As for man, his days are like grass. As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
Parallel translations
- KJV As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
- BSB As for man, his days are like grass—he blooms like a flower of the field;
- NKJV As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
- NASB ¶As for man, his days are like grass; Like a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
- NLT Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Human life is fleeting, like grass and a wildflower that quickly flourishes. Our brief days highlight our dependence on God.
Overview
David contrasts frail, short-lived humanity with the eternal God just described. Like grass and field flowers, people bloom briefly and fade. This sobering truth, echoed in 1 Peter 1:24, drives us to find lasting hope not in passing life but in the everlasting love of God in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 1 Pet 1:24For, “All flesh is like grass, and all of man’s glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls;
- Jas 1:10–11and the rich, in that he is made humble, because like the flower in the grass, he will pass away.
- Isa 51:12“I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you, that you are afraid of man who shall die, and of the son of man who will be made as grass?
- Isa 28:1Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fertile valley of those who are overcome with wine!
- Isa 40:6–8The voice of one saying, “Cry!” One said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.
- Job 14:1–3“Man, who is born of a woman, is of few days, and full of trouble.
- Nah 1:4He rebukes the sea, and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers. Bashan languishes, and Carmel; and the flower of Lebanon languishes.
- Ps 90:5–6You sweep them away as they sleep. In the morning they sprout like new grass.
- Isa 28:4The fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fertile valley, shall be like the first-ripe fig before the summer; which someone picks and eats as soon as he sees it.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 103:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.