Logos Bible Study

Psalm 90:3–10

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90:3You make mankind return5 to the dust,6

and say, “Return, O people!”

90:4Yes,7 in your eyes a thousand years

are like yesterday that quickly passes,

or like one of the divisions of the nighttime.8

90:5You bring their lives to an end and they “fall asleep.”9

In the morning they are like the grass that sprouts up;

90:6in the morning it glistens10 and sprouts up;

at evening time it withers11 and dries up.

90:7Yes,12 we are consumed by your anger;

we are terrified by your wrath.

90:8You are aware of our sins;13

you even know about our hidden sins.14

90:9Yes,15 throughout all our days we experience your raging fury;16

the years of our lives pass quickly, like a sigh.17

90:10The days of our lives add up to seventy years,18

or eighty, if one is especially strong.19

But even one’s best years are marred by trouble and oppression.20

Yes,21 they pass quickly22 and we fly away.23

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Footnotes

  1. 5 In this context the shortened prefix form does not function as a preterite, but indicates what is typical of the world.
  2. 6 The Hebrew term דַּכָּא (daka’) carries the basic sense of “crushed.” Elsewhere it refers to those who are “crushed” in spirit or contrite of heart (see Ps 34:18; Isa 57:15). If one understands this nuance here, then v. 3 is observing that God leads mankind to repentance (the term שׁוּב, shuv, “return,” which appears twice in this verse, is sometimes used of repentance.) However, the following context laments mankind’s mortality and the brevity of life, so it is doubtful if v. 3 should be understood so positively. It is more likely that דַּכָּא here refers to “crushed matter,” that is, the dust that fills the grave (see I דַּכָּא; 194 דַּכָּא). In this case one may hear an echo of Gen 3:19.
  3. 7 Or “for.”
  4. 8 The divisions of the nighttime. The ancient Israelites divided the night into distinct periods, or “watches.”
  5. 9 Heb “you bring them to an end [with] sleep.” The Hebrew verb זָרַם (zaram) has traditionally been taken to mean “flood” or “overwhelm” (note the Polel form of a root זרם in Ps 77:17, where the verb is used of the clouds pouring down rain). However, the verb form here is Qal, not Polel, and is better understood as a homonym meaning “to make an end [of life].” The term שֵׁנָה (shenah, “sleep”) can be taken as an adverbial accusative; it is a euphemism here for death (see Ps 76:5–6).
  6. 10 Or “flourishes.” The verb is used of a crown shining in Ps 132:18. Perhaps here in Ps 90:6 it refers to the glistening of the grass in the morning dew.
  7. 11 The Polel form of this verb occurs only here. Perhaps the form should be emended to a Qal (which necessitates eliminating the final lamed [ל] as dittographic). See Ps 37:2.
  8. 12 Or “for.”
  9. 13 Heb “you set our sins in front of you.”
  10. 14 Heb “what we have hidden to the light of your face.” God’s face is compared to a light or lamp that exposes the darkness around it.
  11. 15 Or “for.”
  12. 16 Heb “all our days pass by in your anger.”
  13. 17 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.”
  14. 18 Heb “the days of our years, in them [are] seventy years.”
  15. 19 Heb “or if [there is] strength, eighty years.”
  16. 20 Heb “and their pride [is] destruction and wickedness.” The Hebrew noun רֹהַב (rohav) occurs only here. 923 assigns the meaning “pride,” deriving the noun from the verbal root רהב (“to act stormily [boisterously, arrogantly]”). Here the “pride” of one’s days (see v. 9) probably refers to one’s most productive years in the prime of life. The words translated “destruction and wickedness” are also paired in Ps 10:7. They also appear in proximity in Pss 7:14 and 55:10. The oppressive and abusive actions of evil men are probably in view (see Job 4:8; 5:6; 15:35; Isa 10:1; 59:4).
  17. 21 or “for.”
  18. 22 Heb “it passes quickly.” The subject of the verb is probably “their pride” (see the preceding line). The verb גּוּז (guz) means “to pass” here; it occurs only here and in Num 11:31.
  19. 23 We fly away. The psalmist compares life to a bird that quickly flies off (see Job 20:8).

