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Psalm 90:4-6
New English Translation
Psalm 90:4-6
New English Translation
4 Yes,[a] in your eyes a thousand years
are like yesterday that quickly passes,
or like one of the divisions of the nighttime.[b]
5 You bring their lives to an end and they “fall asleep.”[c]
In the morning they are like the grass that sprouts up:
6 In the morning it glistens[d] and sprouts up;
at evening time it withers[e] and dries up.
Footnotes
- Psalm 90:4 tn Or “for.”
- Psalm 90:4 sn The divisions of the nighttime. The ancient Israelites divided the night into distinct periods, or “watches.”
- Psalm 90:5 tn 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).
- Psalm 90:6 tn 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.
- Psalm 90:6 tn The Polel form of this verb occurs only here. Perhaps the form should be emended to a Qal (which necessitates eliminating the final ל [lamed] as dittographic). See Ps 37:2.
New English Translation (NET)
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