IiNdumiso 90:9

Izhibhalo Ezingcwele

9 Ngokuba yonke imihla yethu isangene ngokuphuphuma komsindo wakho, Siyiphelisile iminyaka yethu njengentsebezo.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

For: Psalms 78:33

passed: Heb. turned

we spend: The Vulgate has, Anni nostri sicut aranea mediatabuntur, "Our years pass away like those of the spider." Our plans and operations are like the spider's web. Life is as frail, and the thread of it as brittle, as one of those which constitute the well-wrought and curious, but fragile habitation of that insect. All the versions have the word spider, but it is not found in any Hebrew manuscripts, or edition yet collated. The Hebrew might be rendered, "We consume our lives with a groan," kemo hegeh.

a tale: Heb. a meditation, Psalms 90:4, Psalms 39:5

Reciprocal: Numbers 14:28 - As truly Deuteronomy 2:14 - until all the generation 1 Chronicles 29:15 - our days Job 5:7 - man Job 7:8 - thine eyes Job 9:25 - they flee away Psalms 90:7 - For we Ecclesiastes 1:4 - One generation Ecclesiastes 2:3 - all Ecclesiastes 12:3 - strong 1 John 2:17 - the world

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For all our days are passed away in thy wrath,.... The life of man is rather measured by days than by months or years; and these are but few, which pass away or "decline" g as the day does towards the evening; see Jeremiah 6:4 or "turn away their face", as the word h may be rendered: they turn their backs upon us, and not the face to us; so that it is a hard thing to get time by the forelock; and these, which is worst of all, pass away in the "wrath" of God. This has a particular reference to the people of Israel in the wilderness, when God had swore in his wrath they should not enter into the land of Canaan, but wander about all their days in the wilderness, and be consumed there; so that their days manifestly passed away under visible marks of the divine displeasure; and this is true of all wicked men, who are by nature children of wrath, and go through the world, and out of it, as such: and even it may be said of man in general; the ailments, diseases, and calamities, that attend the state of infancy and youth; the losses, crosses, and disappointments, vexations and afflictions, which wait upon man in riper years; and the evils and infirmities of old age, do abundantly confirm this truth: none but God's people can, in any sense, be excepted from it, on whom no wrath comes, being loved with an everlasting love; and yet these, in their own apprehensions, have frequently the wrath of God upon them, and pass many days under a dreadful sense of it:

we spend our years as a tale that is told; or as a "meditation" y a thought of the heart, which quickly passes away; or as a "word" z, as others, which is soon pronounced and gone; or as an assemblage of words, a tale or story told, a short and pleasant one; for long tales are not listened to; and the pleasanter they are, the shorter the time seems to be in which they are told: the design of the metaphor is to set forth the brevity, and also the vanity, of human life; for in tales there are often many trifling and vain things, as well as untruths told; men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree a lie, in every state; and, in their best state, they are altogether vanity: a tale is a mere amusement; affects for a while, if attended to, and then is lost in oblivion; and such is human life: in a tale there is oftentimes a mixture, something pleasant, and something tragic; such changes are there in life, which is filled up with different scenes of prosperity and adversity: and perhaps this phrase may point at the idle and unprofitable way and manner in which the years of life are spent, like that of consuming time by telling idle stories; some of them spent in youthful lusts and pleasures; others in an immoderate pursuit of the world, and the things of it; very few in a religious way, and these with great imperfection, and to very little purpose and profit; and particularly point to the children of Israel in the wilderness, who how they spent their time for thirty eight years there, we have no tale nor story of it. The Targum is,

"we have consumed the days of our life as the breath or vapour of the mouth in winter,''

which is very visible, and soon passes away; see James 4:14.

g פנו "declinaverunt", Pagninus, Montanus; "declinant", Munster, Muis. h "Deflectunt faciem", Gejerus, so Ainsworth. y כמו הגה "sicut cogitationem", Gejerus, Michaelis; so Ainsworth. z "Sicut sermonem", Pagninus, Montanus; "instar locutionis", Musculus, Vatablus; "dicto citius", Tigurine version.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For all our days are passed away in thy wrath - Margin, “turned.” The Hebrew word - פנה pânâh - means to “turn;” then, to turn to or “from” anyone; and hence, to turn away as if to flee or depart. Here it means that our days seem to turn from us; to give the back to us; to be unwilling to remain with us; to leave us. This seems to be the fruit or result of the anger of God, as if he were unwilling that our days should attend us any longer. Or, it is as if he took away our days, or caused them to turn away, because he was angry and was unwilling that we should any longer enjoy them. The cutting off of life in any manner is a proof of the divine displeasure; and in every instance death should be regarded as a new illustration of the fact that the race is guilty.

We spend our years as a tale that is told - Margin, “meditation.” The Hebrew word - הגה hegeh - means properly

(a) a muttering, or growling, as of thunder;

(b) a sighing or moaning;

(c) a meditation, thought.

It means here, evidently, thought; that is, life passes away as rapidly as thought. It has no permanency. It makes no impression. Thought is no sooner come than it is gone. So rapid, so fleeting, so unsubstantial is life. The Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate in some unaccountable way render this “as a spider.” The translation in our common version, “as a tale that is told,” is equally unauthorized, as there is nothing corresponding to this in the Hebrew. The image in the original is very striking and beautiful. Life passes with the rapidity of thought!

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 90:9. We spend our years as a tale — The Vulgate has: Anni nostri sicut aranea meditabuntur; "Our years pass away like those of the spider." Our plans and operations are like the spider's web; life is as frail, and the thread of it as brittle, as one of those that constitute the well-wrought and curious, but fragile, habitation of that insect. All the Versions have the word spider; but it neither appears in the Hebrew, nor in any of its MSS. which have been collated.

My old Psalter has a curious paraphrase here: "Als the iran (spider) makes vayne webe for to take flese (flies) with gile, swa our yeres ere ockupide in ydel and swikel castes about erthly thynges; and passes with outen frute of gude werks, and waste in ydel thynkyns." This is too true a picture of most lives.

But the Hebrew is different from all the Versions. "We consume our years (כמו הגה kemo hegeh) like a groan." We live a dying, whining, complaining life, and at last a groan is its termination! How amazingly expressive!