Psalms 89:48

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

What man is he that shall live and not see death, That shall deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? {H5542}

Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

זְכָר־אֲנִי מֶה־חָלֶד עַל־מַה־שָּׁוְא בָּרָאתָ כָל־בְּנֵי־אָדָם

Transliteration

Remember-ʾănî what-ḥāled; for-what-šāwᵉʾ you-bārāʾtā all-bᵉnê-ʾādām

Grammar Details

*zᵉkār*: verb, qal imperative masculine singular - remember
*ʾănî*: pronoun, 1st person singular - I
*meh-ḥāled*: interrogative + noun - what (is) lifetime
*ʿal-mah-ššāwᵉʾ*: preposition + interrogative + noun - for what vanity
*bārāʾtā*: verb, qal perfect 2nd person masculine singular - you have created
*kol-bᵉnê*: noun + noun construct - all sons of
*ʾādām*: noun, proper name/mankind - Adam/mankind

Word Meanings

*zᵉkār*: remember/call to mind
*ḥāled*: lifetime/duration/world
*šāwᵉʾ*: vanity/emptiness/futility
*bārāʾtā*: you have created/formed
*bᵉnê-ʾādām*: sons of man/humans/mankind

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

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Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

Ps 49:15 : 15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol; For he will receive me. {H5542}
Heb 11:5 : 5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God translated him: for he hath had witness borne to him that before his translation he had been well-pleasing unto God:
Job 30:23 : 23 For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, And to the house appointed for all living.
Ps 22:29 : 29 All the fat ones of the earth shall eat and worship: All they that go down to the dust shall bow before him, Even he that cannot keep his soul alive.
Ps 49:7-9 : 7 None [of them] can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him; 8 (For the redemption of their life is costly, And it faileth for ever;) 9 That he should still live alway, That he should not see corruption.
Eccl 3:19-20 : 19 For 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. 20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
Eccl 8:8 : 8 There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power over the day of death; and there is no discharge in war: neither shall wickedness deliver him that is given to it.
Eccl 9:5 : 5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
Eccl 12:7 : 7 and the dust returneth to the earth as it was, and the spirit returneth unto God who gave it.
John 8:51 : 51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my word, he shall never {G165} see death.
Acts 2:27 : 27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul unto Hades, Neither wilt thou give thy Holy One to see corruption.
2 Cor 4:14 : 14 knowing that he that raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also with Jesus, and shall present us with you.
Heb 9:27 : 27 And {G2596} inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this [cometh] judgment;

Similar Verses (AI)

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

Ps 89:46-47
2 verses
80%
46How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? [How long] shall thy wrath burn like fire?
47Oh remember how short my time is: For what vanity hast thou created all the children of men!
Job 14:12-14
3 verses
78%
12So man lieth down and riseth not: Till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, Nor be roused out of their sleep.
13Oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol, That thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, That thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!
14If a man die, shall he live [again]? All the days of my warfare would I wait, Till my release should come.
Ps 49:15
78%
15But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol; For he will receive me. {H5542}
Ps 49:8-9
2 verses
78%
8(For the redemption of their life is costly, And it faileth for ever;)
9That he should still live alway, That he should not see corruption.
Job 14:10
76%
10But man dieth, and is laid low: Yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?
Ps 88:10-11
2 verses
76%
10Wilt thou show wonders to the dead? Shall they that are deceased arise and praise thee? Selah
11Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? Or thy faithfulness in Destruction?
Ps 6:5
75%
5For in death there is no remembrance of thee: In Sheol who shall give thee thanks?
Isa 38:10-11
2 verses
75%
10I said, In the noontide of my days I shall go into the gates of Sheol: I am deprived of the residue of my years.
11I said, I shall not see Jehovah, [even] Jehovah in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
Ps 89:49
75%
49Lord, where are thy former lovingkindnesses, Which thou swarest unto David in thy faithfulness?
Ps 39:4-5
2 verses
74%
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}
Ps 49:12
73%
12But man [being] in honor abideth not: He is like the beasts that perish.
Eccl 6:6
73%
6yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, and yet enjoy no good, do not all go to one place?
Job 33:28
73%
28He hath redeemed my soul from going into the pit, And my life shall behold the light.
Ps 146:4
72%
4His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; In that very day his thoughts perish.
Job 14:2
72%
2He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: He fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
Job 21:32
72%
32Yet shall he be borne to the grave, And men shall keep watch over the tomb.
Ps 144:3-4
2 verses
72%
3Jehovah, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that thou makest account of him?
4Man is like to vanity: His days are as a shadow that passeth away.
Ps 30:9
72%
9What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?
Ps 49:17-19
3 verses
72%
17For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away; His glory shall not descend after him.
18Though while he lived he blessed his soul (And men praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself,)
19He shall go to the generation of his fathers; They shall never see the light.
Job 7:9-10
2 verses
71%
9As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away, So he that goeth down to Sheol shall come up no more.
10He shall return no more to his house, Neither shall his place know him any more.
Eccl 8:7-8
2 verses
71%
7for he knoweth not that which shall be; for who can tell him how it shall be?
8There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power over the day of death; and there is no discharge in war: neither shall wickedness deliver him that is given to it.
Ps 118:17
71%
17I shall not die, but live, And declare the works of Jehovah.
Job 30:23-24
2 verses
71%
23For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, And to the house appointed for all living.
24Howbeit doth not one stretch out the hand in his fall? Or in his calamity therefore cry for help?
Isa 38:16
71%
16O Lord, by these things men live; And wholly therein is the life of my spirit: Wherefore recover thou me, and make me to live.
Eccl 6:12
71%
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?
Ps 34:12
71%
12What man is he that desireth life, And loveth [many] days, that he may see good?
Job 3:21
71%
21Who long for death, but it cometh not, And dig for it more than for hid treasures;
Isa 38:18
71%
18For Sheol cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: They that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
Job 33:22
70%
22Yea, his soul draweth near unto the pit, And his life to the destroyers.
Ps 88:3-5
3 verses
70%
3For my soul is full of troubles, And my life draweth nigh unto Sheol.
4I am reckoned with them that go down into the pit; I am as a man that hath no help,
5Cast off among the dead, Like the slain that lie in the grave, Whom thou rememberest no more, And they are cut off from thy hand.
Eccl 9:5
70%
5For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
Job 7:16-17
2 verses
70%
16I loathe [my life]; I would not live alway: Let me alone; for my days are vanity.
17What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him, And that thou shouldest set thy mind upon him,
Isa 2:22
70%
22Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of?
Eccl 9:10
70%
10Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do [it] with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, whither thou goest.