Revised Literal Translation
Psalms 144:4
4Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.
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
2My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me. 3Yhwh, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him! Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away. 5Bow thy heavens, O Yhwh, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. 6Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them.
Read all of Psalms 144Psalms 144:4 word by word
אָ֭דָם לַהֶ֣בֶל דָּמָ֑ה יָ֝מָ֗יו כְּצֵ֣ל עוֹבֵֽר׃Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Psalms 144:4
- Psalms 39:5Behold, 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.
- Psalms 62:9Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.
- Psalms 89:47Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?
- Job 4:19How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?
- Job 14:1Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.
- Ecclesiastes 1:2Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
- Ecclesiastes 12:8Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.
- Psalms 102:11My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.
- Psalms 103:15As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
- Psalms 109:23I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust.
- 2 Samuel 14:14For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.
- 1 Chronicles 29:15For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.
- Job 8:9(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:)
- Ecclesiastes 8:13But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.
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
Revised Literal Translation — © 2018 Michael W. Jones, Sr. — GPL
Commentaries