All the while my breath [is] in me, and the spirit of God [is] in my nostrils;
Ver. 3. All the while my breath is in me] Periphrasis vitae, - Dum spiritus hos regat artas, While I have an hour to breathe, I will hold to this oath of mine; neither may you ever hope to dispute me out of mine integrity. Life is described by breath, which, when it faileth, the man dieth, 1Ki 17:17 Psa 146:4 Isaiah 2:22. Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils, every moment ready to puff out. What is man, saith Nazianzen, but soul and soil, breath and body, a puff of wind the one, a pile of dust the other, no solidity in either? Jovinian, the emperor, was choked with the smoke of charcoal (Eutrop. Oros.); Pope Adrian with a fly, getting into his throat as he gaped; the cardinal of Lorrain was lighted to his lodging and to his long home both at once by a poisoned torch. Defer not, saith one, since at the next puff of breath thou mayest blow away thy life.
And the Spirit of God is in my nostrils] He seems to allude to Genesis 2:7, or some tradition of the fathers to like purpose; Acts 17:25, God giveth to all life, and breath, and all things. And again, Acts 17:28, "In him we live, and move, and have our being." Wherefore "let everything that hath breath praise the Lord," Psalms 150:6; yea, let every breath (as some read it) praise the Lord. Let it be as the smoke of the tabernacle, as pillars of incense ascending up to heaven. Tam Dei meminisse opus est, quam respirare (Chrysost.).