Tehillim (Psalms) 49
49
1Hear this, all you peoples; Give ear, all you inhabitants of the world,
2Both sons of mankind and sons of man, Rich and poor together.
3My mouth speaks wisdom, And the meditation of my heart brings understanding.
4I incline my ear to a parable; I expound my riddle on the lyre.
5Why should I fear in the days of evil, When the crookedness of my supplanters surrounds me?
6Those who are trusting in their riches And who are boasting in their great wealth?
7A brother does not redeem anyone at all, Neither give to Elohim a ransom for him;
8For the redemption of their lives is costly, And it shall cease forever;
9That he should still live forever, And not see the pit.
10For he sees wise men die, The foolish and the ignorant both perish, And shall leave their wealth to others.
11Their inner thoughts#Inner thoughts; some manuscripts have it as graves are their houses, forever; Their dwelling places, to all generations; They call their lands after their own names.
12But man does not remain in esteem, He is like the beasts that perish.
13This way of theirs is folly to them, Yet their followers are pleased with their words. Selah.
14Like sheep they shall be laid in She’ol; Death shall shepherd them; And the upright rule over them in the morning; And their form is consumed in She’ol, Far from their dwelling.
15But Elohim does redeem my being From the power of She’ol, For He does receive me. Selah.
16Do not be afraid when a man becomes rich, When the wealth of his house increases;
17For when he dies he takes none of it; His wealth does not go down after him.
18Though while he lived he blessed himself, And though they praise you when you do well for yourself,
19He has to go to the generation of his fathers; They never see the light.
20Man, who is rich, Yet does not understand, Shall be like the beasts, They shall perish.
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Tehillim (Psalms) 49: TS2009
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Psalms 49
49
Confidence in God Rather than in Riches
1For the leader. A psalm of the Korahites.#Korahites: see note on Ps 42:1.
2Hear this, all you peoples!
Give ear, all who inhabit the world,
3You of lowly birth or high estate,
rich and poor together.
4My mouth shall speak words of wisdom,
my heart shall offer insights.#Ps 78:2; Mt 13:35.
5I will turn my ear to a riddle,#Riddle: the psalmist’s personal solution to the perennial biblical problem of the prosperity of the wicked. Question: parallel in meaning to problem; in wisdom literature it means the mysterious way of how the world works.
expound my question on a lyre.
I
6Why should I fear in evil days,
with the iniquity of my assailants surrounding me,
7Of those who trust in their wealth
and boast of their abundant riches?#Jb 31:24.
8#No man can ransom even a brother: an axiom. For the practice of redemption, cf. Jb 6:21–23. A play on the first Hebrew word of Ps 49:8, 16 relates the two verses.No man can ransom even a brother,
or pay to God his own ransom.#Prv 10:15; 11:4; Ez 7:19; Mt 16:26.
9The redemption of his soul is costly;
and he will pass away forever.
10Will he live on forever, then,
and never see the Pit of Corruption?
11Indeed, he will see that the wise die,
and the fool will perish together with the senseless,#Eccl 2:16.
and they leave their wealth to others.#Ps 39:7; Sir 11:18–19.
12Their tombs are their homes forever,
their dwellings through all generations,
“They named countries after themselves”
13—but man does not abide in splendor.
He is like the beasts—they perish.#Eccl 3:18–21.
II
14This is the way of those who trust in themselves,
and the end of those who take pleasure in their own mouth.
Selah
15Like a herd of sheep they will be put into Sheol,
and Death will shepherd them.
Straight to the grave they descend,
where their form will waste away,
Sheol will be their palace.
16But God will redeem my life,
will take me#Will take me: the same Hebrew verb is used of God “taking up” a favored servant: Enoch in Gn 5:24; Elijah in 2 Kgs 2:11–12; the righteous person in Ps 73:24. The verse apparently states the hope that God will rescue the faithful psalmist in the same manner. from the hand of Sheol.#Ps 16:10; 86:13; 103:4; 116:8.
Selah
17Do not fear when a man becomes rich,
when the wealth of his house grows great.
18At his death he will not take along anything,
his glory will not go down after him.#Sir 11:18–19; Eccl 5:15; 1 Tm 6:7.
19During his life his soul uttered blessings;
“They will praise you, for you do well for yourself.”
20But he will join the company of his fathers,
never again to see the light.#Jb 10:21–22.
21In his prime, man does not understand.
He is like the beasts—they perish.
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