Psalm 89:47-49 New English Translation
47 Take note of my brief lifespan.[a]
Why do you make all people so mortal?[b]
48 No man can live on without experiencing death,
or deliver his life from the power of Sheol.[c] (Selah)
49 Where are your earlier faithful deeds,[d] O Lord,[e]
the ones performed in accordance with your reliable oath to David?[f]
Footnotes
- Psalm 89:47 tn Heb “remember me, what is [my] lifespan.” The Hebrew term חֶלֶד (kheled) is also used of one’s lifespan in Ps 39:5. Because the Hebrew text is so awkward here, some prefer to emend it to read מֶה חָדֵל אָנִי (meh khadel ʾani, “[remember] how transient [that is, “short-lived”] I am”; see Ps 39:4).
- Psalm 89:47 tn Heb “For what emptiness do you create all the sons of mankind?” In this context the term שָׁוְא (shavʾ) refers to mankind’s mortal nature and the brevity of life (see vv. 45, 48).
- Psalm 89:48 tn Heb “Who [is] the man [who] can live and not see death, [who] can deliver his life from the hand of Sheol?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”
- Psalm 89:49 sn The Lord’s faithful deeds are also mentioned in Pss 17:7 and 25:6.
- Psalm 89:49 tc Many medieval Hebrew mss read here יְהוָה (yehvah, “the Lord”).
- Psalm 89:49 tn Heb “[which] you swore on oath to David by your faithfulness.”
New English Translation (NET)
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