Mazmur 90:4

90:4 Yes, ¹  in your eyes a thousand years

are like yesterday that quickly passes,

or like one of the divisions of the nighttime. ² 

Mazmur 90:9

90:9 Yes, ³  throughout all our days we experience your raging fury; ⁴ 

the years of our lives pass quickly, like a sigh. ⁵ 

Mazmur 105:8

105:8 He always remembers his covenantal decree,

the promise he made ⁶  to a thousand generations –

[90:4]  ¹ tn Or “for.”

[90:4]  ² sn The divisions of the nighttime. The ancient Israelites divided the night into distinct periods, or “watches.”

[90:9]  ³ tn Or “for.”

[90:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “all our days pass by in your anger.”

[90:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “we finish our years like a sigh.” In Ezek 2:10 the word הֶגֶה (hegeh) elsewhere refers to a grumbling or moaning sound. Here a brief sigh or moan is probably in view. If so, the simile pictures one’s lifetime as transient. Another option is that the simile alludes to the weakness that characteristically overtakes a person at the end of one’s lifetime. In this case the phrase could be translated, “we end our lives with a painful moan.”

[105:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “[the] word he commanded.” The text refers here to God’s unconditional covenantal promise to Abraham and the patriarchs, as vv. 10-12 make clear.