Psalms 144:4

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

Man is like to vanity: His days are as a shadow that passeth away.

Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

אָ֭דָם לַהֶ֣בֶל דָּמָ֑ה יָ֝מָ֗יו כְּצֵ֣ל עוֹבֵֽר׃

Transliteration

ʾĀdām to the hebel dāmâ, his yāmāyw like ṣēl ʿôbēr.

Grammar Details

*ʾādām*: noun masculine singular - mankind/human
*lahebel*: preposition + definite article + noun masculine singular - to the breath/vapor
*dāmâ*: Qal perfect, 3rd masculine singular - is like/resembles
*yāmāyw*: noun masculine plural + 3rd masculine singular suffix - his days
*kĕṣēl*: preposition + noun masculine singular - like a shadow
*ʿôbēr*: Qal participle, masculine singular - passing/passing away

Word Meanings

*ʾādām*: man/mankind/humanity
*hebel*: breath/vapor/vanity/emptiness
*dāmâ*: is like/resembles/is comparable to
*ṣēl*: shadow/shade
*ʿôbēr*: passing/passing away/fleeting

ℹ️

About this Translation

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

Formal EquivalenceSource: American Standard VersionBest for: Word studies and original-language research

🎯 Translation Approach

A highly literal, word-for-word translation (ASV, 1901) augmented with Strong's numbering to connect English words to underlying Hebrew and Greek terms for study.

Word-for-word

5/5

Readability

2/5

💎 Distinctive Features

Integrated Strong's numbering: Links English terms to underlying Hebrew and Greek words for deeper lexical study.
Formal equivalence: Prioritizes close alignment with source-language forms and structures.
Divine name rendering: Frequently renders the Tetragrammaton as Jehovah in the Old Testament, following ASV tradition.
Study-focused formatting: Optimized for reference and research rather than casual reading.

✅ Strengths

High fidelity to original languages
Includes Strong's numbers for precise word study
Consistent lexical choices aid exegesis
Stable, longstanding scholarly text

⚠️ Considerations

Archaic language reduces readability
Older textual basis compared to some modern translations
Strong's numbers are a concordance index, not full lexical definitions

👥 Who is this for?

Ideal for

Pastors and teachers
Seminary students
Serious Bible students
Readers conducting word studies
Those referencing Hebrew/Greek tools

Consider alternatives for

Casual readers
Children and early teens
ESL learners seeking simple English
Readers preferring contemporary language

🔄 Compare with

ESVNIVCSBNLTNASBNET

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

Ps 102:11 : 11 My days are like a shadow that declineth; And I am withered like grass.
Job 8:9 : 9 (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, Because our days upon earth are a shadow);
Ps 109:23 : 23 I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust.
Eccl 1:2 : 2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; vanity of vanities, all is vanity.
Eccl 1:14 : 14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
Eccl 8:13 : 13 but it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong [his] days, [which are] as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.
Eccl 12:8 : 8 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity.
Job 14:1-3 : 1 Man, that is born of a woman, Is of few days, and full of trouble. 2 He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: He fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. 3 And dost thou open thine eyes upon such a one, And bringest me into judgment with thee?
Ps 39:5-6 : 5 Behold, thou hast made my days [as] handbreadths; And my life-time is as nothing before thee: Surely every man at his best estate is altogether vanity. {H5542} 6 [Surely every man] [walketh] [in a vain show;] [Surely they are disquieted] [in vain:] [He heapeth up] [riches], and knoweth not who shall gather them.
Ps 39:11 : 11 When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, Thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: Surely every man is vanity. Selah
Ps 62:9 : 9 Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: In the balances they will go up; They are together lighter than vanity.
Ps 89:47 : 47 Oh remember how short my time is: For what vanity hast thou created all the children of men!
Ps 103:15-16 : 15 As for man, his days are as grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. 16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; And the place thereof shall know it no more.
2 Sam 14:14 : 14 For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God take away life, but deviseth means, that he that is banished be not an outcast from him.
1 Chr 29:15 : 15 For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as all our fathers were: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is no abiding.
Job 4:19 : 19 How much more them that dwell in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Who are crushed before the moth!

