Mazmur 39:5-6

39:5 Look, you make my days short-lived, ¹ 

and my life span is nothing from your perspective. ² 

Surely all people, even those who seem secure, are nothing but vapor. ³ 

39:6 Surely people go through life as mere ghosts. ⁴ 

Surely they accumulate worthless wealth

without knowing who will eventually haul it away.” ⁵ 

Mazmur 62:9-10

62:9 Men are nothing but a mere breath;

human beings are unreliable. ⁶ 

When they are weighed in the scales,

all of them together are lighter than air. ⁷ 

62:10 Do not trust in what you can gain by oppression! ⁸ 

Do not put false confidence in what you can gain by robbery! ⁹ 

If wealth increases, do not become attached to it! ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 144:4

144:4 People ¹¹  are like a vapor,

their days like a shadow that disappears. ¹² 

[39:5]  ¹ tn Heb “Look, handbreadths you make my days.” The “handbreadth” (equivalent to the width of four fingers) was one of the smallest measures used by ancient Israelites. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 309.

[39:5]  ² tn Heb “is like nothing before you.”

[39:5]  ³ tn Heb “surely, all vapor [is] all mankind, standing firm.” Another option is to translate, “Surely, all mankind, though seemingly secure, is nothing but a vapor.”

[39:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “surely, as an image man walks about.” The preposition prefixed to “image” indicates identity here.

[39:6]  sn People go through life (Heb “man walks about”). “Walking” is here used as a metaphor for living. The point is that human beings are here today, gone tomorrow. They have no lasting substance and are comparable to mere images or ghosts.

[39:6]  ⁵ tc Heb “Surely [in] vain they strive, he accumulates and does not know who gathers them.” The MT as it stands is syntactically awkward. The verb forms switch from singular (“walks about”) to plural (“they strive”) and then back to singular (“accumulates and does not know”), even though the subject (generic “man”) remains the same. Furthermore there is no object for the verb “accumulates” and no plural antecedent for the plural pronoun (“them”) attached to “gathers.” These problems can be removed if one emends the text from הֶבֶל יֶהֱמָיוּן (hevel yehemaun, “[in] vain they strive”) to הֶבְלֵי הָמוֹן (hevley hamon, “vain things of wealth”). This assumes a misdivision in the MT and a virtual dittography of vav (ו) between the mem and nun of המון. The present translation follows this emendation.

[62:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “only a breath [are] the sons of mankind, a lie [are] the sons of man.” The phrases “sons of mankind” and “sons of man” also appear together in Ps 49:2. Because of the parallel line there, where “rich and poor” are mentioned, a number of interpreters and translators treat these expressions as polar opposites, בְּנֵי אָדָם (bÿney ’adam) referring to the lower classes and בְּנֵי אִישׁ (bÿney ’ish) to higher classes. But usage does not support such a view. The rare phrase בְּנֵי אִישׁ (“sons of man”) appears to refer to human beings in general in its other uses (see Pss 4:2; Lam 3:33). It is better to understand the phrases as synonymous expressions.

[62:9]  ⁷ tn The noun הֶבֶל (hevel), translated “a breath” earlier in the verse, appears again here.

[62:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “do not trust in oppression.” Here “oppression” stands by metonymy for the riches that can be gained by oppressive measures, as the final line of the verse indicates.

[62:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “and in robbery do not place vain hope.” Here “robbery” stands by metonymy for the riches that can be gained by theft, as the next line of the verse indicates.

[62:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[as for] wealth, when it bears fruit, do not set [your] heart [on it].”

[144:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “man,” or “mankind.”

[144:4]  ¹² tn Heb “his days [are] like a shadow that passes away,” that is, like a late afternoon shadow made by the descending sun that will soon be swallowed up by complete darkness. See Ps 102:11.