Psalms 31:10

31:10 For my life nears its end in pain;

my years draw to a close as I groan. ¹ 

My strength fails me because of ²  my sin,

and my bones become brittle. ³ 

Psalms 61:6

61:6 Give the king long life!

Make his lifetime span several generations! ⁴ 

Psalms 90:4

90:4 Yes, ⁵  in your eyes a thousand years

are like yesterday that quickly passes,

or like one of the divisions of the nighttime. ⁶ 

Psalms 90:9

90:9 Yes, ⁷  throughout all our days we experience your raging fury; ⁸ 

the years of our lives pass quickly, like a sigh. ⁹ 

Psalms 102:24

102:24 I say, “O my God, please do not take me away in the middle of my life! ¹⁰ 

You endure through all generations. ¹¹ 

[31:10]  ¹ tn Heb “and my years in groaning.”

[31:10]  ² tn Heb “stumbles in.”

[31:10]  ³ tn Heb “grow weak.”

[61:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “days upon days of the king add, his years like generation and generation.”

[90:4]  ⁷ tn Or “for.”

[90:4]  ⁸ sn The divisions of the nighttime. The ancient Israelites divided the night into distinct periods, or “watches.”

[90:9]  ¹⁰ tn Or “for.”

[90:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “all our days pass by in your anger.”

[90:9]  ¹² tn 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.”

[102:24]  ¹³ tn Heb “do not lift me up in the middle of my days.”

[102:24]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in a generation of generations [are] your years.”