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

Ps 103:14-16
3 verses
83%
14For he knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.
15As for man, his days are as grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
16For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; And the place thereof shall know it no more.
Job 14:1-2
2 verses
83%
1Man, that is born of a woman, Is of few days, and full of trouble.
2He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: He fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
Ps 144:3
81%
3Jehovah, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that thou makest account of him?
Ps 39:4-6
3 verses
81%
4Jehovah, make me to know mine end, And the measure of my days, what it is; Let me know how frail I am.
5Behold, thou hast made my days [as] handbreadths; And my life-time is as nothing before thee: Surely every man at his best estate is altogether vanity. {H5542}
6[Surely every man] [walketh] [in a vain show;] [Surely they are disquieted] [in vain:] [He heapeth up] [riches], and knoweth not who shall gather them.
Ps 146:4
79%
4His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; In that very day his thoughts perish.
Jas 4:14
78%
14whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. {G1063} What is your life? For ye are a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Ps 102:11
78%
11My days are like a shadow that declineth; And I am withered like grass.
Eccl 6:11-12
2 verses
78%
11Seeing there are many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?
12For who knoweth what is good for man in [his] life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
Job 14:10-11
2 verses
78%
10But man dieth, and is laid low: Yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?
11[ As] the waters fail from the sea, And the river wasteth and drieth up;
Job 8:9
78%
9(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, Because our days upon earth are a shadow);
Ps 49:12
77%
12But man [being] in honor abideth not: He is like the beasts that perish.
Ps 89:47
77%
47Oh remember how short my time is: For what vanity hast thou created all the children of men!
Job 34:15
76%
15All flesh shall perish together, And man shall turn again unto dust.
Ps 39:11
76%
11When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, Thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: Surely every man is vanity. Selah
Eccl 6:4
75%
4for it cometh in vanity, and departeth in darkness, and the name thereof is covered with darkness;
Job 10:5
75%
5Are thy days as the days of man, Or thy years as man's days,
Eccl 11:8
75%
8Yea, if a man live many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.
Job 7:17
75%
17What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him, And that thou shouldest set thy mind upon him,
1 Chr 29:15
75%
15For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as all our fathers were: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is no abiding.
1 Pet 1:24
74%
24For, All flesh is as grass, And all the glory thereof as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower falleth:
Ps 94:11
74%
11Jehovah knoweth the thoughts of man, That they are vanity.
Isa 2:22
74%
22Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of?
Jas 1:10-11
2 verses
74%
10and the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
11For the sun ariseth with the scorching wind, and withereth the grass: and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his goings.
Job 7:6
73%
6My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, And are spent without hope.
Eccl 3:19-20
2 verses
73%
19For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; and man hath no preeminence above the beasts: for all is vanity.
20All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
Ps 90:3-4
2 verses
73%
3Thou turnest man to destruction, And sayest, Return, ye children of men.
4For a thousand years in thy sight Are but as yesterday when it is past, And as a watch in the night.
Job 7:1
73%
1Is there not a warfare to man upon earth? And are not his days like the days of a hireling?
Ps 4:2
73%
2O ye sons of men, how long shall my glory be turned into dishonor? [How long] will ye love vanity, and seek after falsehood? {Selah}
Job 4:19-20
2 verses
73%
19How much more them that dwell in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Who are crushed before the moth!
20Betwixt morning and evening they are destroyed: They perish for ever without any regarding it.
Ps 8:4
73%
4What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Ps 62:9
73%
9Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: In the balances they will go up; They are together lighter than vanity.
Ps 90:9-10
2 verses
73%
9For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: We bring our years to an end as a sigh.
10The days of our years are threescore years and ten, Or even by reason of strength fourscore years; Yet is their pride but labor and sorrow; For it is soon gone, and we fly away.
Eccl 12:8
73%
8Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity.
Job 17:11
72%
11My days are past, my purposes are broken off, Even the thoughts of my heart.
Ps 90:6
72%
6In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; In the evening it is cut down, and withereth.
Job 14:5
72%
5Seeing his days are determined, The number of his months is with thee, And thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
Eccl 4:4
72%
4Then I saw all labor and every skilful work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
Eccl 2:23
72%
23For all his days are [but] sorrows, and his travail is grief; yea, even in the night his heart taketh no rest. This also is vanity.