Mazmur 90:7-9

90:7 Yes, ¹  we are consumed by your anger;

we are terrified by your wrath.

90:8 You are aware of our sins; ² 

you even know about our hidden sins. ³ 

90:9 Yes, ⁴  throughout all our days we experience your raging fury; ⁵ 

the years of our lives pass quickly, like a sigh. ⁶ 

[90:7]  ¹ tn Or “for.”

[90:8]  ² tn Heb “you set our sins in front of you.”

[90:8]  ³ tn Heb “what we have hidden to the light of your face.” God’s face is compared to a light or lamp that exposes the darkness around it.

[90:9]  ⁴ tn Or “for.”

[90:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “all our days pass by in your anger.”

[90:9]  ⁶ 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.”