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 77:17

77:17 The clouds poured down rain; ² 

the skies thundered. ³ 

Yes, your arrows ⁴  flashed about.

[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).

[77:17]  ² tn Heb “water.”

[77:17]  ³ tn Heb “a sound the clouds gave.”

[77:17]  ⁴ tn The lightning accompanying the storm is portrayed as the Lord’s “arrows” (see v. 18).