New English Translation
Psalms 144:3
3O Lord, of what importance is the human race, that you should notice them? Of what importance is mankind, that you should be concerned about them?
Psalms 144:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Lord, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!
- New International Version (NIV)Lord, what are human beings that you care for them, mere mortals that you think of them?
- English Standard Version (ESV)O Lord, what is man that you regard him, or the son of man that you think of him?
- New King James Version (NKJV)Lord, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You are mindful of him?
Context of Psalms 144:3
1The Lord, my protector, deserves praise – the one who trains my hands for battle, and my fingers for war, 2who loves me and is my stronghold, my refuge and my deliverer, my shield and the one in whom I take shelter, who makes nations submit to me. O Lord, of what importance is the human race, that you should notice them? Of what importance is mankind, that you should be concerned about them? 4People are like a vapor, their days like a shadow that disappears. 5O Lord, make the sky sink and come down! Touch the mountains and make them smolder!
Read all of Psalms 144Psalms 144:3 word by word
יְֽהוָ֗ה מָה־אָ֭דָם וַתֵּדָעֵ֑הוּ בֶּן־אֱ֝נ֗וֹשׁ וַֽתְּחַשְּׁבֵֽהוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 144:3
- Psalms 8:4Of what importance is the human race, that you should notice them? Of what importance is mankind, that you should pay attention to them,
- Job 7:17“What is mankind that you make so much of them, and that you pay attention to them?
- Job 16:14He breaks through against me, time and time again; he rushes against me like a warrior.
- Hebrews 2:6Instead someone testified somewhere: “What is man that you think of him or the son of man that you care for him?
- Psalms 146:3Do not trust in princes, or in human beings, who cannot deliver!
Commentaries on Psalms 144:3
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Lord, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him? - The sentiment here is the same as in Psalm 8:4, though the language is not precisely the same. See the notes at that passage. The word rendered “that thou takest knowledge of him,” means here to take notice of; to regard. The idea is, It is amazing that a being so insignificant as man should be an object of interest to God, or that One so great should pay any attention to him and to his affairs. In…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. 3what is man What are Persia [Esau, acc. to mss.] and Ishmael before You that You know them to lavish greatness upon them?Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 144:3
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
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Commentaries