Mazmur 39:11

39:11 You severely discipline people for their sins; ¹ 

like a moth you slowly devour their strength. ² 

Surely all people are a mere vapor. (Selah)

Mazmur 90:8-9

90:8 You are aware of our sins; ³ 

you even know about our hidden sins. ⁴ 

90:9 Yes, ⁵  throughout all our days we experience your raging fury; ⁶ 

the years of our lives pass quickly, like a sigh. ⁷ 

[39:11]  ¹ tn “with punishments on account of sin you discipline a man.”

[39:11]  ² tc Heb “you cause to dissolve, like a moth, his desired [thing].” The translation assumes an emendation of חֲמוּדוֹ (khamudo, “his desirable [thing]”) to חֶמְדוֹ (khemdo, “his loveliness” [or “beauty”]), a reading that is supported by a few medieval Hebrew mss.

[90:8]  ³ tn Heb “you set our sins in front of you.”

[90:8]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Or “for.”

[90:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “all our days pass by in your anger.”

[90:9]  ⁷ 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.”