Psalms 39:5
in Psalms 39You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Behold, thou hast made my days as handbreadths; And my life-time is as nothing before thee: Surely every man at his best estate is altogether vanity. [Selah
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.
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This verse in Psalms 39
Commentary
5 notes on this verseGod, who knows precisely the allotted days of each one of us, regards nothing as immeasurable. His knowledge embraces the measure of all things. To him nothing is beyond his understanding, nothing is unweighed, nothing is unmeasured, nothing is unnumbered. He says, "The very hairs of your head have been numbered." … We know that God is said to have measured the heavens with the palm of his hand22—the palm, from thumb to little finger, being the span by which a thing is measured and its length ascertained.
This site's exposition
the measure of my days
on Psalms 39:4-6
The request is for the measure of his days, a lifetime set against the width of a hand. Each man at his best is a breath, and he goes about like a phantom. The riches he heaps up go to someone he cannot name.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
(2.) Man's life on earth is vain and of no value, and therefore it is folly to be fond of it and wisdom to make sure of a better life. Adam is Abel-- man is vanity, in his present state. He is not what he seems to be, has not what he promised himself.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth. Upon consideration, the psalmist finds little room to bewail the length of life, but rather to bemoan its shortness. What changeful creatures we are! One moment we cry to be rid of existence, and the next instant beg to have it prolonged! A handbreadth is one of the shortest natural measures, being the breadth of four fingers; such is the brevity of life, by divine appointment; God hath made it so, fixing the period in wisdom.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
on Psalms 39:4-7
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." 5, 6. His prayer is answered in his obtaining an impressive view of the vanity of the life of all men, and their transient state. Their pomp is a mere image, and their wealth is gathered they know not for whom.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הִנֵּ֤ה | hineh | here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| טְפָח֨וֹת׀ | tefachot | handbreadths | H2947 → | |
| נָ֘תַ֤תָּה | natatah | you have made | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| יָמַ֗י | yamai | days my | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| וְחֶלְדִּ֣י | vecheldi | and lifespan my | H2465 → | 5 times |
| כְאַ֣יִן | kheayin | [is] like nothing | H369 → | 789 times |
| נֶגְדֶּ֑ךָ | negdekha | before you | H5048 → | 151 times |
| אַ֥ךְ | ʾakh | [is] only | H389 → | 161 times |
| כָּֽל־ | kal- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הֶ֥בֶל | hevel | vanity | H1892 → | 73 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אָ֝דָ֗ם | ʾadam | humankind | H120 → | 551 times |
| נִצָּ֥ב | nitzav | [which] stands | H5324 → | 75 times |
| סֶֽלָה׃ | selah | Selah | H5542 → | 74 times |
הִנֵּ֤הhere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
טְפָח֨וֹת׀handbreadths
tefachotH2947 →
נָ֘תַ֤תָּהyou have made
natatahH5414 →2011 times
יָמַ֗יdays my
yamaiH3117 →2304 times
וְחֶלְדִּ֣יand lifespan my
vecheldiH2465 →5 times
כְאַ֣יִן[is] like nothing
kheayinH369 →789 times
נֶגְדֶּ֑ךָbefore you
negdekhaH5048 →151 times
אַ֥ךְ[is] only
ʾakhH389 →161 times
כָּֽל־all
kal-H3605 →5413 times
הֶ֥בֶלvanity
hevelH1892 →73 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
אָ֝דָ֗םhumankind
ʾadamH120 →551 times
נִצָּ֥ב[which] stands
nitzavH5324 →75 times
סֶֽלָה׃Selah
selahH5542 →74 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 62:9Lowborn men are but a vapor, the exalted but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.
it leads to
- Isaiah 40:17
All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.
- Isaiah 40:15
Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered a speck of dust on the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
- Psalms 118:9
It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.
- Psalms 39:11
You discipline and correct a man for his iniquity, consuming like a moth what he holds dear; surely each man is but a vapor. Selah
- Isaiah 40:17
Through
Ecclesiastes 2:11Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to…
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 1:14
I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.
- 1 John 2:16–17
For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.
- Ecclesiastes 1:3
What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?
- Ecclesiastes 1:14
Through
Psalms 144:4Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.
it leads to
- Psalms 102:11
My days are like lengthening shadows, and I wither away like grass.
- Psalms 102:11
About Psalms
This page draws on Ambrose of Milan, Commentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.