The Meaning of Psalms 102:11 Explained

Psalms 102:11

KJV: My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.

YLT: My days as a shadow are stretched out, And I -- as the herb I am withered.

Darby: My days are like a lengthened-out shadow, and I, I am withered like grass.

ASV: My days are like a shadow that declineth; And I am withered like grass.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

My days  [are] like a shadow  that declineth;  and I am withered  like grass. 

What does Psalms 102:11 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalm 102:1-11 - The Cry Of The Afflicted
This is the fifth of the Penitential Psalms. Some hold that it is one of the later psalms, asking for deliverance from captivity; others, emphasizing certain Davidic characteristics, ascribe it to the hand of the royal psalmist. Its actual authorship, however, is of comparatively small consequence; the main thing is to notice what adequate expression it gives to the sorrow of an almost broken heart.
The psalmist bases his cry for a speedy answer on the swiftness with which his days are passing away, like smoke escaping, from a chimney. His bones are calcined; his heart withers like Jonah's gourd; he is worn to a skeleton by his long and passionate lamentations. He finds his likeness in solitude-loving creatures, such as the pelican and the owl. Still another element in his suffering is the mockery of his foes. He cannot get away from it; it haunts him. Ashes, the token of his mourning, are his food, and tears fill his cup. But the bitterest element of all is the consciousness of God's displeasure. It seems as if God's hand is against him, and in the accumulated weight of grief, he deems that the day of his life must expire. However, in the concluding portion of the psalm his hope is renewed. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalm 102

1  The prophet in his prayer makes a grievous complaint
12  He takes comfort in the eternity, and mercy of God
18  The mercies of God are to be recorded
23  He sustains his weakness by the unchangeableness of God

What do the individual words in Psalms 102:11 mean?

My days [are] like a shadow that lengthens and I like grass wither away
יָ֭מַי כְּצֵ֣ל נָט֑וּי וַ֝אֲנִ֗י כָּעֵ֥שֶׂב אִיבָֽשׁ

יָ֭מַי  My  days  [are] 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, first person common singular
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
כְּצֵ֣ל  like  a  shadow 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, masculine singular
Root: צֵל  
Sense: shadow, shade.
נָט֑וּי  that  lengthens 
Parse: Verb, Qal, QalPassParticiple, masculine singular
Root: נָטָה 
Sense: to stretch out, extend, spread out, pitch, turn, pervert, incline, bend, bow.
וַ֝אֲנִ֗י  and  I 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Pronoun, first person common singular
Root: אֲנִי  
Sense: I (first pers.
כָּעֵ֥שֶׂב  like  grass 
Parse: Preposition-k, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֵשֶׂב  
Sense: herb, herbage, grass, green plants.
אִיבָֽשׁ  wither  away 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: יָבֵשׁ  
Sense: to make dry, wither, be dry, become dry, be dried up, be withered.