The NET Bible First Edition, Copyright 1996-2005 by Biblical Studies Press

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

You return man to dust

and say, “Return, O children of man!”

For a thousand years in your sight

are but as yesterday when it is past,

or as a watch in the night.

You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,

like grass that is renewed in the morning:

in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;

in the evening it fades and withers.

For we are brought to an end by your anger;

by your wrath we are dismayed.

You have set our iniquities before you,

our secret sins in the light of your presence.

For all our days pass away under your wrath;

we bring our years to an end like a sigh.

The years of our life are seventy,

or even by reason of strength eighty;

yet their span is but toil and trouble;

they are soon gone, and we fly away.

Copyright 2001 Crossway Bibles

NIVNew International Version (2011)

You turn people back to dust,

saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”

A thousand years in your sight

are like a day that has just gone by,

or like a watch in the night.

Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—

they are like the new grass of the morning:

In the morning it springs up new,

but by evening it is dry and withered.

We are consumed by your anger

and terrified by your indignation.

You have set our iniquities before you,

our secret sins in the light of your presence.

All our days pass away under your wrath;

we finish our years with a moan.

Our days may come to seventy years,

or eighty, if our strength endures;

yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,

for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica, Inc.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

You return mankind to the dust,

saying, “Return, descendants of Adam.”

For in your sight a thousand years

are like yesterday that passes by,

like a few hours of the night.

You end their lives; they sleep.

They are like grass that grows in the morning—

in the morning it sprouts and grows;

by evening it withers and dries up.

For we are consumed by your anger;

we are terrified by your wrath.

You have set our iniquities before you,

our secret sins in the light of your presence.

For all our days ebb away under your wrath;

we end our years like a sigh.

Our lives last seventy years

or, if we are strong, eighty years.

Even the best of them are struggle and sorrow;

indeed, they pass quickly and we fly away.

Copyright 2017 Holman Bible Publishers

NLTNew Living Translation

You turn people back to dust, saying,

“Return to dust, you mortals!”

For you, a thousand years are as a passing day,

as brief as a few night hours.

You sweep people away like dreams that disappear.

They are like grass that springs up in the morning.

In the morning it blooms and flourishes,

but by evening it is dry and withered.

We wither beneath your anger;

we are overwhelmed by your fury.

You spread out our sins before you—

our secret sins—and you see them all.

We live our lives beneath your wrath,

ending our years with a groan.

Seventy years are given to us!

Some even live to eighty.

But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble;

soon they disappear, and we fly away.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

You return man to the dust,

saying, “Return, O sons of man.”

For a thousand years in your eyes

are like yesterday when it passes,

or like a watch in the night.

You sweep them away like a flood.

They fall asleep.

In the morning they are like grass that sprouts anew.

In the morning it blossoms and sprouts anew;

by evening it withers and dries up.

For we are brought to an end by your anger,

and we hasten off by your wrath.

You have put our iniquities before you,

our hidden sins into the light of your countenance.

For all of our days dwindle away in your rage;

we complete our years like a sigh.

As for the days of our years, within them are seventy years

or if by strength eighty years, and their pride is trouble and disaster,

for it passes quickly and we fly away.

Copyright 2012 Lexham Press

KJV 1900King James Version

Thou turnest man to destruction;

And sayest, Return, ye children of men.

For a thousand years in thy sight

Are but as yesterday when it is past,

And as a watch in the night.

Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep:

In the morning they are like grass which groweth up.

In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up;

In the evening it is cut down, and withereth.

For we are consumed by thine anger,

And by thy wrath are we troubled.

Thou hast set our iniquities before thee,

Our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.

For all our days are passed away in thy wrath:

We spend our years as a tale that is told.

The days of our years are threescore years and ten;

And if by reason of strength they be fourscore years,

Yet is their strength labour and sorrow;

For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

Public Domain