Psalms 49

Psalms 49 The Psalm meets the temptation, which comes upon the righteous from the prosperity of the wicked, whose persecutions it sets forth, and indeed with the consolation, which is presented for it throughout the Old Testament, (comp. the introd. on Ps. 37. nearly related to it, as also to Psalms 83.), that the issue divides between the righteous and the wicked, that the glory and the ascendancy of the latter is only a temporary one, that it ends in terrors, while the righteous is delivered by God. The Psalm consists of an introduction in ver. 1-4, the chief portion in ver. 5-15, and a conclusion in ver. 16-20. In the chief portion the thesis is first set forth, ver. 5, 6, then follows the grounding of it in ver. 7-15, which falls into three strophes, each of three verses. The whole has twenty verses.

Psalms 49:1-6

The introduction: let all the world hear, for the Psalmist speaks wisdom. Ver. 1. Hear this, all peoples, give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world. Ver. 2. Both common men and lords, both rich and poor together. Ver. 3. My mouth shall speak; wisdom, and the meditation of my heart is understanding. Ver. 4.

I will incline my ear to a similitude, open to the cythara my riddle. The call upon all men to attention with-out distinction of land, situation, or means, must, as the fol- lowing context shews, be designed to indicate the high import-ance of the instructions, which the Psalmist has to convey. If the problem here handled was falsely solved, all fear of God mustbe overthrown. On the ground of Deu 32:1, it has been very common, at important announcements to call the whole world to listen, comp. Psalms 50:1, Micah 1:1, 1 Kings 22:28. Uponהלד prop. continuance, then world, comp. on Psalms 17:14. On איש בני, prop. sons of man, on Psalms 4:2. אדם בני, children of men, is limited by the contrast to the great mass. Against De Wette, who denies the distinction between the designations, comp.

Gesell. in Thes. on אדם. Here this is favoured, not only by the גם-גם as well, as also, comp. Ew. �˜ 628, but also by the following: rich and poor. What the Psalmist has delivered, serves to the rich for warning, comp. 5:5, 6, 16, to the poor for consolation. Ver. 3 and 4 lay the ground for the call that is contained in ver. 1 and 2. The Psalmist must utter wisdom without reserve, for he gives only what he has received. The plur. in הכמות and תבונות is used for the purpose of giving force to the idea. In the Proverbs the use of הכמות is quite similar, as indicating wisdom, ךבפ᾽ἐמןקחם, sapientia hypostatica, in which all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge lie conceal-ed.

Of a plural in the common sense הכמה in particular is not capable. Comp. my Beitr. P. II. p. 258. In the words: I will incline my ear to a similitude, it is plainly implied, that the wis-dom, which the Psalmist could communicate, is no self-sprung possession, but one that has been acquired by him; comp. Isa. v. 1, where the song, which the prophet sings to his beloved, is at the same time a song of his beloved, 2 Samuel 23:2.

Calvin: “It certainly becomes all the prophets of God to be so affected, as to take God willingly for their master in common with the rest of the people, and first of all to receive his word, which they are to declare to others from their own mouth. But the prophet’s design was, to gain authority and reverence for his instruction, since he did not prate about his own notions, but only broughtforth what he had learned in the school of God.” Upon משל, similitude, see Balaam, p. 78. הידה, riddle, a discourse of dif-ficult comprehension, deep sense.

Both, as here, connected in Psalms 78:2. Open, as in Amos 8:5, for openly to bring forth the treasure-chambers of the heart or the mouth. There follows now the thesis; ver. 5. Wherefore should I fear in the days of adversity, when the iniquity of my treaders-down compasses me about. Ver. 6. Those there confide in their wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches. Calvin: “The prophet now enters upon the instruction itself, namely,that the sons of God should not be above measure disturbed by adversity, although the wicked may wantonly oppress them, and according to their pleasure, hold them enclosed on every side,because the Lord, though he may dissemble and be at rest, still does not sleep in heaven.” Before the second member of ver. 5, we are not to supply some word like בימי, but it contains the closer description of the days of misfortune; the iniquity of my persecutor surrounds me, abrupt, for: in which surrounds me.

Psalms 49:5-6

There follows now the thesis; Ver. 5. Wherefore should I fear in the days of adversity, when the iniquity of my treaders-down compasses me about. Ver. 6. Those there confide in their wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches. Calvin: “The prophet now enters upon the instruction itself, namely, that the sons of God should not be above measure disturbed by adversity, although the wicked may wantonly oppress them, and according to their pleasure, hold them enclosed on every side, because the Lord, though he may dissemble and be at rest, still does not sleep in heaven.” Before the second member of Psa 49:5, we are not to supply some word like áéîé, but it contains the closer description of the days of misfortune; the iniquity of my persecutor surrounds me, abrupt, for: in which surrounds me.

