No human endures any longer than a breath.
Ps. 39:5-6
The age-old question: Would we be better off if we knew what our time was up - ahead of time? With our procrastinations and love of deadlines -- would knowing our expiration dates be helpful or harmful to achieving our goals and living our dreams and desires?
For the poet of this psalm, the question is asked in the context of a crisis. What are the sorrows and the suffering that this poet has experienced, pondering the value of life, and choosing to be silent at first, not to complain or rebuke the divine for fierce fate and hardships? We won’t know the details, but we know that at some point the poet can’t hold it in any longer, and their mouth exhales not just breath but also words that help unleash the burdens of mortality:
הוֹדִ֘יעֵ֤נִי יְהֹוָ֨ה ׀ קִצִּ֗י וּמִדַּ֣ת יָמַ֣י מַה־הִ֑יא אֵ֝דְעָ֗ה מֶֽה־חָדֵ֥ל אָֽנִי׃ הִנֵּ֤ה טְפָח֨וֹת ׀ נָ֘תַ֤תָּה יָמַ֗י וְחֶלְדִּ֣י כְאַ֣יִן נֶגְדֶּ֑ךָ אַ֥ךְ כׇּֽל־הֶ֥בֶל כׇּל־אָ֝דָ֗ם נִצָּ֥ב סֶֽלָה׃
Tell me, O ETERNAL One, what my life’s length is,
what is the measure of my days;
I want to know how fleeting my life is.
You have made my life just handbreadths long;
its span is as nothing in Your sight;
no human endures any longer than a breath. Selah.
Ps. 39:5-6
Scholars have pointed out that these words echo those of Job, and also the famous lines from Ecclesiastes. Particularly interesting here is the use of the word ‘Hevel’ - breath, as a notation of what gives us life - and how short that life can be, and as ephemeral and fleeting as every breath we take.
Robert Alter notes:
“Like the Job poet, who so powerfully expresses the fleeting nature of human existence, this psalmist calls on a rich vocabulary of synonyms for ephemerality.”
The trope of seeing our lives as ephemeral and fleeting will become more pronounced in this section of the Hebrew Bible. The use of ‘Hevel’ or ‘breath’ will become most famous in Ecclesiastes’s recurring refrain - ‘all is breath’. This psalm connects to those chapters by suggesting that there is little use in collecting property and amassing wealth - even if one hands it over to one’s heirs or worthy causes. That’s not what’s important - wealth is ultimately valued as the last out-breath. But it’s also critical to remember that the word ‘Hevel’ is not just ‘breath’ but also the name of the first human to walk this earth - and the first one to be killed, by his own brother. The word that signifies the fleeting value of the life force is also the name of a human ancestor whose life was cut too short because of rage and jealousy, child-like behavior that brought death to the world. The killing of Abel by his brother Cain reminds us of how precious and how fleeting every moment is, and how much of it depends on us and how we handle ourselves, our needs, our feelings, our hurts, aspirations, and respirations.
Would we be living better, kinder, more just lives if we knew how many breaths we have left? Would the world be a better, kinder place, with less violence and callous killing if we held on to the precious priceless weight of each and every breath?
Can we begin right now, by taking a moment to appreciate the breath, in and out, of this wild and precious life we have been given?
Image: Cain Kills Abel, by Titian, 16th Century
If it wasn’t King David who wrote the Psalms, despite popular religious lore, and according to most reliable scholarship - then who are the authors of these poets of piety and protest? Did they leave us some important information to decode as we struggle with our personal and public problems?
Clues are everywhere.
Join me on June 6th for our monthly Zoom conversation Below the Bible Belt - and find out more about the authors and how these ancient hymns may be helpful to us during this difficult time in the world, and as we each face challenges and celebrate life’s blessings.
Whether you are new to this journey or have been on it for a while - please join us on June 6th 2024, 5pm ET and please bring your questions, comments, responses and reflections on the PSLAMS so far.
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Let there be healing, and may peace prevail.
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