Tehillim 104:23

23 Adam goeth forth unto his work and to his avodah (labor, service) until erev.

Tehillim 104:23 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 104:23

Man goeth forth to his work
Having taken sleep in the night, being comfortably refreshed, and his strength recruited; he rises with the rising sun, and goes forth cheerfully and with intrepidity to his work in the field, or elsewhere, the beasts being fled and gone.

And to his labour until the evening;
to till the ground, and do other services and labour, either of the head or hand; for man is born and designed for labour, and not for sloth and idleness: in his innocent state he was set to dress the garden and keep it; and, after the fall, his doom was to get his bread by the sweat of his brow; and he is to work while the day lasts, till the evening and night come on, when he betakes himself to sleep and rest again. So the believer, though the work of redemption and salvation is wrought for him, and the work of grace is wrought in him, each by another hand; yet he has work enough to do, which he is created for, and under obligation to perform; and in which he is to continue steadfast and immovable, while the day of life lasts, till the night of death comes, and no man can work; and then he rests from his labours, and his works follow him.

Tehillim 104:23 In-Context

21 The young lions roar after their teref (prey), and seek their okhel from G-d.
22 The shemesh ariseth, they retreat, and lay themselves down in their me’onot (dwelling places, dens, homes [Yn 14:2 OJBC]).
23 Adam goeth forth unto his work and to his avodah (labor, service) until erev.
24 Hashem, how manifold are Thy ma’asim! In chochmah (wisdom; cf Psa 33:6; Yn 1:1) hast Thou made them all; ha’aretz is full of Thy creatures.
25 So is this gadol (great) and rekhav (wide, spacious) yam (sea), wherein are remes (creeping things), innumerable swarming chayyot (creatures), ketanot and gedolot.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.