He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.
Parallel translations
- WEB He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes away, and doesn’t come again.
- KJV For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
- NKJV For He remembered that they were but flesh, A breath that passes away and does not come again.
- NASB So He remembered that they were only flesh, A wind that passes and does not return.
- NLT For he remembered that they were merely mortal, gone like a breath of wind that never returns.
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
God remembered their frailty, that they were merely passing flesh. His mercy reckoned with human weakness.
Overview
God 'remembered that they were but flesh,' like a fleeting wind. His patience flowed in part from compassion on human frailty and mortality. This tender remembrance of our weakness is echoed in the gospel, where God sent His Son in our flesh to bear what we could not.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Jas 4:14You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
- Gen 6:3So the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days shall be 120 years.”
- Job 7:7Remember that my life is but a breath. My eyes will never again see happiness.
- Job 7:16I loathe my life! I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
- Ps 103:14–16For He knows our frame; He is mindful that we are dust.
- Job 10:9Please remember that You molded me like clay. Would You now return me to dust?
- John 3:6Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit.
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 78:39 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.