PSALMS 49

STROPHE DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

NASB	NKJV	NRSV	TEV	NJB
The Folly of Trusting in Riches MT Intro For the choir director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah	The Confidence of the Foolish	Meditation on the Transience of Life and Wealth	The Foolishness of Trusting in Riches	The Futility of Wealth
49:1-4	49:1-4	49:1-4	49:1-4	49:1-2
				49:3-4
49:5-9	49:5-9	49:5-9	49:5-9	49:5-6
				49:7-8
				49:9
49:10-12	49:10-12	49:10-12	49:10-12	49:10
				49:11
				49:12-13
49:13-15	49:13-15	49:13-15	49:13-15
				49:14a-c
				49:14d-15
49:16-20	49:16-20	49:16-20	49:16-18	49:16-17
				49:18-19
			49:19-20
				49:20

READING CYCLE THREE (see
“Bible
Interpretation Seminar”)

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR’S INTENT AT PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which
means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the
light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not
relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects (reading cycle #3). Compare
your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is
the key to following the original author’s intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every
paragraph has one and only one subject.

First paragraph
Second paragraph
Third paragraph, etc.

CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS

Psalm 49 is a wisdom psalm (cf. Psalm 37). It is addressed to the covenant community, not
to YHWH. It has much more in common with the book of Proverbs than it seems to have with the
rest of the Psalter. Note the parallelism and terminology of Ps. 49:3-4,10-12,13.
The subject matter is similar to Psalms 37 and 73, which is basically described as “the
two ways”; a way that leads to life and a way that leads to death (cf. Psalm 1 and
Deut. 30:1,15,19). The two ways are particularly seen in Ps. 49:3 and 5 compared to Ps. 49:6.
The theme is the folly of trusting in human, earthly wealth. This is somewhat surprising
because wealth and success were viewed as a sign of YHWH’s blessing for covenant obedience
(cf. Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 27-30).

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: PSALM 49:1-4
¹Hear
this, all peoples;
Give
ear, all inhabitants of the world,
²Both
low and high,
Rich and
poor together.
³My
mouth will speak wisdom,
And
the meditation of my heart will be understanding.
⁴I will incline my ear to
a proverb;
I will express
my riddle on the harp.

49:1 Psalm 49:1 has two parallel IMPERATIVES (“hear” [Qal
IMPERATIVE] and “give ear” [Hiphil IMPERATIVE]). It is
significant that the author of this Psalm saw that it had universal implications far beyond the
boundaries of the Promised Land (cf. Ps. 45:16; 46:10; 47:1-2,7-9; 48:2,10; 49:1; 50:1,4,12,
i.e., “all peoples,” “all inhabitants of the world,” see
SPECIAL TOPIC: YHWH’S ETERNAL
REDEMPTIVE PLAN). It must be remembered that Wisdom Literature (see
SPECIAL
TOPID: WISDOM LITERATURE) was a literary genre well known and popular in the ANE.

The word “world” (BDB 317) is rare and can mean

life – Job 11:17; Ps. 39:5; 89:47
world – Ps. 17:14

Remember meaning is determined by contexts not dictionaries/lexicons.

49:2 “Both low and high” This is a very common metaphor in Hebrew used to express
two extremes, and thereby include everything in between (note parallel “rich and poor”).
This phrase itself is very unusual because it literally is “the sons of men” and “the
sons of men,” but may be a play on two different words for “men.” The first one is the
word adam (BDB 9), which usually means “mankind.” The second one is the word ish
(BDB 35), the general term for a male person. It is also possible the two phrases are synonymous
(NEB, cf. Ps. 62:9; Isa. 2:9; and NET Bible).

49:3 “wisdom. . .understanding” Both of these terms are PLURAL
(a PLURAL OF MAJESTY), which is a way of expressing a superlative idea. This is the
highest wisdom and the deepest understanding. This inspired wisdom teacher speaks God’s truth.

▣
NASB, NKJV, NRSV	”meditations”
TEV, REB	”thoughts”
NJB	”whisper”
JPSOA	”speech”
NAB	”utterance”

This is the only occurrence of this form of the root, הגה (BDB 212). The
basic meaning of the root is “to groan,” “to sigh,” “to utter.”

In this context it refers to the internal thoughts of the psalmist. He may be

a sage/philosopher
a Levite/singer
a priest/theologian

49:4 “I will incline my ear to a proverb” This is a striking metaphor of listening
intently to a proverb so as to understand its meaning. The term “proverb” (BDB 605) is
an ancient wisdom term, which seems to have the concept of a riddle, difficult saying, or mysterious
truth. However, the second line of Ps. 49:4 may possibly be a way of saying that he is going to
state a riddle (BDB 295) and then give its meaning. The two halves of Ps. 49:4 seem to show the
basic wisdom form. The author will state this truth in a way that the people of his culture/world
can understand it.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: PSALM 49:5-9
⁵Why
should I fear in days of adversity,
When
the iniquity of my foes surrounds me,
⁶Even
those who trust in their wealth
And
boast in the abundance of their riches?
⁷No
man can by any means redeem his brother
Or give to God a ransom for him—
⁸For the redemption of
his soul is costly,
And he
should cease trying forever—
⁹That he should live on
eternally,
That he should
not undergo decay.