Psalms 49:7-9

Ver. 7-9. The righteous has no reason to be troubled on ac-count of the might and riches of the wicked, or the wicked to boast himself over him. This would only then be the case, if the wicked could assure himself of an eternal life through his riches, an eternal possession of his riches. But since he can by his riches deliver neither himself nor another from death, the king of which is quite inaccessible to him, he must therefore hang in constant dread of the destruction which inevitably a-waits him, and it is for him, not for the righteous, to be afraid.Ver. 7. His brother can no one redeem, nor give to God his atonement. Ver. 8. And precious is the ransom of their souls, and he must put it off for ever. Ver. 9.

That he may continual-ly live and not see the grave. In ver. 7, the איש, any one, namely among the ungodly rich, is the subject, the אה is accus., the object placed before, in order to bring out distinctly the contrast in regard to the rich. The suff. כפרו refers to the rich ungodly ones: He cannot, with all his riches, once redeem ano- ther, to say nothing of himself. Many expositors render: a brother can redeem no one, no other the ungodly rich. But as the nothingness of the riches of the wicked must be indicated, the brother is not the person who redeems, but the person to be redeemed. The brother is also to be thought of as such in ungodliness, who in consequence of that has to fear destruction, comp.

Genesis 49:5. The prefixed inf. פדה brings strongly out the idea of redemption, marks it as that, to which ultimately every thing belongs.

Whatsoever is unable to redeem, to free others or one’s self from death, that is of no value, such as that one should boast himself of it, or that others should be afraid of him on account of it. The discourse here is not of death generally, but of untimely, violent death, from which God de-fends his own, comp. ver. 15. The words: he cannot give God his atonement, is said in reference to Exodus 21:30, according to which one might transact with men in certain circumstances re-garding ransom-money: There, just as here, כפר and פריון are united. The plural suffix in ver. 8: their soul, refers to the brother of the ungodly rich man, and this man himself. This pl. suffix also shews, that the rich person, who redeems, and that the suf. in כפרו, must be referred not to the brother, but to him. In ver. 9 the Psalmist lets the brother drop, and con-fines himself only to him, whom it here especially concerns, the rich man himself.

It is arbitrary to maintain, that this verse. stands connected with verse 7 and not with verse 8. The ex-pression it ceases for ever, at the close of verse 8, substantially means, he never brings it thither, he never comes therewith to a conclusion; and with this fitly joins on the following: that he may live.

Comp. on the vau of the fol. before the abbrev. fut., corresponding to the Latin ut with the conj. Ew. § 618.

Psalms 49:10-12

Ver. 10-12. The ungodly lives in presence of the universal sovereignty of death, which shews him that God may call him away every moment, immediately, as if he had no longer to so-journ on the earth. The dream of immortality possesses his whole being. But the Lord arouses him in a very rough manner from his dreams. Like the irrational beast, which formerly had no suspicion of its death, so he now is compelled suddenly to think of it. Ver. 10. When he sees, that wise men die, altogether fools and senseless ones perish, and must leave their substance to others: Ver. 11. This is their heart, that their houses last for ever, their dwellings remain for ever and ever, and they call their names upon their lands. Ver. 12. But man remains not in honour, is like the beast, shall be extirpated. When even wise men die, what dominion must death then have over the human race; how carefully should we reflect, that we cannot lay hold of his do-minion; how foolish is it then to think, that one shall escape an untimely death, in case one has deserved it ! When the wise and good die old and full of days, this is for the foolish and wicked a matter-of-fact announcement, that he shall be taken away in the midst of his days. But if he will shut his ears on this indi-rect announcement, the direct one must still force itself on him, which reaches him through the untimely and violent destruction of his companions in folly, (of this אבד, while of the מות,The expression in ver. 11: their inward is their house for ever, q. d. so is the whole heart full of thoughts, wishes, and endea-vours, that their houses continue for ever, etc, comp. קרבv. 9.

The LXX., whom the Vulgate follows, have in their ne-gligence interchanged קרבם with קברם. The בשם קרא, to call, since one rests somewhat in the name, partly to call upon with feeling, partly to call out with feeling, with reverence and admiration, here the latter, comp.

Isaiah 44:5. In ver. 12 there is the contrast to this their foolish, counter-experience course. A man, q. d. the ungodly, because with all his glory he still is only a man, and as such is liable to death, the avenging judg-ment of God. The לין, several take in the general sense of re-maining, but it is better to regard it as possessing the special sig. of passing the night, in reference to the quick and sudden destruction, comp. in ver. 14: and the righteous lord it over them in the morning, and Psalms 46:5, where in like manner the speedy deliverance of the righteous is described. They are like the beast, which without any apprehension is overtaken by death, “which sports in pleasure and joy, and feels not approaching death.” For נדמו, we conceive, more emphatically than the beast, the ungodly to be the subject.

Psalms 49:13-15

Ver. 13. This is their way, fools are they, and still men have pleasure, in their mouths after them. Selah. Ver. 14. Like sheep are they laid in hell, death feeds on them, and the righteous have dominion over them in the morning, and their form must pass away, hell is a habitation to them. Ver. 15. But God will redeem my soul from the power of hell, for he takes me. Selah. Since in what immediately precedes the discourse is of what befals the ungodly, the expression: this is their way, is q. d. this is their fate. Because it happens thus to them, so is there to those, who were quite full of the thought of their immortality, folly-כסל in this sig. Ecclesiastes 7:25, comp. Psalms 85:8.

