Mazmur 39:4-5

39:4 “O Lord, help me understand my mortality

and the brevity of life! ¹ 

Let me realize how quickly my life will pass! ² 

39:5 Look, you make my days short-lived, ³ 

and my life span is nothing from your perspective. ⁴ 

Surely all people, even those who seem secure, are nothing but vapor. ⁵ 

Mazmur 39:11

39:11 You severely discipline people for their sins; ⁶ 

like a moth you slowly devour their strength. ⁷ 

Surely all people are a mere vapor. (Selah)

[39:4]  ¹ tn Heb “Cause me to know, O Lord, my end; and the measure of my days, what it is!”

[39:4]  ² tn Heb “Let me know how transient I am!”

[39:5]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “is like nothing before you.”

[39:5]  ⁵ 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.”

[39:11]  ⁶ tn “with punishments on account of sin you discipline a man.”

[39:11]  ⁷ tc Heb “you cause to dissolve, like a moth, his desired [thing].” The translation assumes an emendation of חֲמוּדוֹ (khamudo, “his desirable [thing]”) to חֶמְדוֹ (khemdo, “his loveliness” [or “beauty”]), a reading that is supported by a few medieval Hebrew mss.