PSA 62:9 Parallel Verse View

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Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal Speaker(s)=Narrator (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX (PSA 61:10) Πλὴν μάταιοι οἱ νἱοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ψευδεῖς οἱ υἱοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐν ζυγοῖς τοῦ ἀδικῆσαι, αὐτοὶ ἐκ ματαιότητος ἐπιτοαυτό.
(Plaʸn mataioi hoi nhioi tōn anthrōpōn, pseudeis hoi huioi tōn anthrōpōn en zugois tou adikaʸsai, autoi ek mataiotaʸtos epitoauto.)

BrTr (PSA 61:10) But the sons of men are vain; the sons of men are false, so as to be deceitful in the balances; they are [fn]all alike formed out of vanity.

ULT Surely sons of a human, are vapor,
⇔ sons of a man, are a lie.
⇔ To go up on the scales,
⇔ they together, would be lighter than vapor.

UST Certainly, ordinary people lack the power to help,
⇔ and important people are not as powerful as they seem.
⇔ If you put them all on a scale,
⇔ it would be as if they weighed less than air.

BSB & MSB Lowborn men [are] but a vapor;
⇔ the exalted [are] but a lie.
⇔ Weighed on the scale, they go up;
⇔ together they are but a vapor.

OEB ⇔ The lowly are nought but a breath,
⇔ the lofty are but an illusion:
⇔ in the balances up they go,
⇔ they are lighter than breath altogether.

WEBBE & WMBB Surely men of low degree are just a breath,
⇔ and men of high degree are a lie.
⇔ In the balances they will go up.
⇔ They are together lighter than a breath.

NET Men are nothing but a mere breath;
⇔ human beings are unreliable.
⇔ When they are weighed in the scales,
⇔ all of them together are lighter than air.

LSV Surely vanity the low, a lie the high. In balances to go up
They [are] lighter than a breath.

FBV Ordinary people are mere breaths, while leaders are just fakes. Put them all together and weigh them on scales and they wouldn't weigh more than air!

T4T ⇔ People who are considered to be unimportant are as worthless/unreliable as a breath of air;
⇔ people who are considered to be important also really ◄amount to nothing/cannot be trusted to help us►.
⇔ If you put them all on a scale, it would be as if they weighed less than a puff of air.

LEB • Only a vapor[fn] are men of low degree,
• a deception are men of high degree.
• Weighed[fn] in a balance,
• together they are lighter than a vapor.

62:? Or “breath”

62:? Literally “To go up”

BBE Truly men of low birth are nothing, and men of high position are not what they seem; if they are put in the scales together they are less than a breath.

Moff ⇔ The lower ranks are but a thing of naught,
⇔ the upper ranks are only a delusion;
⇔ weigh them, they prove to be lighter and slighter than a breath of air.

JPS (PSA 62:10) (62-11) Trust not in oppression, and put not vain hope in robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart thereon.

ASV Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie:
⇔ In the balances they will go up;
⇔ They are together lighter than vanity.

DRA (PSA 61:10) But vain are the sons of men, the sons of men are liars in the balances: that by vanity they may together deceive.

YLT Only — vanity [are] the low, a lie the high. In balances to go up they than vanity [are] lighter.

Drby Men of low degree are only vanity; men of high degree, a lie: laid in the balance, they go up together [lighter] than vanity.

RV Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: in the balances they will go up; they are together lighter than vanity.

SLT Surely the sons of man vanity, the sons of man falsehood: to be brought up into the balances, they together of vanity.

Wbstr Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.

KJB-1769 Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.[fn]

62.9 altogether: or, alike

KJB-1611 Surely men of low degree are vanitie, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the ballance, they are [fn]altogether lighter then vanitie.
(Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter then vanity.)

62:9 Or, alike.

Bshps As for the chyldren of men, they be onlye but vanitie, the chyldren of lordes be but a lye: vpon the wayghtes they be altogether lighter then vanitie in selfe.
(As for the children of men, they be only but vanity, the children of lords be but a lye: upon the weights they be altogether lighter then vanity in self.)

Gnva Yet the children of men are vanitie, the chiefe men are lies: to lay them vpon a balance they are altogether lighter then vanitie.
(Yet the children of men are vanity, the chief men are lies: to lay them upon a balance they are altogether lighter then vanity.)

Cvdl Sela. As for men, they are but vayne, me are disceatfull: vpo the weightes they are al together lighter then vanite itself.
(Sela. As for men, they are but vain, me are deceitful: upon the weights they are all together lighter then vanity itself.)

