complete verse (Psalm 39:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 39:6:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “A human being is like his shadow when he is walking to and fro:
    He only suffers but without profit;
    he accumulates wealth, without knowing who will own it.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “People are like shadows moving hither and thither.
    Their work has no value.
    They gather wealth and property,
    but as for who will take it, they do not know.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “or just like a shadow that vanishes/disappears.
    The person/man (is) busy with the doings/deeds which have-no value.
    He gathers wealth,
    but when he dies he does- not -know (who) will-benefit-from this.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Eastern Bru:
    “There is nothing good, because everyone is only like a shadow. They gather riches in this life, but later they don’t know who will have those things.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “A person stays just like shadow
    and then his works become nothing,
    he accumulated wealth, he does not knows
    who will use that wealth.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Kweli kila mtu anapita kama vile kivuli.
    Yote ambayo anajitahidi kufanya ya bure.
    Anakusanya mali lakini hamjui ambaye atakuja kuchukua.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “Then we disappear like a shadow does.
    It seems that all that we do is for nothing/ useless.
    We sometimes get a lot of money, but we do not know who will get it after we die.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Psalm 39:5 - 39:6

In these two verses the psalmist provides, as it were, the answer to his question in verse 4. The language in these verses recalls similar passages in Job and Ecclesiastes (see Job 7.7; 8.9; 10.20; Eccl 2.26; 5.17; 6.12).

Behold is not formally represented by Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, although the exclamation form in Good News Translation may be considered a functional equivalent. A more natural equivalent in English is “I know….” His life is quite short, literally (some) “handbreadths” (a handbreadth being equivalent to 3 inches, 7.5 centimeters), virtually nothing from God’s point of view (verse 5b). In languages which will require a verb clause in place of the noun phrase, my days in line a of verse 5 may be rendered “What a short time you have given me to live!”

The lifetime of a human being is as frail and transient as a mere breath, as insubstantial and unreal as a shadow (verses 5c, 6a). In verse 5c the verb stands is difficult to understand; New Jerusalem Bible translates “no man endures any longer than a breath”; New English Bible “Man, though he stands upright, is but a puff of wind”; New Jerusalem Bible “every human being that stands on earth is a mere puff of wind.” It seems better to follow Good News Translation or New International Version (“Each man’s life is but a breath”). Line c may sometimes be rendered “every man’s life is like a mere breath.”

Selah: see 3.2.

The verb in verse 6a, goes about, means activity in general; Bible en français courant translates “his going and coming are no more than a mirage”; New Jerusalem Bible “man walks about as a mere shadow.” Good News Translation has represented the verb goes about in verse 6a by the adjective “living” in verse 5c, which carries over to verse 6a. A translation of this line should not make it seem that the psalmist is saying that people look like ghosts when they walk around. In some languages it may be necessary to indicate that, for example, “a man’s life disappears like a shadow.”

Verse 6b is usually understood to mean “Surely in vain they bustle about”; the plural is used in a generic sense of people’s busy lives. New Jerusalem Bible has “mere futility is his hustle and bustle,” and New International Version “He bustles about, but only in vain.” But there are problems here, and some (New English Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Bible de Jérusalem, New Jerusalem Bible) conjecture hamon “riches” for the Masoretic text yehemayon “they bustle.”

The sense of verse 6c is that a person will spend all his life and strength in acquiring possessions (heaps up), but will die without knowing who will get all he accumulated (who will gather). It is all futile, all useless.

Due to the very great differences in the way a dead person’s property is disposed of, translators should make clear that heaps us refers to becoming the owner of physical property and not to a season’s harvest. In some cases it will be necessary to drop the agricultural figures as Good News Translation has done. In order to make clear that who will gather takes place after the wealthy man’s death, it may be necessary to say, for example, “A person gets wealth while he is alive, but after he dies, he does not know who gets it.” Some languages have proverbs which will fit this passage.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .