Psalms 39:6

“Surely every man walketh in a vain show, etc.] Or “in an image” ; not “in the image of the Lord”, as the Targum; in the image in which God created man, for that is lost; nor in that which is stamped on men in regeneration; for every man does not walk in that; rather in the image of fallen man, in which every man is born and walks: or “in a shadow” f555; or like one; to which the days of man’s life are often compared, (<132915>1 Chronicles 29:15 <19A211>Psalm 102:11 144:4); and who, for the most part, busies himself in shadowy and imaginary things; agreeably to all which the poet says f556, f554 “I see that we who live are nothing else but images, and a vain shadow.” Some f557 interpret it of…”

“Surely every man walketh in a vain show - Margin, “an image.” The word rendered “vain show” - צלם tselem - means properly a shade, a shadow; and then, an image or likeness, as shadowing forth any real object. Then it comes to denote an idol, 2 Kings 11:18; Amos 5:26. Here the idea seems to be that of an image, as contradistinguished from a reality; the shadow of a thing, as distinguished from the substance. Man seems to be like an image, a shadow, a phantom - and not a real object, walking about. He is a form, an appearance, that soon vanishes away like a shadow. Surely they are disquieted in vain - That is, they are actively engaged; they bustle about; they are full of anxiety; they form…”

“Vain shew - Heb. in a shadow or image; in an imaginary rather than a real life: in the pursuit of vain imaginations, in which there is nothing solid or satisfactory: man in and his life, and all his happiness in this world, are rather appearances and dreams, than truths and realities. Disquieted - Heb. They make a noise, bustling, or tumult, with unwearied industry seeking for riches, and troubling and vexing both themselves and others in the pursuit of them. Psalms 39:7”

“a vain show: Heb. an image, There is but the semblance of being. he appeareth for a little, and then vanisheth. Co1 7:31; Jam 4:14 surely: Ecc 1:14, Ecc 2:17, Ecc 2:18, Ecc 2:20, Ecc 2:21, Ecc 4:7, Ecc 4:8, Ecc 6:11, Ecc 6:12, Ecc 12:8, Ecc 12:13; Isa 55:2; Luk 10:40-42, Luk 12:20, Luk 12:21, Luk 12:29; Pe1 5:7 he heapeth: Psa 49:10, Psa 49:11; Job 27:16, Job 27:17; Pro 13:22, Pro 23:5, Pro 27:24; Ecc 2:8, Ecc 2:18-21, Ecc 2:26; Ecc 5:14; Luk 12:20, Luk 12:21; Jam 5:3 Psalms 39:7”