה zilaphah, which we render horror, is thought to signify the pestilential burning wind called by the Arabs simoom. Here it strongly marks the idea that the psalmist had of the destructive nature of sin; it is pestilential; it is corrupting, mortal.