Psalms 39:6 BSB — MannaFest

Psalms 39:6

Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Surely every man walketh in a vain show; Surely they are disquieted in vain: He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.

KJV

Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.

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Commentary

3 voices

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Treasury of David, Vol. 2 (1870)

Surely every man walketh in a vain shew. Life is but a passing pageant. This alone is sure, that nothing is sure. All around us shadows mock us; we walk among them, and too many live for them as if the mocking images were substantial; acting their borrowed parts with zeal fit only to be spent on realities, and lost upon the phantoms of this passing scene. Worldly men walk like travellers in a mirage, deluded, duped, deceived, soon to be filled with disappointment and despair. Surely they are disquieted in vain.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Before thee - If compared with thee, and with thy everlasting duration. Vain shew - Hebrew. in a shadow or image; in an imaginary rather than a real life: in the pursuit of vain imaginations, in which there is nothing solid or satisfactory: man in and his life, and all his happiness in this world, are rather appearances and dreams, than truths and realities.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

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.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

12 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
אַךְ־	'akh-	only	H389 →
בְּצֶ֤לֶם׀	be.Tze.lem	<in> an image	H6754 →
יִֽתְהַלֶּךְ־	yit.ha.lekh-	he goes about	H1980 →
אִ֗ישׁ	'Ish	a person	H376 →
אַךְ־	'akh-	only	H389 →
הֶ֥בֶל	He.vel	vanity	H1892 →
יֶהֱמָי֑וּן	ye.he.ma.Yun	people are in turmoil !	H1993 →
יִ֝צְבֹּ֗ר	yitz.Bor	he heaps up	H6651 →
וְֽלֹא־	ve.lo'-	and not	H3808 →
יֵדַ֥ע	ye.Da'	he knows	H3045 →
מִי־	mi-	who?	H4310 →
אֹסְפָֽם׃	'o.se.Fam	[will be] gathering them	H622 →

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
Ecclesiastes 12:13
When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man.
leads to
- Deuteronomy 10:12
  And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your…
- Micah 6:8
  He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
- Deuteronomy 6:2
  so that you and your children and grandchildren may fear the LORD your God all the days of your lives by keeping all His statutes and commandments that I give you, and so that…
- Psalms 111:10
  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts gain rich understanding. His praise endures forever!
Through
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.
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 independent paths from here.
- 1 John 2:17
  The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
Through
Ecclesiastes 2:26
To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over…
leads to
- Proverbs 13:22
  A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is passed to the righteous.
- Job 27:16–17
  Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up a wardrobe like clay,

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