Psalms 39:5 BSB — MannaFest

Psalms 39:5

You, 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

Parallel translations (2) ▾

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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Commentary

4 voices

Ambrose of Milan

Commentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms (397)

God, 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.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

(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

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Treasury of David, Vol. 2 (1870)

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.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

14 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
הִנֵּ֤ה	hi.Neh	here!	H2009 →
טְפָח֨וֹת׀	te.fa.Chot	handbreadths	H2947 →
נָ֘תַ֤תָּה	na.Ta.tah	you have made	H5414 →
יָמַ֗י	ya.Mai	days my	H3117 →
וְחֶלְדִּ֣י	ve.chel.Di	and lifespan my	H2465 →
כְאַ֣יִן	khe.'A.yin	[is] like nothing	H369 →
נֶגְדֶּ֑ךָ	neg.De.kha	before you	H5048 →
אַ֥ךְ	'akh	[is] only	H389 →
כָּֽל־	kal-	all	H3605 →
הֶ֥בֶל	He.vel	vanity	H1892 →
כָּל־	kol-	all	H3605 →
אָ֝דָ֗ם	'a.Dam	humankind	H120 →
נִצָּ֥ב	ni.Tzav	[which] stands	H5324 →
סֶֽלָה׃	Se.lah	Selah	H5542 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Psalms 62:9
Lowborn men are but a vapor, the exalted but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.
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
Through
Ecclesiastes 2:11
Yet 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…
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?
Through
Psalms 144:4
Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.
leads to
- Psalms 102:11
  My days are like lengthening shadows, and I wither away like grass.

About Psalms

Saul attempts to kill David (the harpist of Israel) — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Psalms: the study guide →Read chapter 39 →The featured study →

Continue: Psalms 39 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

06About Psalms

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

About Psalms