Discovery BoxPsalms 39:5 
Context39:5 Look, you make my days short-lived, 1
and my life span is nothing from your perspective. 2
Surely all people, even those who seem secure, are nothing but vapor. 3
Psalms 75:8
Context75:8 For the Lord holds in his hand a cup full
of foaming wine mixed with spices, 4
and pours it out. 5
Surely all the wicked of the earth
will slurp it up and drink it to its very last drop.” 6
1 tn Heb “Look, handbreadths you make my days.” The “handbreadth” (equivalent to the width of four fingers) was one of the smallest measures used by ancient Israelites. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 309.
2 tn Heb “is like nothing before you.”
3 tn Heb “surely, all vapor [is] all mankind, standing firm.” Another option is to translate, “Surely, all mankind, though seemingly secure, is nothing but a vapor.”
4 tn Heb “for a cup [is] in the hand of the
5 tn Heb “and he pours out from this.”
6 tn Heb “surely its dregs they slurp up and drink, all the wicked of the earth.”
sn The psalmist pictures God as forcing the wicked to gulp down an intoxicating drink that will leave them stunned and vulnerable. Divine judgment is also depicted this way in Ps 60:3; Isa 51:17-23; and Hab 2:16.
