Psalms 78:39

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He remembered that they were only flesh,a wind that passes and does not return.

Hebrew Names Version
He remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passes away, and doesn't come again.

King James Version
For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.

English Standard Version
He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again.

New Century Version
He remembered that they were only human, like a wind that blows and does not come back.

New English Translation
He remembered that they were made of flesh, and were like a wind that blows past and does not return.

Amplified Bible
For He [graciously] remembered that they were mere [human] flesh, A wind that goes and does not return.

New American Standard Bible
So He remembered that they were only flesh, A wind that passes and does not return.

World English Bible
He remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passes away, and doesn't come again.

Geneva Bible (1587)
For he remebred that they were flesh: yea, a winde that passeth and commeth not againe.

Legacy Standard Bible
Thus He remembered that they were but flesh,A wind that goes and does not return.

Berean Standard Bible
He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.

Contemporary English Version
God remembered that they were made of flesh and were like a wind that blows once and then dies down.

Complete Jewish Bible
So he remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that blows past and does not return.

Darby Translation
And he remembered that they were flesh, a breath that passeth away and cometh not again.

Easy-to-Read Version
He remembered that they were only people, like a wind that blows and then is gone.

George Lamsa Translation
For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passes away and comes not again.

Good News Translation
He remembered that they were only mortal beings, like a wind that blows by and is gone.

Lexham English Bible
for he remembered that they were flesh, a passing wind that does not return.

Literal Translation
For He remembered that they were flesh, a breath passing away, and not returning.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Yee many a tyme turned he his wrath awaye, and wolde not suffre his whole displeasure to aryse.

American Standard Version
And he remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.

Bible in Basic English
So he kept in mind that they were only flesh; a breath which is quickly gone, and will not come again.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
So He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.

King James Version (1611)
For he remembred that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and commeth not againe.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
For he considered that they were but fleshe, and that they were euen a winde that passeth away & cometh not againe.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And he remembered that they are flesh; a wind that passes away, and returns not.

English Revised Version
And he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And he bithouyte, that thei ben fleische; a spirit goynge, and not turnynge ayen.

Update Bible Version
And he remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passes away, and does not come again.

Webster's Bible Translation
For he remembered that they [were but] flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.

New King James Version
For He remembered that they were but flesh, A breath that passes away and does not come again.

New Living Translation
For he remembered that they were merely mortal, gone like a breath of wind that never returns.

New Life Bible
He remembered that they were only flesh, a wind that passes and does not return.

New Revised Standard
He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and does not come again.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So then he remembered, That, Flesh, they were, A Wind departing, that returneth not.

Douay-Rheims Bible
(77-39) And he remembered that they are flesh: a wind that goeth and returneth not.

Revised Standard Version
He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again.

Young's Literal Translation
And He remembereth that they [are] flesh, A wind going on -- and it returneth not.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Thus He remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passes and does not return.

Contextual Overview

⁹The Ephraimites, armed to the teeth, ran off when the battle began. They were cowards to God's Covenant, refused to walk by his Word. They forgot what he had done— marvels he'd done right before their eyes. He performed miracles in plain sight of their parents in Egypt, out on the fields of Zoan. He split the Sea and they walked right through it; he piled the waters to the right and the left. He led them by day with a cloud, led them all the night long with a fiery torch. He split rocks in the wilderness, gave them all they could drink from underground springs; He made creeks flow out from sheer rock, and water pour out like a river. ¹⁷All they did was sin even more, rebel in the desert against the High God. They tried to get their own way with God, clamored for favors, for special attention. They whined like spoiled children, "Why can't God give us a decent meal in this desert? Sure, he struck the rock and the water flowed, creeks cascaded from the rock. But how about some fresh-baked bread? How about a nice cut of meat?" ²¹When God heard that, he was furious— his anger flared against Jacob, he lost his temper with Israel. It was clear they didn't believe God, had no intention of trusting in his help. But God helped them anyway, commanded the clouds and gave orders that opened the gates of heaven. He rained down showers of manna to eat, he gave them the Bread of Heaven. They ate the bread of the mighty angels; he sent them all the food they could eat. He let East Wind break loose from the skies, gave a strong push to South Wind. This time it was birds that rained down— succulent birds, an abundance of birds. He aimed them right for the center of their camp; all round their tents there were birds. They ate and had their fill; he handed them everything they craved on a platter. But their greed knew no bounds; they stuffed their mouths with more and more. Finally, God was fed up, his anger erupted— he cut down their brightest and best, he laid low Israel's finest young men. ³²And—can you believe it?—they kept right on sinning; all those wonders and they still wouldn't believe! So their lives dribbled off to nothing— nothing to show for their lives but a ghost town. When he cut them down, they came running for help; they turned and pled for mercy. They gave witness that God was their rock, that High God was their redeemer, But they didn't mean a word of it; they lied through their teeth the whole time. They could not have cared less about him, wanted nothing to do with his Covenant. ³⁸And God? Compassionate! Forgave the sin! Didn't destroy! Over and over he reined in his anger, restrained his considerable wrath. He knew what they were made of; he knew there wasn't much to them, How often in the desert they had spurned him, tried his patience in those wilderness years. Time and again they pushed him to the limit, provoked Israel's Holy God. How quickly they forgot what he'd done, forgot their day of rescue from the enemy, When he did miracles in Egypt, wonders on the plain of Zoan. He turned the River and its streams to blood— not a drop of water fit to drink. He sent flies, which ate them alive, and frogs, which bedeviled them. He turned their harvest over to caterpillars, everything they had worked for to the locusts. He flattened their grapevines with hail; a killing frost ruined their orchards. He pounded their cattle with hail, let thunderbolts loose on their herds. His anger flared, a wild firestorm of havoc, An advance guard of disease-carrying angels to clear the ground, preparing the way before him. He didn't spare those people, he let the plague rage through their lives. He killed all the Egyptian firstborns, lusty infants, offspring of Ham's virility. Then he led his people out like sheep, took his flock safely through the wilderness. He took good care of them; they had nothing to fear. The Sea took care of their enemies for good. He brought them into his holy land, this mountain he claimed for his own. He scattered everyone who got in their way; he staked out an inheritance for them— the tribes of Israel all had their own places.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

