Psalms 90:5

90:5 You bring their lives to an end and they “fall asleep.” ¹ 

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

Psalms 129:6

129:6 May they be like the grass on the rooftops

which withers before one can even pull it up, ² 

Psalms 37:2

37:2 For they will quickly dry up like grass,

and wither away like plants. ³ 

Psalms 103:15

103:15 A person’s life is like grass. ⁴ 

Like a flower in the field it flourishes,

[90:5]  ¹ 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).

[129:6]  ² tn The Hebrew verb שָׁלַף (shalaf) normally means “to draw [a sword]” or “to pull.” BDB 1025 s.v. suggests the meaning “to shoot up” here, but it is more likely that the verb here means “to pluck; to pull up,” a nuance attested for this word in later Hebrew and Aramaic (see Jastrow 1587 s.v. שָׁלַף).

[37:2]  ³ tn Heb “like green vegetation.”

[103:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “[as for] mankind, like grass [are] his days.” The Hebrew noun אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh) is used here generically of human beings. What is said is true of all mankind.