Psalm 103:15
New International Version
The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field;

New Living Translation
Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die.

English Standard Version
As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field;

Berean Standard Bible
As for man, his days are like grass—he blooms like a flower of the field;

King James Bible
As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.

New King James Version
As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

New American Standard Bible
As for man, his days are like grass; Like a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

NASB 1995
As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

NASB 1977
As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

Legacy Standard Bible
As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flowers.

Amplified Bible
As for man, his days are like grass; Like a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

Christian Standard Bible
As for man, his days are like grass — he blooms like a flower of the field;

Holman Christian Standard Bible
As for man, his days are like grass— he blooms like a flower of the field;

American Standard Version
As for man, his days are as grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.

Contemporary English Version
We humans are like grass or wild flowers that quickly bloom.

English Revised Version
As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Human life is as short-lived as grass. It blossoms like a flower in the field.

Good News Translation
As for us, our life is like grass. We grow and flourish like a wild flower;

International Standard Version
A person's life is like grass— it blossoms like wild flowers,

Majority Standard Bible
As for man, his days are like grass—he blooms like a flower of the field;

NET Bible
A person's life is like grass. Like a flower in the field it flourishes,

New Heart English Bible
As for man, his days are like grass. As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

Webster's Bible Translation
As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.

World English Bible
As for man, his days are like grass. As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Mortal man! His days [are] as grass, "" He flourishes as a flower of the field;

Young's Literal Translation
Mortal man! as grass are his days, As a flower of the field so he flourisheth;

Smith's Literal Translation
Man, his days as grass: as the blossom of the field, thus he will flourish.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
man's days are as grass, as the flower of the field so shall he flourish.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Man: his days are like hay. Like the flower of the field, so will he flourish.

New American Bible
As for man, his days are like the grass; he blossoms like a flower in the field.

New Revised Standard Version
As for mortals, their days are like grass; they flourish like a flower of the field;
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
A son of man is like the grass in its days and like a flower of the field so he springs up.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
As for man, his days are as grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so shall he flourish.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Bless the LORD, O My Soul
14For He knows our frame; He is mindful that we are dust. 15As for man, his days are like grass— he blooms like a flower of the field; 16when the wind passes over, it vanishes, and its place remembers it no more.…

Cross References
James 4:14
You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

1 Peter 1:24
For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,

Isaiah 40:6-8
A voice says, “Cry out!” And I asked, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field. / The grass withers and the flowers fall when the breath of the LORD blows on them; indeed, the people are grass. / The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”

Job 14:1-2
“Man, who is born of woman, is short of days and full of trouble. / Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.

Psalm 90:5-6
You sweep them away in their sleep; they are like the new grass of the morning— / in the morning it springs up new, but by evening it fades and withers.

1 John 2:17
The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever.

Matthew 6:30
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Isaiah 51:12
“I, even I, am He who comforts you. Why should you be afraid of mortal man, of a son of man who withers like grass?

Job 8:9
For we were born yesterday and know nothing; our days on earth are but a shadow.

1 Corinthians 7:31
and those who use the things of this world, as if not dependent on them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

2 Corinthians 4:18
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Ecclesiastes 1:4
Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.

Ecclesiastes 6:12
For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?

Psalm 39:5
You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah

Psalm 78:39
He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.


Treasury of Scripture

As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

his days

Psalm 90:5,6
Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up…

Isaiah 40:6-8
The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: …

Isaiah 51:12
I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass;

a flower

Job 14:1-3
Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble…

Isaiah 28:1,4
Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine! …

Nahum 1:4
He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.

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Psalm 103
1. An exhortation to bless God for his mercy
5. And for the constancy thereof














As for man
The phrase "As for man" introduces a comparison between humanity and the eternal nature of God. The Hebrew word for "man" here is "enosh," which emphasizes the frailty and mortality of human beings. This term is often used in Scripture to highlight human weakness and the transient nature of life. In the broader biblical context, it serves as a reminder of our dependence on God and the need for humility before Him.

his days are like grass
The imagery of "his days are like grass" is a powerful metaphor for the brevity and fragility of human life. In the ancient Near East, grass was a common symbol for transience because it would quickly wither under the hot sun. This metaphor is used throughout Scripture to remind us that our earthly existence is temporary and fleeting. It calls believers to focus on eternal values and the enduring promises of God rather than the temporary pleasures and concerns of this world.

he flourishes like a flower of the field
The phrase "he flourishes like a flower of the field" continues the metaphor of human life as transient and delicate. Flowers of the field, while beautiful, are short-lived and subject to the elements. The Hebrew word for "flourishes" suggests a momentary beauty and vitality that is soon gone. This imagery encourages believers to appreciate the beauty and potential of life while recognizing its impermanence. It also serves as a call to invest in spiritual growth and the cultivation of virtues that have eternal significance.

Verse 15. - As for man, his days are as grass. Here is a new departure. From the loving kindness and mercy of God the psalmist passes to the weakness and helplessness of man. Man is like grass (Psalm 37:2; Psalm 90:5, 6; Psalm 102:11; Isaiah 40:6-8, etc.). His days fleet and fade. He never "continueth in one stay." As a flower of the field (comp. Job 14:2; Isaiah 28:1; Isaiah 40:6; James 1:10; 1 Peter 1:24, etc.). He flourisheth; i.e. he cometh up in full vigour, glorious to look upon, rejoicing in his youth and strength, but within a little time he fadeth, falleth away, or is "cut down, dried up, and withered." There is no strength or stability in him.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
As for man,
אֱ֭נוֹשׁ (’ĕ·nō·wōš)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

his days
יָמָ֑יו (yā·māw)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 3117: A day

are like grass—
כֶּחָצִ֣יר (ke·ḥā·ṣîr)
Preposition-k, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2682: Green grass, herbage

he blooms
יָצִֽיץ׃ (yā·ṣîṣ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6692: To twinkle, glance, to blossom

like a flower
כְּצִ֥יץ (kə·ṣîṣ)
Preposition-k | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 6731: Glistening, a burnished plate, a flower, a wing

of the field;
הַ֝שָּׂדֶ֗ה (haś·śā·ḏeh)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7704: Field, land


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OT Poetry: Psalm 103:15 As for man his days are like (Psalm Ps Psa.)
Psalm 103:14
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