49:5-9 “Why should I fear in days of adversity” This is the theme which will be
developed in this Psalm.

Godly people have always wondered about the unfairness of life (cf. Job, Psalm 73;
Habakkuk). Often the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. This seems to violate Leviticus 26
and Deuteronomy 27-30. YHWH wanted to use the abundance and prosperity of His people to attract
the nations to Himself. However, because of the Fall of Genesis 3, even covenant mankind could not
keep the Law. The only prosperity came to violent, greedy, powerful people.

This is not the world that God created it to be. His people did not model His
character (cf. Ezek. 36:22-23). Fallen mankind cannot save/redeem themselves or their families, or
their neighbors!

49:5 “iniquity of my foes surrounds me” The KJV has the word “heels” in
place of “foes.” The literal Hebrew term (BDB 784) seems to relate to Jacob as he held
onto his brother’s heel as he was born and, therefore, was named the “trickster,”
“supplanter,” or “usurper.” This is the concept of the word “foes” here.

49:6 “Even those who trust in their wealth” This VERB “trust”
(BDB 105, KB 120) occurs mostly in Psalms and Isaiah (cf. Isa. 26:3-4; 30:15). In Psalm 37 we learned
that we are to trust in God alone! This verse is the exact opposite, humans trusting in themselves or
their material possessions (cf. Job 31:24; Ps. 62:10; Pro. 11:28; 23:4-5; Mark 10:23-31; 1 Tim. 6:17-19).

SPECIAL TOPIC: WEALTH

49:7 “No man can by any means redeem his
brother” In Hebrew the term “brother” (BDB 26)
appears first for emphasis. NEB, REB, RSV, NRSV change חא
(brother) to אך (surely, BDB 36). The UBS Text Project (p.
245) gives “brother” an “A” rating. The Hebrew states
that a person cannot redeem (i.e., save, deliver) even himself/herself.

49:7,8 “redeem. . .ransom. . .redemption” There are two Hebrew VERBS:

“redeem” – BDB 804, KB 911, Qal INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE
and IMPERFECT VERB of the same root for emphasis
“ransom” (not BDB 145 I) – BDB 678, KB 733, Qal IMPERFECT
with BDB 497 I, lit. “a man cannot give to God the price of his life”

Both of them refer to the buying back of someone from slavery or from incarceration as a
prisoner of war.

SPECIAL TOPIC: RANSOM/REDEEM

49:8-9 “For the redemption of his soul is costly,

And he should cease trying forever” This is a parenthetical thought which
emphasizes that no matter how wealthy a man is, the price to pay to prolong life or secure an afterlife,
is too high. This is where the gospel of Jesus Christ is good news (cf. Isaiah 53; Mark 10:45; 2 Cor. 5:21)!

Notice the parallelism.

he should cease trying forever (BDB 761) – BDB 292, KB 292, Qal
PERFECT with waw
he should live on eternally (BDB 664) – BDB 310, KB 309, Qal
JUSSIVE
he should not see the pit (BDB 1001) – BDB 906, KB 1157, Qal
IMPERFECT

It is difficult for Christians to interpret texts like this one because we read our NT
understandings and definitions of words into these OT contexts. This is originally not related to
Isaiah 53 or John 3:16. This is dealing with a long, healthy, prosperous life. Wealth cannot assure
this! In a fallen world even covenant obedience could not assure this (i.e., Job, Isaac, Israel).

There are surely some hints of an afterlife in the OT (i.e., Job 14:14-15; 19:25-27;
Ps. 16:10; Dan. 12:2), but for the most part the OT deals with this life!

49:8 “costly” In the context of the OT, the cost of ransom/redemption was

the death of an innocent animal as a substitute (cf. Leviticus 4) for the sinful soul
of a human being or Leviticus 16 for a community of faith
in Psalm 51 there was no sacrifice for the intentional sin of David (cf. Lev. 4:2,22,27;
5:15-18; 22:14), so David offered “a broken and contrite heart” (Ps. 51:17)
the ultimate cost was paid by “the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”
(cf. John 1:29). This was predicted in Isa. 52:13-53:12 (i.e., the Suffering Servant). This
concept of substitutionary atonement was documented by Jesus (cf. Mark 10:45), Paul
(cf. Gal. 1:4; 1 Cor. 15:3; 2 Cor. 5:21), Peter (cf. 1 Pet. 2:21-24), and the author of
Hebrews (cf. Heb. 7:26-27; 9:28).

