The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 39:5

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

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, Job 14:2).

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. Psalms 62:9; Psalms 144:4).

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