The Meaning of Psalms 103:16 Explained

Psalms 103:16

KJV: For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.

YLT: For a wind hath passed over it, and it is not, And its place doth not discern it any more.

Darby: For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone, and the place thereof knoweth it no more.

ASV: For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; And the place thereof shall know it no more.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For the wind  passeth over  it, and it is gone; and the place  thereof shall know  it no more. 

What does Psalms 103:16 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 103:13-22 - Everlasting Loving-Kindness
The psalmist comes from the far-reaching sky to the homely image of a father's pity. God is a great King, the mighty Creator, but the Spirit witnesses that we are His children and teaches us to say, Abba, Father. The idea of dust is that of frailty. Made of dust and fragile as an earthen vessel, man by his weakness appeals to Jehovah's compassion. The thought of frailty and helplessness is still further impressed by the figure of the fading flower, scorched by the hot desert wind. But, by force of contrast, the psalmist passes from man's brief span of life to God's eternal years. And God's love is as His life. Because God is eternal, His love is eternal. When once He loves, He loves always; He never wearies, never cools, and never lets go. A parent who fears God may leave a legacy of priceless worth to his children's children. See Psalms 103:17.
From Psalms 103:19 to the end, the psalmist pulls out all the stops in the great organ of existence. Angels and hosts of other intelligent beings who perform the Lord's will, all his works animate and inanimate, all saints, all souls, stars and suns, oceans, and mountains-all must join the "Hallelujah Chorus." [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 103

1  An exhortation to bless God for his mercy
5  And for the constancy thereof

What do the individual words in Psalms 103:16 mean?

For the wind passes over it and it is gone and no remembers it more its place
כִּ֤י ר֣וּחַ עָֽבְרָה־ בּ֣וֹ וְאֵינֶ֑נּוּ וְלֹא־ יַכִּירֶ֖נּוּ ע֣וֹד מְקוֹמֽוֹ

ר֣וּחַ  the  wind 
Parse: Noun, common singular
Root: רוּחַ  
Sense: wind, breath, mind, spirit.
עָֽבְרָה־  passes 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: עָבַר 
Sense: to pass over or by or through, alienate, bring, carry, do away, take, take away, transgress.
בּ֣וֹ  over  it 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
וְאֵינֶ֑נּוּ  and  it  is  gone 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, third person masculine singular
Root: אַיִן 
Sense: nothing, not, nought n.
וְלֹא־  and  no 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
יַכִּירֶ֖נּוּ  remembers  it 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, third person masculine singular, third person masculine singular
Root: נָכַר 
Sense: to recognise, acknowledge, know, respect, discern, regard.
ע֣וֹד  more 
Parse: Adverb
Root: עֹוד  
Sense: a going round, continuance adv.
מְקוֹמֽוֹ  its  place 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: מָקֹום  
Sense: standing place, place.