Wycl (PSA 61:10) Netheles the sones of men ben veyne; the sones of men ben liers in balauncis, that thei disseyue of vanytee in to the same thing.
(Nevertheless the sons of men been vain; the sons of men been liars in balances, that they deceive of vanity in to the same thing.)

Luth (PSA 62:10) Aber Menschen sind doch ja nichts, große Leute fehlen auch; sie wägen weniger denn nichts, soviel ihrer ist.
(But people are though/but yes nothing, large people/folk miss/lack also; they/she/them weigh/ponder fewer/minus because/than nothing, so_much of_their/her is.)

ClVg (PSA 61:10) Verumtamen vani filii hominum, mendaces filii hominum in stateris, ut decipiant ipsi de vanitate in idipsum.[fn]
(Nevertheless vain children of_men, lying children of_men in/into/on scales, as deceive themselves from/about vanity in/into/on the_same.)

61.10 Verumtamen vani. HIER. Vel, sic junge, Deus est adjutor noster; et licet sic cooperetur nobis, tamen filii Adæ sunt vani et mendaces in statera, pervertentes Scripturas, quibus probent falsa. CASS. Diapsalmus. Errantes exprobrat, et monet in Deo, non in caducis, confidere, quod psalmus intendit. Mendaces in stateris. Qui iniquis ponderibus ementes decipiunt, vel justi videri volunt, cum sint fallaces. In stateris. In libra justitiæ, quo facilius decipiunt. In idipsum, quo credentur æqui.

61.10 Nevertheless vain. HIER. Or, so join, God it_is helper our; and although so may_work_with us, nevertheless children Adam are vain and lying in/into/on balance(n)/scales, overthrowing Scriptures, to_whom they_may_prove false. CASS. Musical_pause. Wandering reproaches, and advises in/into/on to_God, not/no in/into/on perishable, to_trust, that psalm/song he_intends. Lying in/into/on scales. Who unjust weights buyers they_deceive, or just to_seem they_want, when/with let_them_be deceitful. In scales. In libra justice, where easier they_deceive. In the_same, where they_will_be_believed equal.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

הֶ֥בֶל בְּנֵֽי־אָדָם֮ כָּזָ֪ב בְּנֵ֫י אִ֥ישׁ

Abel (Some words not found in UHB: but Abel sons_of humankind lie sons_of (a)_man in_[the],balances to,go_up they(emph) [are]_more,than_a_breath together )

These two phrases mean basically the same thing. The second emphasizes the meaning of the first by repeating the same idea with different words. Hebrew poetry was based on this kind of repetition, and you may want to show this to your readers by including both phrases in your translation. If it is helpful, you could connect the phrases in a way that shows that the second phrase is repeating the first one, not saying something additional. Alternate translation: [all people are vapor; indeed, they are a lie]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

בְּנֵֽי־אָדָם֮ & בְּנֵ֫י אִ֥ישׁ

(Some words not found in UHB: but Abel sons_of humankind lie sons_of (a)_man in_[the],balances to,go_up they(emph) [are]_more,than_a_breath together )

The psalmist is using sons of a human and sons of a man as common expressions of the culture to mean “people” or “human beings.” If these phrases do not have that meaning for your readers, you could use a comparable expression from your language that does have that meaning, or you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [people … people] or [human beings … human beings]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

הֶ֥בֶל

Abel

The psalmist is speaking of people as if they were vapor. He means that people are transient and insubstantial. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent metaphor from your culture. Alternatively, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [are fleeting] or [have no substance]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

כָּזָ֪ב

(Some words not found in UHB: but Abel sons_of humankind lie sons_of (a)_man in_[the],balances to,go_up they(emph) [are]_more,than_a_breath together )

When the psalmist says that people are a lie, he means that humans are deceptive in appearance and cannot be relied upon. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [are unreliable] or [are deceptive]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / hyperbole

הֵ֝֗מָּה מֵ⁠הֶ֥בֶל יָֽחַד

(Some words not found in UHB: but Abel sons_of humankind lie sons_of (a)_man in_[the],balances to,go_up they(emph) [are]_more,than_a_breath together )

The psalmist says they together would be lighter than vapor as an extreme statement for emphasis. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a different way to express the emphasis. Alternate translation: [together they would weigh almost nothing] or [all of them together have no weight at all]

Parallel PSA 62:9