Psalms 102:11
in Psalms 102My days are like lengthening shadows, and I wither away like grass.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
My days are like a shadow that declineth; And I am withered like grass.
KJV
My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.
⋯
This verse in Psalms 102
Commentary
11 notes on this verseMy days have declined like a shadow. If my days, how much more my nights? that is, if the light, how much more the darkness? And I have withered like grass. For as grass, so man passes away, and is dried up.
This site's exposition
my enemies taunt me
on Psalms 102:8-11
The taunting is public and lasts all day. Ashes belong to mourning, and here they have become his bread, his drink mixed with tears. He lays the cause on God's own indignation and wrath, and his days lengthen into evening shadows.
This site's exposition
My days are like lengthening shadows
Lengthening shadows mark the last hour of the day, as Jeremiah 6:4 says of the evening. Psalm 109:23 uses the same picture for a life fading away. The withered grass of verse 4 returns to close the lament.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"My days have declined like a shadow" [Psalm 102:11]....He had said above, "My days are consumed away like smoke;" and he now says, "My days have declined like a shadow." In this shadow, day must be recognised; in this shadow, light must be discerned; lest afterward it be said in late and fruitless repentance, "What has pride profited us? Or what good has riches with our vaunting brought us? All those things are passed away like a shadow." [Wisdom 5:8-9] Say at this season, all things will pass away like a shadow, and you may not pass away like a shadow. "My days have declined like a shadow, and I am withered like grass." For he had said above, "my heart is smitten down, and I am withered like grass." But the grass bedewed with the Saviour's blood will flourish afresh. "I have withered like grass;" I, that is, man, after that disobedience; this I have suffered from Your just judgment: but what are You?
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
If we be thus brought low by bodily distempers, let us not think it strange; the body is like grass, weak and of the earth, no wonder then that it withers. He was very melancholy and of a sorrowful spirit. He was so taken up with the thoughts of his troubles that he forgot to eat his bread (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
15 So the heathen shall fear the name of the L ORD , and all the kings of the earth thy glory. 16 When the L ORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory. 17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:91%@v15-17
My days are like a shadow that declineth,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
My days are like a shadow that declineth. His days were but a shadow at best, but now they seem to be like a shadow which was passing away. A shadow is unsubstantial enough, how feeble a thing must a declining shadow be? No expression could more forcibly set forth his extreme feebleness. And I am withered like grass. He was like grass, blasted by a parching wind, or cut down with a scythe, and then left to be dried up by the burning heat of the sun.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
My days are like a shadow that declineth. His days were but a shadow at best, but now they seem to be like a shadow which was passing away. A shadow is unsubstantial enough, how feeble a thing must a declining shadow be? No expression could more forcibly set forth his extreme feebleness. And I am withered like grass. He was like grass, blasted by a parching wind, or cut down with a scythe, and then left to be dried up by the burning heat of the sun. There are times when through depression of spirit a man feels as if all life were gone from him, and existence had become merely a breathing death. Heart-break has a marvellously withering influence over our entire system; our flesh at its best is but as grass, and when it is wounded with sharp sorrows, its beauty fades, and it becomes a shrivelled, dried, uncomely thing.
My days are like a shadow that declineth - Or rather, My days decline like the shadow. I have passed my meridian, and the sun of my prosperity is about to set for ever. There may be here an allusion to the declination of the sun towards the south, which, by shortening their days, would greatly lengthen their nights. Similar to the exclamation of a contemporary prophet, Jer 8:20: “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” There is now scarcely any human hope of our deliverance.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
My days are like a shadow that declineth - The shadow made by the gnomon on a sun-dial, which marks the hours as they pass. See 2Ki 20:10. The idea is that the shadow made by the descending sun was about to disappear altogether. It had become less distinct and clear, and it would soon vanish. It would seem from this, that the dial was so made that the shadow indicating the hour ascended when the sun ascended, and declined when the sun went down. See the notes at Isa 38:8. And I am withered like grass - See the notes at Psa 102:4.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
for You picked me up First You picked me up and now You cast me down from heaven to the earth, and if You had not picked me up first, my disgrace would not be so great.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Like a lengthening shadow At eventide, when the shadows lengthen, and when it becomes dark, they are not recognizable, but progressively disappear.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יָ֭מַי | yamai | days my | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| כְּצֵ֣ל | ketzel | [are] like a shadow | H6738 → | 49 times |
| נָט֑וּי | natui | extended | H5186 → | 214 times |
| וַ֝אֲנִ֗י | vaani | and I | H589 → | 874 times |
| כָּעֵ֥שֶׂב | kaesev | like <the> vegetation | H6212 → | 33 times |
| אִיבָֽשׁ׃ | ʾivash | I am withering | H3001 → | 59 times |
יָ֭מַיdays my
yamaiH3117 →2304 times
כְּצֵ֣ל[are] like a shadow
ketzelH6738 →49 times
נָט֑וּיextended
natuiH5186 →214 times
וַ֝אֲנִ֗יand I
vaaniH589 →874 times
כָּעֵ֥שֶׂבlike <the> vegetation
kaesevH6212 →33 times
אִיבָֽשׁ׃I am withering
ʾivashH3001 →59 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
1 Peter 1:24For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
it leads to
- Isaiah 40:6–8
A voice says, “Cry out!” And I asked, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 103:15
As for man, his days are like grass— he blooms like a flower of the field;
- James 1:10–11
But the one who is rich should exult in his low position, because he will pass away like a flower of the field.
- Isaiah 40:6–8
Through
Job 14:2Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 1:24
For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 8:9
For we were born yesterday and know nothing; our days on earth are but a shadow.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- James 4:14
You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 103:15–16
As for man, his days are like grass— he blooms like a flower of the field;
- 1 Peter 1:24
Through
James 1:10But the one who is rich should exult in his low position, because he will pass away like a flower of the field.
it leads to
- Job 14:2
Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 14:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Psalms
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 102; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 4; Jerome, Homily 28, on Psalm 101; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.