Psalms 39:4–6
David admits his life is as nothing before God: every human being is only a vapor
Study it word by word4“Make me know, YHWH, my end and the measure of my days, what it is; let me know how fleeting I am.
5Look, as handbreadths you have made my days, and my lifetime is as nothing before you; only a vapor is every human being standing firm. Selah.
6Only as an image does a man walk about; only for vapor are they agitated; he heaps up and does not know who will gather it.
In its context
2I became mute in silence; I kept quiet even from good, and my pain was stirred up.
3My heart grew hot within me; in my murmuring a fire burned; I spoke with my tongue:
…
7And now, what have I waited for, Adonai? My expectation is in you.
8From all my transgressions deliver me; do not make me the reproach of the fool.
Its words in the original
- הוֹדִיעֵhodie· know
Know. Not only having a fact: it is knowing by experience and closely; also recognize, care for, make known. So Hebrew also uses it for the intimate union of a man and his wife ("he knew his wife").
- יְהוָהyehva· YHWH
The personal name of the God of Israel, written in Hebrew with four letters, Y-H-W-H, without vowels. Out of reverence Jews stopped pronouncing it and read "Adonai" (Lord), so many Bibles put "the LORD" or "Jehovah". This translation keeps the four letters. The name is related to the verb "to be" (Exodus 3:14-15). He is not a god other than Elohim: "YHWH Elohim" is the same Creator God, called by his name.
- קִצִּkitsi· end
End; "at the end of a time", "after".
- מִדַּתmidat· measure, size
Measure, size; also a measured portion or a garment.
- יָמַyama· day
Day: the hours of light, or a whole day from one evening to the next. Also an indefinite time or age ("in the day that...", "in those days").
- חָדֵלchadel· fleeting
Fleeting, transient: what lasts a short time and ceases.
- טְפָחוֹתtefachot· handbreadth; coping
Handbreadth: the width of the hand, about 7.5 centimeters. In architecture (1 Kings 7:9), a piece at the top of a wall, perhaps the coping.
- נָתַתָּהnatata· give, put, set
Give, in a very wide sense: hand over, put, place, grant, allow, make something be.
- חֶלְדִּcheldi· lifetime, world
Life as time that passes; the length of a life. Also the world, as something passing.
- נֶגְדֶּnegde· in front of, counterpart
In front of, opposite, before. The full phrase "as in front of him" means someone who corresponds to him, a counterpart.
- הֶבֶלhevel· vanity, breath
Vanity: a breath, an empty thing that is of no use; idols are called this.
- אָדָםadam· human being, man, Adam
The Hebrew word "adam". It has three uses: (1) humanity in general, men and women alike: "human beings" (Genesis 1:27); (2) a particular man; in Genesis 2-4, the first man, "the man"; (3) the personal name of that first man, "Adam". In Hebrew "adam" sounds like "adamah", the ground he was formed from (Genesis 2:7).
- נִצָּבnitsav· stand, set up
Stand, take one's stand; in other forms, set up, place, appoint.
- סֶלָהsela· Selah
Selah: a word found at the end of some stanzas of the psalms. It is probably a direction for the music or a pause; its exact sense is unknown, so it is left in Hebrew.
- צֶלֶםtselem· image
Image: something that represents another, that shows what he is like. The human being was made "in the image of God", the only creature of which this is said. It does not mean that God has a body or that the human being is a god. In other passages the same word names statues and idols, which the Bible forbids.
- יִתְהַלֶּךְyithalech· go, walk
Go, walk, come. Figuratively, the way one lives ("walk with God").
- אִישׁish· man, husband, each
Man, male; with a possessive, husband. Also "each one", "anyone". It is "ish", distinct from "adam" (human being); it is used for the man in contrast with the woman ("ishah").
- יֶהֱמָיוּyehemayu· roar, be in uproar
Make a great noise: roar, rage, be in turmoil. Said of the sea, of a crowd or of a stirred-up city; also of the heart that is moved.
- יִצְבֹּרyitsbor· heap up, store
Heap up, pile up, store.
- אֹסְפָosfa· gather
Gather, bring together; store up; take away. "Be gathered to one's people" is to die.