Against the sig.: hope, there is the כסיל in verse 10, the chastisement of their folly in ver. 11, and the suitableness of the contrast: they are fools, and yet. The Psalmist, then, declares his astonish- ment, that although the fate of the wicked so manifestly beto-kens their folly, there are still always found persons, who adopt their principles, and thereby procure for themselves like de-struction. רצה with ב is always to have pleasure in something. One has pleasure is = there are always found such, who etc. Their mouth, q. d. their discourse, principles. The Selah admon-ishes, that we should not belong to the number of fools, who will not be frightened by the result of their principles.–שתו ver. 14, from שתת = שות, comp. Psalms 73:9, they lay, for, one lays them, they are laid.

Like sheep, Calvin: “For proudman the whole world is hardly sufficient. From that towering elevation in which they stretch themselves far and wide, the Psalmist crowds them together and gives them up to death for food.” רעה various expositors take falsely in the sense of feed-ing on; Luther: death gnaws them.

Instead of: the righteous have dominion over them, most modern expositors: they tread in upon them. But the sig. of treading for רדה, is quite uncer-tain in the only other passage which is brought in support of it, John 4:13, and with ב it is currently used in the sig. of reigning over, comp. particularly, Isaiah 14:2. This sense is here also quite suitable. Saul, for example, after his death, was reigned over by David in his family and dependents, in the overthrow of the arrangements fixed by him, etc. It is said to be in the morning, because the destruction of the ungodly takes place in the night, by which its suddenness and unexpectedness is ex-pressed,-comp. “the tempest steals him away in the night,” Job 27:20; or perhaps, just in the next morning, for, in a brief moment, comp. ver. 12, Psalms 46:5. The words צירם לבלות, prop. their figure is for annihilation, their beauty is consumed.

The last member literally: Sheol is to him of a dwelling away, q. d. a dwelling which is no dwelling. מן simi-larly as in 1 Samuel 15:23, Jeremiah 48:2, Isaiah 14.-In ver. 15, the fate of the righteous, at present oppressed, is placed in con-trast to that of the triumphing wicked. ך`א, only, in opposition to ver. 7, q. d. God, who alone can do it, will do it.

According to the connection and the contrast, the redemption of the soul of the righteous from hell, can primarily mean nothing but de-liverance from immediate danger. But what accomplishes this, at the same time pledges redemption from actually approaching death. As לקה neither means to receive nor to demean one’s self, we must, in the second member, supply from the first: out of the hand of sheol. While the wicked are laid down in sheol, the righteous are withdrawn from it.

Psalms 49:16-20

The conclusion follows in ver. 16-20. Ver. 16. Be not thou afraid, when one is made rich, when the honour of his house is great. Ver. 17. For he will not in his death take with him all, his honour will not go after him. Ver. 18. For he blessed his soul in his life, and one praises thee, because thou dost treat thy- self well. Ver. 19. He will come to the generation of his fathers, never more do they see the light. Ver. 20. A man in honour without understanding, is like the beast, to be rooted out. Theexpression: be not afraid, resumes, after the proof has been given, the question: wherefore should I fear? in ver. 5. כבוד denotes riches, not in itself, but only in so far as these surround their possessor with honour and glory. Death, which accord-ing to ver. 17, deprives the ungodly of all his glorious privileges, is to be thought of according to the preceding context, as near at hand. In ver. 18, the reason is given why God does not per-mit the glory of the wicked to follow him, why it comes to so sudden and complete an end.

His whole life was set on enjoy-ment, he has already enjoyed enough, already has he treated himself luxuriously enough, and he cannot trouble himself if he should now come to want. We may compare Luke 16:25, a passage resting upon ours, and serving as a commentary to it, “But Abraham said, Son, remember, that thou in thy life-time, receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.” On this: for he blesses his soul in his life, is to be compared the address of the rich man to his soul, Luke 12:19. In the second member, the ungodly rich man is addressed, and the irony thereby made more cutting: thou dost indeed treat thyself so kindly, that men generally praise thee as a virtuoso, as a hero in wine-bibbing, etc., comp. Isaiah 5:22. At the beginning of ver. 19, the address is still continued: thou wilt come, but then it just as suddenly ceases again, as it had commenced, of his fathers; in which many cannot find their way, and hence take תבא as 3 fem., and refer it to the soul of the rich man. Under the generation of the fathers are here to be understood, not so much the corpo-real ancestors of the ungodly, as his predecessors in wickedness, (although both often coincide,) with reference to the common expression: is gathered to his fathers.-In ver. 20 there is a re-petition, with a slight variation, as is quite customary in such cases, (comp. on Psalms 42:5,) so that there is no need of attempt-ing, like Ewald, to correct the one passage by the other, of ver. 12, in order to close the whole with the emphatic and pregnant declaration: the ungodly dies as an irrational beast.

Luther excellently: in short, when a man, etc. The object of יבין, which is never placed absolutely, is to be supplied from the con-nection: the nothingness of riches, which are obtained and held without God.