For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
Parallel translations
- WEB He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes away, and doesn’t come again.
- BSB He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.
- 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 4:14Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
- Gen 6:3And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
- Job 7:7O remember that my life is wind: mine eye shall no more see good.
- Job 7:16I loathe it; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days are vanity.
- Ps 103:14–16For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
- Job 10:9Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?
- John 3:6That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is 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.