Mazmur 37:2

37:2 For they will quickly dry up like grass,

and wither away like plants. ¹ 

Mazmur 90:5-6

90:5 You bring their lives to an end and they “fall asleep.” ² 

In the morning they are like the grass that sprouts up;

90:6 in the morning it glistens ³  and sprouts up;

at evening time it withers ⁴  and dries up.

Mazmur 92:7

92:7 When the wicked sprout up like grass,

and all the evildoers glisten, ⁵ 

it is so that they may be annihilated. ⁶ 

Mazmur 103:15

103:15 A person’s life is like grass. ⁷ 

Like a flower in the field it flourishes,

Mazmur 129:6

129:6 May they be like the grass on the rooftops

which withers before one can even pull it up, ⁸ 

[37:2]  ¹ tn Heb “like green vegetation.”

[90:5]  ² tn Heb “you bring them to an end [with] sleep.” The Hebrew verb זָרַם (zaram) has traditionally been taken to mean “flood” or “overwhelm” (note the Polel form of a root זרם in Ps 77:17, where the verb is used of the clouds pouring down rain). However, the verb form here is Qal, not Polel, and is better understood as a homonym meaning “to make an end [of life].” The term שֵׁנָה (shenah, “sleep”) can be taken as an adverbial accusative; it is a euphemism here for death (see Ps 76:5-6).

[90:6]  ³ tn Or “flourishes.” The verb is used of a crown shining in Ps 132:18. Perhaps here in Ps 90:6 it refers to the glistening of the grass in the morning dew.

[90:6]  ⁴ tn The Polel form of this verb occurs only here. Perhaps the form should be emended to a Qal (which necessitates eliminating the final lamed [ל] as dittographic). See Ps 37:2.

[92:7]  ⁵ tn Or “flourish.”

[92:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “in order that they might be destroyed permanently.”

[92:7]  sn God allows the wicked to prosper temporarily so that he might reveal his justice. When the wicked are annihilated, God demonstrates that wickedness does not pay off.

[103:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “[as for] mankind, like grass [are] his days.” The Hebrew noun אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh) is used here generically of human beings. What is said is true of all mankind.

[129:6]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew verb שָׁלַף (shalaf) normally means “to draw [a sword]” or “to pull.” BDB 1025 s.v. suggests the meaning “to shoot up” here, but it is more likely that the verb here means “to pluck; to pull up,” a nuance attested for this word in later Hebrew and Aramaic (see Jastrow 1587 s.v. שָׁלַף).