American Standard Version
Psalms 39:5
5Behold, thou hast made my daysas handbreadths;And my life-time is as nothing before thee:Surely every man at his best estate is altogether vanity.[Selah
Psalms 39:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.
- New International Version (NIV)You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure.
- English Standard Version (ESV)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
- New King James Version (NKJV)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
Context of Psalms 39:5
3My heart was hot within me; While I was musing the fire burned; Then spake I with my tongue: 4Jehovah, make me to know mine end, And the measure of my days, what it is; Let me know how frail I am. Behold, thou hast made my daysas handbreadths; And my life-time is as nothing before thee: Surely every man at his best estate is altogether vanity. [Selah 6Surely every man walketh in a vain show; Surely they are disquieted in vain: He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them. 7And now, Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in thee.
Read all of Psalms 39Psalms 39:5 word by word
הִנֵּ֤ה טְפָח֨וֹת׀ נָ֘תַ֤תָּה יָמַ֗י וְחֶלְדִּ֣י כְאַ֣יִן נֶגְדֶּ֑ךָ אַ֥ךְ כָּֽל־הֶ֥בֶל כָּל־אָ֝דָ֗ם נִצָּ֥ב סֶֽלָה׃Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Psalms 39:5
- Psalms 90:4For a thousand years in thy sight Are but as yesterday when it is past, And as a watch in the night.
- Genesis 47:9And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years: few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
- Job 7:6My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, And are spent without hope.
- Job 9:25Now my days are swifter than a post: They flee away, they see no good.
- Job 14:1Man, that is born of a woman, Is of few days, and full of trouble.
- James 4:14whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. What is your life? For ye are a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
- Psalms 89:47Oh remember how short my time is: For what vanity hast thou created all the children of men!
- 2 Peter 3:8But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
- Psalms 39:11When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, Thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: Surely every man is vanity. [Selah
- Psalms 62:9Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: In the balances they will go up; They are together lighter than vanity.
- Psalms 144:4Man is like to vanity: His days are as a shadow that passeth away.
- Ecclesiastes 1:2Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; vanity of vanities, all is vanity.
- Ecclesiastes 2:11Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do; and, behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.
- Isaiah 40:17All the nations are as nothing before him; they are accounted by him as less than nothing, and vanity.
Commentaries on Psalms 39:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5My days as a handbreadth - My life is but a span; . 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 - נצב אדם כל col adam nitstab, "every man that exists, is vanity." All his projects, plans, schemes, etc., soon come to nothing. His body also moulders with the dust, and shortly passes both from the sight and remembrance of men.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5Behold, 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…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4-5how fleeting my life is: This perspective comes out of suffering (see Psalms 78:39; 89:47–48; 90:3–10). The human lifetime is but a moment to God (Psalm 90:4), as temporary as a breath (see Psalms 39:11; 144:4).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 4-74-7. Some take these words as those of fretting, but they are not essentially such. The tinge of discontent arises from the character of his suppressed emotions. But, addressing God, they are softened and subdued. make me to know mine end--experimentally appreciate. how frail I am--literally, "when I shall cease."Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 39:5
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 39
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- The Treasury of David
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
American Standard Version — 1901 — Public Domain
Commentaries