For he: Psalms 103:14-16, Genesis 6:3, John 3:6

a wind: Or, as the Hebrew rooach holaich welo yashoov may be rendered, "the spirit goeth away and returneth not again." To this purpose the Arabic, "He remembered that they were flesh; and a spirit which when it departs, returneth not again." The human being is composed of flesh and spirit, or body and soul: these are easily separated, and when separated, the body turns to dust, and the spirit returns no more to animate the body in a state of probation. Job 7:7, Job 7:16, James 4:14

Reciprocal: Psalms 90:10 - for Isaiah 57:16 - I will not

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For he remembered that they [were but] flesh,.... Or "children of flesh", as the Targum; poor, frail, weak, mortal creatures, unable to bear the weight of his displeasure, the stroke of his hand, and the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his wrath; that they must be crushed before him, and would sink, and fail, and die; see Psalms 103:14, or that they were naturally sinful and corrupt, prone to evil, easily drawn into sin; it was what their depraved natures inclined unto; they were impotent to that which is good, and unable to withstand temptations to evil; all which was taken notice of and considered by the Lord in his condescending goodness, and therefore he dealt gently with them; see Genesis 6:3,

a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again; such is the life of man; it may be fitly compared to the wind, which moves swiftly, and, passing on, loses its strength and subsides; so the life of man is quickly gone, his days move swiftly on, he dies, and returns not again to his former state, to a mortal life; and though the spirit returns to the body again, yet not till the resurrection; and then not of itself, but by the power of God; see Job 7:7.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For he remembered that they were but flesh - That they were human; that they were weak; that they were prone to err; that they were liable to fall into temptation. In his dealings with them he took into view their fallen nature; their training; their temptations; their trials; their weaknesses; and he judged them accordingly. Compare Psalms 103:14. So it was with the Saviour in his treatment of his disciples, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak,” Matthew 26:41. God will judge people as they are; he will not in his judgments forget that they are people, and that they are weak and feeble. People often judge their fellow-men with much more harshness, with much less allowance for their infirmities and weaknesses, than God shows in his dealings with mankind. And yet such are the very people who are most ready to blame God for his judgments. If God acted on the principle and in the manner according to which they act, they could hope for no mercy at his hand. It is well for them that there is not one like themselves on the throne of the universe.

A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again - Which blows by us, and is gone forever. What a striking description is this of man! How true of an individual! How true of a generation! How true of the race at large! God remembers this when he thinks of people, and he deals with them accordingly. He is not harsh and severe, but kind and compassionate. To man, a being so feeble - to the human race, so frail - to the generations of that race, so transitory, so soon passing off the stage of life - he is ever willing to show compassion. He does not make use of his great power to crush them; he prefers to manifest his mercy in saving them.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 78:39. He remembered that they were but flesh — Weak mortals. He took their feeble perishing state always into consideration, and knew how much they needed the whole of their state of probation; and therefore he bore with them to the uttermost. How merciful is God!

A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again. — I believe this to be a bad translation, and may be productive of error; as if when a man dies his being were ended, and death were an eternal sleep. The original is, רוח הולך ולא ישוב ruach holech velo yashub: and the translation should be, "The spirit goeth away, and it doth not return." The present life is the state of probation; when therefore the flesh-the body, fails, the spirit goeth away into the eternal world, and returneth not hither again. Now God, being full of compassion, spared them, that their salvation might be accomplished before they went into that state where there is no change; where the pure are pure still, and the defiled are defiled still. All the Versions are right; but the polyglot translator of the Syriac, [Syriac] rocho, has falsely put ventus, wind, instead of spiritus, soul or spirit. The Arabic takes away all ambiguity: [---Arabic---] "He remembered that they were flesh; and a spirit which, when it departs, does not again return." The human being is composed of flesh and spirit, or body and soul; these are easily separated, and, when separated, the body turns to dust, and the spirit returns no more to animate it in a state of probation. Homer has a saying very like that of the psalmist: -

Ανδρος δε ψυχη παλιν ελθειν ουτε ληἱστη,

Ουθ' ἑλετη, επει αρ κεν αμειψεται ἑρκος οδοντων.

IL. ix., ver., 408.

"But the soul of man returns no more; nor can it be acquired nor caught after it has passed over the barrier of the teeth."

Pope has scarcely given the passage its genuine meaning: -

"But from our lips the vital spirit fled

Returns no more to wake the silent dead."

And the Ossian-like version of Macpherson is but little better: "But the life of man returns no more; nor acquired nor regained is the soul which once takes its flight on the wind." What has the wind to do with the ερκοςοδοντων of the Greek poet?

Several similar sayings may be found among the Greek poets; but they all suppose the materiality of the soul.