Bible Strands
Psalms 102:11
My days are like lengthening shadows, and I wither away like grass.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist speaks from a place of affliction, having just described being cast aside by God’s indignation, while directing his words toward the LORD who remains enthroned forever.
The words — The Hebrew uses tsêl (shadow) modified by nāṭûy (extended or lengthening) to describe the psalmist’s days, and ‘ēseb (vegetation) paired with ’îḇāš (withering) to describe his physical decline.
The thread — This specific simile of a lengthening shadow appears in Psalms 109:23, while the broader motif of life as a passing shadow is found in Job 14:2 and Psalms 144:4.
Why it lands — The text contrasts human transience with divine permanence, asking the reader to acknowledge the stark difference between temporary suffering and God’s enduring reign.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.
Cross-references
- Job 14:2 Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.
- Psalms 109:23 I am fading away like a lengthening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust.
- Psalms 144:4 Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.
- 1 Peter 1:24 For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
- Isaiah 40:6 A voice says, “Cry out!” And I asked, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field.
- James 1:10 But the one who is rich should exult in his low position, because he will pass away like a flower of the field.
- James 4:14 You 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.
- Psalms 39:5 You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah
- Psalms 102:3 For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers.
- Ecclesiastes 6:12 For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?