but, despite their wealth, people do not last, ¹  they are like animals ²  that perish. ³ 

biblegateway Psa 49:12

But man in his pomp will not endure; He is like the beasts that perish.

But despite his assets, man will not last; he is like the animals that perish.

But mortals will not continue here with what they treasure. They are like animals that die.

biblegateway Psa 49:12

But man, despite his riches, does not endure; he is like the beasts that perish.

Man in his pomp will not remain; he is like the beasts that perish.

bibleoremus Psa 49:12

Mortals cannot abide in their pomp; they are like the animals that perish.

For human beings like oxen are short-lived; they are like beasts whose lives are cut short.

biblegateway Psa 49:12

Nevertheless man, though in honor, does not remain; He is like the beasts that perish.

Nevertheless man [being] in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts [that] perish.

biblegateway Psa 49:12

but, despite their wealth, people do not last, ¹  they are like animals ²  that perish. ³ 

¹ tn Heb “but mankind in honor does not remain.” The construction vav (ו) + noun at the beginning of the verse can be taken as contrastive in relation to what precedes. The Hebrew term יְקָר (yÿqar, “honor”) probably refers here to the wealth mentioned in the preceding context. The imperfect verbal form draws attention to what is characteristically true. Some scholars emend יָלִין (yalin, “remains”) to יָבִין (yavin, “understands”) but this is an unnecessary accommodation to the wording of v. 20.

² tn Or “cattle.”

³ tn The verb is derived from דָּמָה (damah, “cease; destroy”; BDB 198 s.v.). Another option is to derive the verb from דָּמָה (“be silent”; see HALOT 225 s.v. II דמה, which sees two homonymic roots [דָּמָה, “be silent,” and דָּמָה, “destroy”] rather than a single root) and translate, “they are like dumb beasts.” This makes particularly good sense in v. 20, where the preceding line focuses on mankind’s lack of understanding.