Thematic Bible: Brevity of
Thematic Bible
Time » Brevity of » Only a handbreadth in extent
“Behold, You have made my days as [short as] hand widths,
And my lifetime is as nothing in Your sight.
Surely every man at his best is a mere breath [a wisp of smoke, a vapor that vanishes]!
Remember how fleeting my lifetime is;
For what vanity, [for what emptiness, for what futility, for what wisp of smoke] You have created all the sons of men!
For all our days pass away in Your wrath;
We have finished our years like a whispered sigh.
My days are like an evening shadow that lengthens and vanishes [with the sun];
And as for me, I wither away like grass.
For who [limited by human wisdom] knows what is good for man during his lifetime, during the few days of his futile life? He spends them like a shadow [staying busy, but achieving nothing of lasting value]. For who can tell a man what will happen after him [to his work, his treasure, his plans] under the sun [after his life is over]?
Verse Concepts
Time » Brevity of » Like hurrying messengers
“Like a flower he comes forth and withers;
He also flees like a shadow and does not remain.
“Now my days are swifter than a runner;
They vanish, they see no good.
Time » Brevity of » Like a shadow
For we are sojourners before You, and tenants, as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope [of remaining].
Verse Concepts
Time » Brevity of » Like a flying shuttle
“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
And are spent without hope.
“For we are only of yesterday and know nothing,
Because our days on earth are [like] a shadow [just a breath or a vapor].
Time » Brevity of » Life brief, figurative allusions to the brevity of
Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. Few and unpleasant have been the years of my life, and they have not reached the years that my fathers lived during the days of their pilgrimage.”
Verse Concepts
Time » Brevity of » Like a weaver's web
“My dwelling (body) is pulled up and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent;
I have rolled up my life as a weaver [rolls up the finished web].
He cuts me free from the warp [of the loom];
From day to night You bring me to an end.