The Meaning of Psalms 144:4 Explained

Psalms 144:4

KJV: Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.

YLT: Man to vanity hath been like, His days are as a shadow passing by.

Darby: Man is like to vanity; his days are as a shadow that passeth away.

ASV: Man is like to vanity: His days are as a shadow that passeth away.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Man  is like  to vanity:  his days  [are] as a shadow  that passeth away. 

What does Psalms 144:4 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 144:1-15 - God's People Are Happy
This psalm savors of the rocky caverns from which David and his men emerged to fight. Each day the chieftain asked God to teach him to fight, and realized that all his need would be met. The names he gives to God indicate that all-sidedness which becomes the complement of every conceivable necessity on our part.
What a striking conception opens in Psalms 144:4! Saul was but a "breath"! r.v., margin. The persecuting bands were as the shadows that pass across the hills! From them all he appealed to God to bow the heavens and come, to touch the mountains, and to rescue him from the rising waters. And when the storm has passed he sings his new glad song, Psalms 144:9. Psalms 144:12-15 were probably added at a later time, when David was established in his kingdom. They describe a summer afternoon of prosperity, when sons have grown from plants to trees, and daughters resemble the carved figures which support the beams of a palace. No breaking in of the foe, no need to go forth to fight, no outcry of oppression or want; but the halcyon sunset of a well-spent life. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 144

1  David blesses God for his mercy both to him and to man
5  He prays that God would powerfully deliver him from his enemies
9  He promises to praise God
11  He prays for the happy state of the kingdom

What do the individual words in Psalms 144:4 mean?

Man a breath is like His days [are] like a shadow passing
אָ֭דָם לַהֶ֣בֶל דָּמָ֑ה יָ֝מָ֗יו כְּצֵ֣ל עוֹבֵֽר

אָ֭דָם  Man 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אָדָם 
Sense: man, mankind.
לַהֶ֣בֶל  a  breath 
Parse: Preposition-l, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: הֶבֶל  
Sense: vapour, breath.
דָּמָ֑ה  is  like 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: דָּמָה  
Sense: to be like, resemble.
יָ֝מָ֗יו  His  days  [are] 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
כְּצֵ֣ל  like  a  shadow 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, masculine singular
Root: צֵל  
Sense: shadow, shade.
עוֹבֵֽר  passing 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: עָבַר 
Sense: to pass over or by or through, alienate, bring, carry, do away, take, take away, transgress.