49:9 “That he should live on eternally,

That he should not undergo decay” Here is the problem of wealth. It
does not provide ultimate answers. It cannot make a person right with God and it cannot prolong life.
Therefore, it is false hope; it is a glimmer that lasts for only a moment and then is gone. The only
true light, the only true hope, and the only true life is found in God.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: PSALM 49:10-12
¹⁰For
he sees that even wise men die;
The
stupid and the senseless alike perish
And
leave their wealth to others.
¹¹Their
inner thought is that their houses are forever
And their dwelling places to
all generations;
They have
called their lands after their own names.
¹²But man in his
pomp will not endure;
He
is like the beasts that perish.

49:10 “For he sees that even wise men die;

The stupid and the senseless alike perish” Although this metaphor
is similar to the one found in Eccl. 2:15,16, it is used in a different sense here. Here, the death
of all things, including people and animals, is related to their inability to purchase longer life
through wealth. There seem to be three different people or groups involved in Ps. 49:10; the wise
(BDB 314) person, the stupid (BDB 493) person, and the senseless (BDB 129) person. Because animals
are mentioned in Ps. 49:12 and 20, some would see them being referred to here in the “senseless”
(BDB 129, animal-like, cf. Ps. 73:22).

SPECIAL TOPIC: TERMS FOR
FOOLISH PEOPLE

▣ “And leave their wealth to others” Again, Eccl. 2:18-23 is very helpful. No
matter how wealthy a person is, when he/she dies, he/she leaves it all to others.

49:11 “Their inner thought is that their houses are forever” The MT Hebrew text
has the idea that the rich person believes he and his wealth will last forever. However, the LXX
changes the thought to “their graves are their houses forever.” Whichever is correct, it
still shows the ultimate folly of trusting in riches.

The UBS Text Project (p. 246) has

קרבם – their midst (NASB, “inner thought,” BDB 899)
קברם – their graves (BDB 868). It gives a “B” rating
(some doubt) to option #2 (cf. NJB, REB, JPSOA, LXX, Syrian, Vulgate)

The term “houses” probably refers to elaborately decorated and expensive tombs.
These, like the Pharaohs, thought physical monuments to themselves would assure their memory and, i
a sense, their immortality.

▣ “They have called their lands after their own names” One way humans try to
assure that they will be remembered is by naming geographical locations after themselves (or legal deeds
in their names). This, too, is folly, for the names change from age to age.

49:12 “But man in his pomp will not endure” In an attempt to provide a synonymous
parallelism in Ps. 49:12 and 20, the NEB and REB change –

“in honor” (NASB, “pomp”), ביקר,
PREPOSITION ב and BDB 430, to
“cattle” (NEB, REB, “oven”), בקר, BDB 133

The UBS Text Project (p. 247) gives “in honor” a “B” rating (some doubt)
in Ps. 49:12 and an “A” rating (high probability) in Ps. 49:20. It is obvious that the pride
and arrogance of the rich are being emphasized here.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: PSALM 49:13-15
¹³This
is the way of those who are foolish,
And
of those after them who approve their words. Selah.
¹⁴As sheep they are
appointed for Sheol;
Death
shall be their shepherd;
And
the upright shall rule over them in the morning,
And their form shall be for Sheol to
consume
So that they have
no habitation.
¹⁵But
God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol,
For He will receive me. Selah.

49:13 “This is the way of those who are foolish” The foolish refers to either (1) the
man who claims to know God but lives as if there is no God or (2) the overtly evil person. There is
really no such thing as an atheist in the OT (cf. Ps. 53:1).

“Way” is an OT idiom for lifestyle. See notes at Ps. 1:1.

▣ “And of those after them who approve their words” This refers to those whom
the arrogant wealthy influence with their philosophy of life. It may refer to their children, their
students, other people who are seeking to be wealthy, or their friends. This is the end result of a
false worldview (cf. Matt. 15:14; Luke 6:23).

▣ “Selah” This is a word about which there is much discussion but little
unanimity. Some say it refers to

a pause
a rising crescendo
a musical interlude
forever, according to the rabbis

The very fact that there are so many interpretations means that no one really knows. See
notes at Ps. 3:2 and Introduction to Psalms, VII.

49:14 “As sheep they are appointed for Sheol” The term Sheol refers to “the
realm of the dead” in the OT. It was seen as a place of consciousness but there was no joy, no
fellowship, and a gloomy prospect of many dark, quiet days.

SPECIAL
TOPIC: WHERE ARE THE DEAD?

▣ “Death shall be their shepherd” Literally this is “death feeds them.” What
a terrible parallel to the beauty of Ps. 23:1. Death lures those with the pleasures of this world but in
the end, it is poison (cf. Proverbs 1-8).

