Psalms 78:39
in Psalms 78He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
KJV
For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
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This verse in Psalms 78
Commentary
10 notes on this verseHe remembered that they were but flesh - Weak mortals. He took their feeble perishing state always into consideration, and knew how much they needed the whole of their state of probation; and therefore he bore with them to the uttermost. How merciful is God! A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again - I believe this to be a bad translation and may be productive of error; as if when a man dies his being were ended, and death were an eternal sleep. The original is, רוח הולך ולא ישוב ruach holech velo yashub: and the translation should be, “The spirit goeth away, and it doth not return.” The present life is the state of probation; when therefore the flesh - the body, fails, the spirit goeth away into the eternal world, and returneth not hither again. Now God, being full of compassion, spared them, that their salvation might be accomplished before they went into that state where there is no change; where the pure are pure still, and the defiled are defiled still. All the Versions are right; but the polyglot translator of the Syriac, rocho, has falsely put ventus, wind, instead of spiritus, soul or spirit. The Arabic takes away all ambiguity: “He remembered that they were flesh; and a spirit which, when it departs, does not again return.” The human being is composed of flesh and spirit, or body and soul; these are easily separated, and, when separated, the body turns to dust, and the spirit returns no more to animate it in a state of probation. Homer has a saying very like that of the psalmist: - Ανδρος δε ψυχη παλιν ελθειν ουτε ληἱστη, Ουθ’ ἑλετη, επει αρ κεν αμειψεται ἑρκος οδοντων. IL. […]
This site's exposition
they kept on sinning
on Psalms 78:32-39
They kept on sinning, and when He slew them they sought Him, then remembered that God was their Rock. Their repentance reached the mouth and stopped, and their hearts stayed disloyal to His covenant. He forgave them anyway, remembering they were flesh.
This site's exposition
a passing breeze that does not return
Charles Spurgeon set the two memories side by side: Israel forgot God, and God remembered they were flesh. He saw God taking their frailty as a reason for mercy. Adam Clarke preferred to render the Hebrew ruach as spirit, a spirit that goes away and does not return.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"And He remembered that they are flesh, a spirit going and not returning" [Psalm 78:39]. Therefore calling them and pitying them through His grace, He called them back Himself, because of themselves they could not return. For how does flesh return, "a spirit walking and not turning back," while a weight of evil deserts does weigh it down unto the lowest and far places of evil, save through the election of grace?...For thus also is solved this no unimportant question, how it is written in the Proverbs, when the Scripture was speaking of the way of iniquity, "all they that walk in her shall not return." [Proverbs 2:19] For it has been so spoken as if all ungodly men were to be despaired of: but the Scripture did only commend grace; for of himself man is able to walk in that way, but is not able of himself to return, except when called back by grace.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), and now, of late, had removed the judgments they had brought upon themselves, and brought them under a happy establishment both in church and state,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
For he remembered that they were but flesh,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Though there were partial reformations after chastisement, and God, in pity, withdrew His hand for a time, yet their general conduct was rebellious, and He was thus provoked to waste and destroy them, by long and fruitless wandering in the desert.
For he remembered that they were but flesh. They were forgetful of God, but he was mindful of them. He knew that they were made of earthy, frail, corruptible material, and therefore he dealt leniently with them. Though in this he saw no excuse for their sin, yet he constrained it into a reason for mercy; the Lord is ever ready to discover some plea or other upon which he may have compassion. A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again. Man is but a breath, gone never to return. Spirit and wind are in this alike, so far as our humanity is concerned; they pass and cannot be recalled. What a nothing is our life. How gracious on the Lord's part to make man's insignificance an argument for staying his wrath.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
For he remembered that they were but flesh. They were forgetful of God, but he was mindful of them. He knew that they were made of earthy, frail, corruptible material, and therefore he dealt leniently with them. Though in this he saw no excuse for their sin, yet he constrained it into a reason for mercy; the Lord is ever ready to discover some plea or other upon which he may have compassion. A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again. Man is but a breath, gone never to return.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For he remembered that they were but flesh - That they were human; that they were weak; that they were prone to err; that they were liable to fall into temptation. In his dealings with them he took into view their fallen nature; their training; their temptations; their trials; their weaknesses; and he judged them accordingly. Compare Psa 103:14. So it was with the Saviour in his treatment of his disciples, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak,” Mat 26:41. God will judge people as they are; he will not in his judgments forget that they are people, and that they are weak and feeble. People often judge their fellow-men with much more harshness, with much less allowance for their infirmities and weaknesses, than God shows in his dealings with mankind. And yet such are the very people who are most ready to blame God for his judgments. If God acted on the principle and in the manner according to which they act, they could hope for no mercy at his hand. It is well for them that there is not one like themselves on the throne of the universe. A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again - Which blows by us, and is gone forever. What a striking description is this of man! How true of an individual! How true of a generation! How true of the race at large! God remembers this when he thinks of people, and he deals with them accordingly. He is not harsh and severe, but kind and compassionate. To man, a being so feeble - to the human race, so frail - to the generations of that race, so transitory, so soon passing off the stage of life - he is ever willing to show compassion. He does not make use of his great power to crush them; he prefers to manifest his mercy in saving them.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַ֭יִּזְכֹּר | vaiyizkor | and he remembered | H2142 → | 230 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| בָשָׂ֣ר | vasar | [were] flesh | H1320 → | 270 times |
| הֵ֑מָּה | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| ר֥וּחַ | ruach | a wind | H7307 → | 378 times |
| ה֝וֹלֵ֗ךְ | holekh | [which] goes | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָשֽׁוּב׃ | yashuv | it returns | H7725 → | 1056 times |
וַ֭יִּזְכֹּרand he remembered
vaiyizkorH2142 →230 times
כִּי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
בָשָׂ֣ר[were] flesh
vasarH1320 →270 times
הֵ֑מָּהthey
hemahH1992 →553 times
ר֥וּחַa wind
ruachH7307 →378 times
ה֝וֹלֵ֗ךְ[which] goes
holekhH1980 →1546 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יָשֽׁוּב׃it returns
yashuvH7725 →1056 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
James 4:14You 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.
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,
- 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
- 1 John 2:17
The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever.
- Psalms 102:3
For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers.
- Job 7:6–7
My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.
- 1 Peter 1:24
Through
Genesis 6:3So the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days shall be 120 years.”
it leads to
- Nehemiah 9:30
You were patient with them for many years, and Your Spirit admonished them through Your prophets. Yet they would not listen, so You gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.
- Isaiah 63:10
But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.
- 1 Peter 3:18–20
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,
- Nehemiah 9:30
Where this verse is studied
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About Psalms
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 78; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.