Psalms Chapter 39 verse 5 Holy Bible
Behold, thou hast made my days `as' handbreadths; And my life-time is as nothing before thee: Surely every man at his best estate is altogether vanity. Selah
read chapter 39 in ASV
You have made my days no longer than a hand's measure; and my years are nothing in your eyes; truly, every man is but a breath. (Selah.)
read chapter 39 in BBE
Behold, thou hast made my days [as] hand-breadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before thee; verily, every man, [even] the high placed, is altogether vanity. Selah.
read chapter 39 in DARBY
Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.
read chapter 39 in KJV
LORD, make me to know my end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.
read chapter 39 in WBT
Behold, you have made my days handbreadths. My lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely every man stands as a breath." Selah.
read chapter 39 in WEB
Lo, handbreadths Thou hast made my days, And mine age `is' as nothing before Thee, Only, all vanity `is' every man set up. Selah.
read chapter 39 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 5. - Behold, thou hast made my days as a handbreadth. It seems inconsistent that one who professes to be weary of his life should then complain of life's shortness. But such inconsistency is human. Job does the same (Job 14:1, 2). And mine age is as nothing before thee. The short human existence can scarcely be regarded by God as existence at all; rather, it is mere nothingness. Verily every man living at his best state is but vanity. So our Revisers. But most moderns translate, "Verily every man living was ordained for utter vanity" (comp. Psalm 62:9; Psalm 144:4).
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(5) Handbreadth.--Better, some spans long. The plural without the article having this indefinite sense.Mine age.--Literally, duration. (See Psalm 17:14.) The LXX. and Vulg. have "substance."Before thee.--Since in God's sight "one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." "If nature is below any perception of time, God, at the other extremity of being, is above it. God includes time without being affected by it, and time includes nature, which is unaware of it. He too completely transcends it, his works are too profoundly subject to it, to be otherwise than indifferent to its lapse. But we stand at an intermediate point, and bear affinity with both extremes" (J. Martineau, Hours of Thought).Verily every man . . .--Better, nothing but breath is every man at his best. (Literally, though standing firm.) Comp."Reason thus with life--If I do lose thee, I do lose a thingThat none but fools would keep; a breath thou art.SHAKESPEARE: Measure for Measure.
