ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Psalms 102.25-27

Book: Psalms · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

23. He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days. 24. I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: Thy years are throughout all generations.

25. Of old didst thou lay the foundation of the earth; And the heavens are the work of thy hands. 26. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: 27. But thou art the same, And thy years shall have no end.

  1. The children of thy servants shall continue, And their seed shall be established before thee. (Psalms 102:23-28, ASV)
WEB

23. He weakened my strength along the course. He shortened my days. 24. I said, “My God, don’t take me away in the middle of my days. Your years are throughout all generations.

25. Of old, you laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the work of your hands. 26. They will perish, but you will endure. Yes, all of them will wear out like a garment. You will change them like a cloak, and they will be changed. 27. But you are the same. Your years will have no end.

  1. The children of your servants will continue. Their offspring will be established before you.” (Psalms 102:23-28, WEB)
KJV

23. He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days. weakened: Heb. afflicted 24. I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations.

25. Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. 26. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: endure: Heb. stand 27. But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.

  1. The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee. (Psalms 102:23-28, KJV)
YLT

23. He hath humbled in the way my power, He hath shortened my days. 24. I say, 'My God, take me not up in the midst of my days,' Through all generations [are] Thine years.

25. Beforetime the earth Thou didst found, And the work of Thy hands [are] the heavens. 26. They, They perish, and Thou remainest, And all of them as a garment become old, As clothing Thou changest them, And they are changed. 27. And Thou [art] the same, and Thine years are not finished.

  1. The sons of Thy servants do continue, And their seed before Thee is established! (Psalms 102:23-28, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: the psalmist; the psalm carries no attribution
  • Audience: God, addressed directly in prayer
  • Location: the sanctuary and its liturgy, rather than a narrative setting
  • Time period: the monarchy or later; individual psalms are difficult to date and the Psalter was compiled over centuries

Theological reading

Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. But you are the same, and your years have no end.

Hebrews 1:10-12 quotes these verses and applies them to the Son, which is among the strongest christological uses of the Psalter, because the psalm addresses the LORD as creator and the epistle transfers the address without argument.

The content is the contrast of creature and creator under the aspect of duration. The heavens are made, they wear out, they are changed like clothing; God remains and is the same. Immutability here is not abstract changelessness but reliability across the perishing of everything else.

The garment image has been read against the second law of thermodynamics; the codex treats that as poetic resonance rather than anticipation, at Bible Anticipates Science. The psalm's own concern is that a dying man is speaking, and the permanence of God is his ground for hope that his children will endure.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

  • TBD
  • TBD
  • TBD
  • TBD

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

Passages:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.