Bible Strands
Psalms 146:4
When his spirit departs, he returns to the ground; on that very day his plans perish.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses Israel, positioned between a warning against trusting mortal princes and a declaration of blessedness in the God of Jacob. The verse serves as the factual basis for why human leaders cannot be relied upon for ultimate deliverance.
The words — The verbs יָשֻׁ֣ב (ya.Shuv, "he will return") and אָבְד֥וּ ('a.ve.Du, "they have perished") anchor the verse's declaration of finality. They state the physical return to earth and the immediate collapse of human intentions upon death.
The thread — This pattern of breath departing and the body returning to earth runs through Genesis 2:7, Psalm 104:29, and Ecclesiastes 12:7. These texts trace the consistent biblical observation that human life originates from dust and breath, and ceases when that breath is withdrawn.
Why it lands — The text demands a reader to abandon reliance on human authority for salvation and to direct hope exclusively to God. It requires acknowledging that mortal power is structurally incapable of overcoming death.
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
His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
Cross-references
- Ecclesiastes 12:7 before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
- Psalms 104:29 When You hide Your face, they are terrified; when You take away their breath, they die and return to dust.
- Genesis 2:7 Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
- Genesis 3:19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
- 1 Corinthians 2:6 Among the mature, however, we speak a message of wisdom—but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
- Job 27:3 as long as my breath is still within me and the breath of God remains in my nostrils,
- Psalms 33:10 The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations; He thwarts the devices of the peoples.
- Daniel 5:23 Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you drank wine from them with your nobles, wives, and concubines, you praised your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you have failed to glorify the God who holds in His hand your very breath and all your ways.
- Job 14:10 But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last, and where is he?
- Job 14:21 If his sons receive honor, he does not know it; if they are brought low, he is unaware.