Psalm 144:4
New International Version
They are like a breath; their days are like a fleeting shadow.

New Living Translation
For they are like a breath of air; their days are like a passing shadow.

English Standard Version
Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

Berean Standard Bible
Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

King James Bible
Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.

New King James Version
Man is like a breath; His days are like a passing shadow.

New American Standard Bible
Man is like the breath; His days are like a passing shadow.

NASB 1995
Man is like a mere breath; His days are like a passing shadow.

NASB 1977
Man is like a mere breath; His days are like a passing shadow.

Legacy Standard Bible
Man is like a breath; His days are like a passing shadow.

Amplified Bible
Man is like a mere breath; His days are like a shadow that passes away.

Christian Standard Bible
A human is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

American Standard Version
Man is like to vanity: His days are as a shadow that passeth away.

Contemporary English Version
We disappear like a breath; we last no longer than a faint shadow.

English Revised Version
Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Humans are like a breath of air. Their life span is like a fleeting shadow.

Good News Translation
We are like a puff of wind; our days are like a passing shadow.

International Standard Version
The human person is a mere empty breath; his days are like a fading shadow.

Majority Standard Bible
Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

NET Bible
People are like a vapor, their days like a shadow that disappears.

New Heart English Bible
Man is like a breath. His days are like a shadow that passes away.

Webster's Bible Translation
Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.

World English Bible
Man is like a breath. His days are like a shadow that passes away.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Man has been like a breath, "" His days [are] as a shadow passing by.

Young's Literal Translation
Man to vanity hath been like, His days are as a shadow passing by.

Smith's Literal Translation
Man was likened to vanity: his days as a shadow passing away.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Man is like to vanity: his days pass away like a shadow.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Man has been made similar to vanity. His days pass by like a shadow.

New American Bible
Man is but a breath, his days are like a passing shadow.

New Revised Standard Version
They are like a breath; their days are like a passing shadow.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Man is like vapour; his days are as a shadow that passes away.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
A son of man is like a vapor and his days pass away like smoke.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Man is like unto a breath; His days are as a shadow that passeth away.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Man is like to vanity: his days pass as a shadow.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Blessed Be the LORD, My Rock
3O LORD, what is man, that You regard him, the son of man that You think of him? 4Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow. 5Part Your heavens, O LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, that they may smoke.…

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.

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.

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.”

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 39:5-6
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 / Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.

1 Chronicles 29:15
For we are foreigners and strangers in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.

Job 7:6-7
My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope. / Remember that my life is but a breath. My eyes will never again see happiness.

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.

Psalm 102:11
My days are like lengthening shadows, and I wither away like grass.

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

Psalm 103:15-16
As for man, his days are like grass—he blooms like a flower of the field; / when the wind passes over, it vanishes, and its place remembers it no more.

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.

Isaiah 64:6
Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.

Hebrews 9:27
Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,


Treasury of Scripture

Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passes away.

man

Psalm 39:5,6
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…

Psalm 62:9
Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.

Psalm 89:47
Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?

his days

Psalm 102:11
My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.

Psalm 103:15,16
As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth…

Psalm 109:23
I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust.

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Breath Fleeting Life Mere Passes Passeth Passing Quickly Shade Shadow Vanity
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Breath Fleeting Life Mere Passes Passeth Passing Quickly Shade Shadow Vanity
Psalm 144
1. David blesses God for his mercy both to him and to man
5. He prays that God would powerfully deliver him from his enemies
9. He promises to praise God
11. He prays for the happy state of the kingdom














Man is like a breath
The Hebrew word for "man" here is "אֱנוֹשׁ" (enosh), which often emphasizes the frailty and mortality of humanity. This term is used to remind us of our inherent weakness and dependence on God. In the context of the psalm, it underscores the transient nature of human life, which is as fleeting as a "breath." The word "breath" is translated from the Hebrew "הֶבֶל" (hebel), which can also mean vapor or vanity. This imagery is powerful, suggesting that human life, in its brevity and fragility, is like a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. It calls believers to humility, recognizing that our earthly existence is temporary and should be lived in light of eternity.

his days are like a passing shadow
The phrase "his days" refers to the lifespan of a human being. In the Hebrew context, "days" (יָמִים, yamim) often signifies the totality of one's life experiences. The comparison to a "passing shadow" (צֵל עוֹבֵר, tzel over) further emphasizes the ephemeral nature of life. Shadows are insubstantial and constantly changing, illustrating how quickly life can pass by. This metaphor serves as a reminder of the urgency to live righteously and purposefully. In the broader biblical narrative, shadows are often used to depict the fleeting and insubstantial nature of earthly things compared to the eternal and unchanging nature of God. This verse encourages believers to focus on what is eternal and to place their trust in the Lord, who is the source of life and stability amidst the transience of human existence.

(4) Vanity . . . shadow.--See Psalm 39:5-6; Psalm 102:11. The occasion of the introduction of these sentiments here is not quite clear. It may be the humility of the warrior who ascribes all success to God instead of to human prowess, or it may be a reflection uttered over the corpses of comrades, or, perhaps, a blending of the two.

Verse 4. - Man is like to vanity; or, "to a breath" (comp. Psalm 39:5; Psalm 62:9). His days are as a shadow that passeth away (see Psalm 102:11; Psalm 119:23). And yet God has regard to this weak creature of an hour.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Man
אָ֭דָם (’ā·ḏām)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 120: Ruddy, a human being

is like
דָּמָ֑ה (dā·māh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1819: To compare, to resemble, liken, consider

a breath;
לַהֶ֣בֶל (la·he·ḇel)
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1892: Emptiness, vanity, transitory, unsatisfactory

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

are like a passing
עוֹבֵֽר׃ (‘ō·w·ḇêr)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 5674: To pass over, through, or by, pass on

shadow.
כְּצֵ֣ל (kə·ṣêl)
Preposition-k | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6738: A shadow


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OT Poetry: Psalm 144:4 Man is like a breath (Psalm Ps Psa.)
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