Verse of the Day
Author Spotlight
Loading featured author...
Report Issue
See a formatting issue or error?
Let us know →
Verse Takeaways
1
Life as a Walking Shadow
Commentators unanimously explain that the phrase "vain show" comes from a Hebrew word meaning an image, shadow, or phantom. Our earthly lives, with all their activity, are like shadows passing by—lacking true substance when viewed apart from God. As multiple scholars note, we are like actors on a stage, appearing for a moment before vanishing.
See 3 Verse Takeaways
Book Overview
Psalms
Author
Audience
Composition
Teaching Highlights
Outline
+ 5 more
See Overview
Commentaries
9
Albert Barnes
On Psalms 39:6
18th Century
Theologian
Surely every man walketh in a vain show - Margin, “an image.” The word rendered “vain show”—צלם tselem—means properly a sh…
Charles Ellicott
On Psalms 39:6
19th Century
Bishop
Surely every man ... —Better, only as a shadow walks a man. This is a very common theme in poetry, from the σκιᾶς ὄναρ ἄν…
Charles Spurgeon
On Psalm 39:6
19th Century
Preacher
Surely every man walks in a vain show:
Like players, or actors, all of us are walking in a phantom show, which is not really anythi…
Go Ad-Free
Go ad-free and create your own bookmark library
John Calvin
On Psalms 39:6
16th Century
Theologian
Surely man walks in a shadow. He continues to discuss the same subject. By the word shadow, he means that there is nothing substa…
John Gill
On Psalms 39:6
17th Century
Pastor
Surely every man walketh in a vain show
Or "in an image" {z}; not "in the image of the Lord", as the Targum; in the …
Matthew Henry
On Psalms 39:1–6
17th Century
Minister
If an evil thought should arise in the mind, suppress it. Watchfulness as a habit is the bridle upon the head; watchfulness in actions is the hand …