▣ “And the upright shall rule over them” This truth is taught throughout the Bible
(cf. Dan. 7:18; Mal. 4:3; 1 Cor. 6:2; Rev. 2:26).

▣ “in the morning” This could refer to

the light of God’s truth
the light of life
the concept of the eschatological morning or the break of a new day

The NIDOTTE, vol. 1, p. 327, has a good list of things represented by “light.”

salvation – Ps. 27:1; Isa. 49:6
prosperity and peace – Isa. 45:7
YHWH’s covenant – Isa. 42:6
justice and righteousness – Isa. 51:4; 59:9
blessing – Ps. 89:15
God, Himself – Ps. 27:1; Isa. 60:1-3,19-20
the Suffering Servant – Isa. 42:6; 49:6
Messiah – Isa. 9:2

It is possible to divide the Hebrew consonants differently to “they shall go straight
to the grave” (NIDOTTE, vol. 1, p. 713). This fits the central truth of the strophe better
(NRSV, REB).

▣ The VERB “consume” (BDB 115, KB 132, Piel
INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT) is literally “wear out.” So the thought of the
line is

Sheol will eat them (metaphor for Sheol as an animal with a voracious appetite
or an allusion to the Canaanite god of death, Mot; see NASB Study Bible, p. 785,
footnote and AB, p. 300).
The body will disintegrate to dust, as all bodies do after death (NRSV, TEV, JPSOA).

49:15 “But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol,

For He will receive me” What a tremendous truth! Notice the personal
element — “me”! Here we have the beginning of the affirmation of an afterlife (or
an intimate fellowship with God here and now throughout life and the confidence it will continue!),
based, not on the works of man, but on the love of God. Here, personal faith, as well as a life of
obedience and trust, are rewarded with eternality with our God (see notes at Ps. 23:6).

The term “receive” (BDB 542, KB 534) was used in Gen. 5:24 of Enoch. He was
translated into YHWH’s presence!

For Sheol see notes at Ps. 6:5 and 9:13.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: PSALM 49:16-20
¹⁶Do
not be afraid when a man becomes rich,
When
the glory of his house is increased;
¹⁷For
when he dies he will carry nothing away;
His
glory will not descend after him.
¹⁸Though
while he lives he congratulates himself—
And though men praise you
when you do well for yourself—
¹⁹He
shall go to the generation of his fathers;
They will never see the light.
²⁰Man in his pomp,
yet without understanding,
Is
like the beasts that perish.

49:17 “For when he dies he will carry nothing away” This is the truth that those who
trust in wealth will leave it all at death (cf. 1 Tim. 6:7). Revelation 14:13 tells us that good deeds
will follow after those who have lived for God. There is a book of life and a book of deeds (see
SPECIAL TOPIC: THE
TWO BOOKS OF GOD). God will reward those who have loved and served Him. Judgment day is
coming—for those who know our God it will be a day of rewards, but for those who have trusted in
themselves, it will be a day of eternal separation (cf. Matt. 25:31-46; Rev. 20:11-15).

▣ “His glory” This Hebrew word (BDB 458 II, see
SPECIAL TOPIC: GLORY (OT)) can
mean

abundance
honor
glory

▣ “descend” This VERB (BDB 432, KB 434, Qal
IMPERFECT) denotes the belief that the dead are in the ground or in the earth. See
SPECIAL
TOPIC: WHERE ARE THE DEAD? This would be a way of expressing a descent into the realm of the
dead. OT Semites buried their dead loved ones.

49:18 “Though while he lives he congratulates himself” This verse obviously is related
to the bragging arrogance of those who trust in their own resources. But flattery is illusionary. God’s
world is moral and each will give an account unto God (cf. Dan. 12:2; Matt. 25:31-46; 2 Cor. 5:8;
Rev. 20:11-15).

For “himself” (lit. nephesh) see notes at Ps. 3:2.

49:19 “He shall go to the generation of his fathers” This refers to the fact that in
the OT burial was often done in family tombs, caves. This is an OT allusion for being buried with the
family.

▣ “They will never see the light” This probably refers to the same concept as
Ps. 49:14. It could mean the light of life, the light of truth, but possibly it could mean the darkness
of Sheol—the dwelling place of those who do not know our God (cf. Job 3:16; 33:28,30; Ps. 36:9).

49:20 This is exactly the same as Ps. 49:12 and is a fitting summary to the Psalm. It is pitiful
but a true picture of a lost man as he stands wrapped in his own resources (cf. Matt. 7:13-14).

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own
interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation.
You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of
the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

Why did a Jewish sage desire to speak to the entire world?
What reasons does the psalmist give for not fearing in the days of adversity?
Explain the term “redeem.”
How is this Psalm related to Ecclesiastes?
What is Sheol?
What is the theological implication of Ps. 49:15?

Old Testament Studies

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