EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Psalms 144:4
4People soon pass away, just like a breath. Their life is like a shadow that soon goes.
Psalms 144:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.
- New International Version (NIV)They are like a breath; their days are like a fleeting shadow.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Man is like a breath; His days are like a passing shadow.
Context of Psalms 144:4
2You always love me. You are the strong place where I am safe. You save me from the power of my enemies. You are like a shield for me. I know that I am safe with you. You give me power over nations. 3Lord, why do you even think about men and women? Why do you take care of humans? People soon pass away, just like a breath. Their life is like a shadow that soon goes. 5Lord, open up the heavens! Leave your home and come down to earth! Touch the mountains so that they burn with smoke. 6Send bright lightning to frighten your enemies. Shoot your arrows at them so that they run away.
Read all of Psalms 144Psalms 144:4 word by word
אָ֭דָם לַהֶ֣בֶל דָּמָ֑ה יָ֝מָ֗יו כְּצֵ֣ל עוֹבֵֽר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 144:4
- Psalms 39:5Yes, you have made the days of my life only a few! The time that I live seems very short to you. Human life is only a breath, even for those who seem to be strong. Selah.
- Psalms 62:9People are only as light as a breath! Whoever they are, they are not important. If you try to weigh them, all together, they weigh less than a breath of air.
- Psalms 89:47Remember that my life is very short! People are weak and their lives seem useless. Why do you make people like that?
- Job 4:19God used clay to make bodies for us who are humans. We came from the dust of the earth. We are as weak as moths.
- Job 14:1Everyone that a woman gives birth to lives only for a short time. The days of his life are full of trouble.
- Ecclesiastes 1:2The Teacher says, ‘Nothing has a purpose. Nothing that ever happens has a purpose.’
- Ecclesiastes 12:8So I, the Teacher, say, ‘All these things have no purpose. We cannot understand why they happen.’
- Psalms 102:11My days are disappearing, like a shadow in the evening. Like dry grass, I will soon die.
- Psalms 103:15A person's life is like grass that quickly dies. He is strong only for a short time, like wild flowers in a field.
- Psalms 109:23I will soon be gone, like a shadow that disappears in the evening. I am like an insect that the wind blows away.
- 2 Samuel 14:14We must all die one day. When that happens, we are like water that is poured on the ground. We cannot pick it up again. But God does not remove our lives from us. Instead, he finds a way to bring us back to him when we have gone far away.
- 1 Chronicles 29:15We are like strangers and foreign people who live in your world. Our ancestors also lived in that way. We live here only for a short time and then we disappear, like a shadow. We know that we will die one day.
- Job 8:9We have not lived for very long, so we do not know very much. Our lives are like shadows that quickly disappear.
- Ecclesiastes 8:13Wicked people will surely not enjoy a good life. Their lives will be like a shadow that quickly disappears. They do not respect God, so they will not live for a long time.
Commentaries on Psalms 144:4
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Man is like to vanity - See the notes at Psalm 39:5-6; Psalm 62:9. The idea here is, that man can be compared only with that which is utterly vain - which is emptiness - which is nothing. His days are as a shadow that passeth away - See the notes at Psalm 102:11: “My days are like a shadow that declineth.” The idea is essentially the same. It is, that as a shadow has no substance, and that as it moves along constantly as the sun declines, until it…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-4what is man: The same question in Psalm 8:4–6 leads to the answer that humans are only mortal (they do not live forever), yet God gives them honor and responsibility to rule. The psalmist focuses on how brief and fragile human life is. He describes it as temporary and passing quickly (see Psalms 90:3, 7–10; 102:11; 109:23; 146:4).Read the comment
- Rashi on Tanakh · v. 4his days are as a fleeting shadow Solomon said (Ecc. 6:12): “that he do them like a shadow,” but he did not explain whether [this refers to] the shadow of a palm or the shadow of a wall, which are permanent. His father already explained, “as a fleeting shadow,” the shadow of a flying bird.Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 144:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 144
- 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
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
EasyEnglish Bible 2018 — Copyright © MissionAssist 2018
Commentaries