the Second Week after Easter
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!
Read the Bible
King James Version
Psalms 39:5
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- InternationalParallel Translations
In fact, you have made my days just inches long,and my life span is as nothing to you.Yes, every human being stands as only a vapor.Selah
Behold, you have made my days handbreadths. My lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely every man stands as a breath." Selah.
Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
You have given me only a short life; my lifetime is like nothing to you. Everyone's life is only a breath. Selah
Look, you make my days short-lived, and my life span is nothing from your perspective. Surely all people, even those who seem secure, are nothing but vapor.
"Behold, You have made my days as [short as] hand widths, And my lifetime is as nothing in Your sight. Surely every man at his best is a mere breath [a wisp of smoke, a vapor that vanishes]! Selah.
"Behold, You have made my days like hand widths, And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; Certainly all mankind standing is a mere breath. Selah
Behold, you have made my days handbreadths. My lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely every man stands as a breath." Selah.
Beholde, thou hast made my dayes as an hand breadth, and mine age as nothing in respect of thee: surely euery man in his best state is altogether vanitie. Selah.
Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths,And my lifetime as nothing before You;Surely every man, even standing firm, is altogether vanity. Selah.
You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah
You made my life short, so brief that the time means nothing to you. "Human life is but a breath,
"Make me grasp, Adonai , what my end must be, what it means that my days are numbered; let me know what a transient creature I am.
Behold, thou hast made my days [as] hand-breadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before thee; verily, every man, [even] the high placed, is altogether vanity. Selah.
You gave me only a short life. Compared to you, my whole life is nothing. The life of every human is like a cloud that quickly disappears. Selah
Behold, thou hast given my days a limit; and mine age is as nothing before thee; verily all men stand as a mere breath.
How short you have made my life! In your sight my lifetime seems nothing. Indeed every living being is no more than a puff of wind,
Look, you have made my days mere handbreadths, and my lifespan as nothing next to you. Surely every person standing firm is complete vanity. Selah
Behold, like a handbreadth You gave my days; even my life was non-existence before You ;
LORDE, let me knowe myne ende, and the nombre of my dayes: that I maye be certified what I wante.
Behold, thou hast made my days as handbreadths; And my life-time is as nothing before thee: Surely every man at his best estate is altogether vanity. Selah
You have made my days no longer than a hand's measure; and my years are nothing in your eyes; truly, every man is but a breath. (Selah.)
'LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; let me know how short-lived I am.
Behold, thou hast made my dayes as an hand breadth, and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily euery man at his best state is altogether vanitie. Selah.
Behold thou hast made my dayes as it were an hand breadth long, & mine age is euen as nothing before thee: truely euery man is al [together] vanitie. Selah.
Behold, thou hast made my days old; and my existence is as nothing before thee: nay, every man living is altogether vanity. Pause.
Behold, thou hast made my days as handbreadths; and mine age is as nothing before thee: surely every man at his best estate is altogether vanity. Selah
Lo! thou hast set my daies mesurable; and my substaunce is as nouyt bifor thee. Netheles al vanytee; ech man lyuynge.
Look, you have made my days [as] handbreadths; And my lifetime is as nothing before you: Surely every man at his best estate is altogether vanity. Selah.
Behold, thou hast made my days [as] a hand-breadth; and my age [is] as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state [is] altogether vanity. Selah.
Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor.Selah
You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath." Interlude
You have made each of my days as long as a hand is wide. My whole life is nothing in Your eyes. Every man at his best is only a breath.
You have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight. Surely everyone stands as a mere breath. Selah
Lo! as hand-breadths, hast thou granted my days, and my life-time, is as nothing before thee, - Surely, a mere breath, are all men, even such as stand firm. Selah.
(38-6) Behold thou hast made my days measurable. and my substance is as nothing before thee. And indeed all things are vanity: every man living.
Behold, thou hast made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing in thy sight. Surely every man stands as a mere breath! [Selah]
Lo, handbreadths Thou hast made my days, And mine age [is] as nothing before Thee, Only, all vanity [is] every man set up. Selah.
"Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; Surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Selah.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Behold: Psalms 90:4, Psalms 90:5, Psalms 90:9, Psalms 90:10, Genesis 47:9, Job 7:6, Job 9:25, Job 9:26, Job 14:1, Job 14:2, James 4:14
as nothing: Psalms 89:47, 2 Peter 3:8
verily: Psalms 39:11, Psalms 62:9, Psalms 144:4, Ecclesiastes 1:2, Ecclesiastes 2:11, Isaiah 40:17
at his best state: Heb. settled
Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 19:34 - How long have I to live Job 4:21 - excellency Job 6:11 - What Job 7:3 - months of Job 8:9 - we are but Job 10:20 - my days few Job 20:22 - the fulness Psalms 49:12 - in honour Psalms 102:11 - My days Psalms 119:84 - How Psalms 119:96 - I have seen Psalms 127:2 - vain Ecclesiastes 1:14 - General Ecclesiastes 3:19 - for Ecclesiastes 6:12 - the days of his vain life Ecclesiastes 8:13 - as a Ecclesiastes 9:9 - all the days of the life Ecclesiastes 11:10 - for Isaiah 40:30 - General
Cross-References
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.
And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake.
And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand.
And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.
And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.
And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.
For thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.
His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.
Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Behold, thou hast made my days [as] an handbreadth,.... These words, with the following clause, are the psalmist's answer to his own inquiries; or rather a correction of his inquiry and impatience, showing how needless it was to ask such questions, and be impatient to die, when it was so clear and certain a case that life was so short; not a yard or ell (forty five inches), but an handbreadth, the breadth of four fingers; or at most a span of time was allowed to man, whose days are few, like the shadow that declineth, and the grass that withers; by which figurative expressions the brevity of human life is described, Psalms 102:11; and this is the measure made, cut out, and appointed by the Lord himself, who has determined the years, months, and days of man's life, Job 14:5;
and mine age [is] as nothing before thee; in the sight of God, or in comparison of his eternity; not so much as an handbreadth, or to be accounted as an inch, but nothing at, all; yea, less than nothing, and vanity; see Isaiah 40:17; that is, the age or life of man in this world, as the word w used signifies; for otherwise the age or life of man, in the world to come, is of an everlasting duration; but the years of this present life are threescore and ten; ordinarily speaking; an hundred and thirty are by Jacob reckoned but few; and even a thousand years with the Lord are but as one day, Psalms 90:4;
verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. As vanity may signify sin, emptiness, folly, falsehood, fickleness, and inconstancy; for man is a very sinful creature, empty of all that is good; foolish as to the knowledge of divine things; he is deceiving and deceived, his heart is deceitful and desperately wicked; and he is unstable in all his ways: he is "all vanity" x, as the words may be rendered; all that he has, or is, or is in him, is vanity; his body, in the health, beauty, and strength of it, is subject to change; and so are his mind, his memory, his judgment and affections, his purposes and promises; and so are his goods and estate, his riches and honours; yea, all the vanity that is in the creatures, that is, in the vegetable and sensitive creatures, yea, that is in the whole, world, is in him; who is a microcosm, a little world himself: and this is true of every man, even in his "best settled" y estate; when he stood the most firm, as the word used signifies; it is true of men of high and low degree, of the wise, knowing, and learned, as well as of the illiterate and ignorant, Psalms 62:9; even of those that are in the most prosperous circumstances, in the greatest ease and affluence,
Luke 12:16; David himself had an experience of it, 2 Samuel 7:1; yea, this is true of Adam in his best estate, in his estate of innocence; for he was even then subject to change, as the event has shown; and being in honour, he abode not long; and, though upright, became sinful, and came short of the glory of God: indeed, the spiritual estate of believers in Christ is so well settled as that it cannot be altered; nor is it subject to any vanity.
Selah. 2 Samuel 7:1- :.
w חלדי "vitale aevum meum", Cocceius; "my worldly time", Ainsworth. x כל הבל "universa, vel omnis vanitas", Pagninus, Montanus, Gejerus, Michaelis, Musculus, Cocceius; so Ainsworth. y נצב "stans", Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius; "quamlibet firmus consistere videatur", Tigurine version, Vatablus; "though settled", Ainsworth; so Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth - literally, “Lo, handbreadths hast thou given my days.” The word rendered “handbreadth” means properly the spread hand; the palm; the hand when the four fingers are expanded. The word is then used to denote anything very short or brief. It is one of the smallest natural measures, as distinguished from the “foot” - that is, the length of the foot; and from the cubit - that is, the length of the arm to the elbow. It is the “shortness” of life, therefore, that is the subject of painful and complaining reflection here. Who has not been in a state of mind to sympathize with the feelings of the psalmist? Who is there that does not often wonder, when he thinks of what he could and would accomplish on earth if his life extended to one thousand years, and when he thinks of the great interests at stake in reference to another world which God has made dependent on so short a life? Who can at all times so calm down his feelings as to give utterance to no expressions of impatience that life is so soon to terminate? Who is there that reflects on the great interests at stake that has not asked the question why God has not given man more time to prepare for eternity?
And mine age - Or, my life. The word used here - חלד cheled - means properly “duration of life,” lifetime; and then, life itself; Job 11:17.
Is as nothing - That is, it is so short that it seems to be nothing at all.
Before thee - As over against thee; that is, in comparison with thee. Compare Isaiah 40:17, “All nations “before him” are as nothing;” that is, over against him, or in comparison with him. When the two are placed together, the one seems to be as nothing in the presence of the other. So the life of man, when placed by the side of the life of God, seems to be absolutely nothing.
Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity - Margin, “settled.” The idea is, that every man is “constituted” vanity. Literally, “All vanity every man is constituted.” There seems to be nothing but vanity; and this is the result of a divine constitution or arrangement. The idea expressed in our common version, “at his best state,” however true in itself, is not in the original. The thoughts in the original are:
(a) that all people are vanity; that is, life is so short, and man accomplishes so little, that it seems to be perfect vanity; and
(b) that this is the result of the divine constitution under which man was made.
It was the fact that man has been “so made” which gave so much trouble to the mind of the psalmist.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Psalms 39:5. My days as a handbreadth — My life is but a span; σπιθαμητουβιου.
And mine age is as nothing — כאין keein, as if at were not before thee. All time is swallowed up in thy eternity.
Verily every man at his best state — כל אדם נצב col adam nitstab, "every man that exists, is vanity." All his projects, plans, schemes, &c., soon come to nothing. His body also moulders with the dust, and shortly passes both from the sight and remembrance of men.
