Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 3 Sept 2023
Psalms 42-49 were apparently written by a group of guys called the sons of Korah.
We don’t really know who they were. It appears that when Korah rebelled against God and Moses in the wilderness in the book of Numbers chapter 16, some of his children heeded Moses’ warning to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and so, when the earth opened up and swallowed the rebels up, some of Korah’s sons survived.
But the vocabulary and references of these psalms point to a time hundreds of years later during the later kings of Judah. They wrote at a time when the Jewish nation was struggling with unfaithfulness to God and experiencing chastisement from God over their sin.
These Psalms were written in the context of a nation much like the 21st Century U.S.A., originally founded in covenant with God, but a few hundred years out from that founding, and, while there were still believers (like the sons of Korah) around, most of the people had shifted away from a godly foundation.
One of the emphases of this psalm is on how the nation had become preoccupied with economics – v.2 mentions the upper and lower socioeconomic classes that had developed. There is clearly a gap between the rich and the poor, and the rich are flaunting it, living pompously in their palatial houses.
There is also a lot of foolishness, stupidity, and senselessness going on, according to vs. 10, 13, and 20. Sounds an awful lot like today, doesn’t it?
The Psalmist also seems to have reason to be afraid of the rich and powerful, not unlike the way powerful global organizations today like the United Nations and the World Economic Forum flex their influence, while conspiracy theorists like Archbishop Carlo Mario Vigano and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. issue shrill warnings about what the elite call the Great Reset – and what the right-wing calls the global war against humanity. How can we cope with our fears about threats we can’t control?
Notice how the sons of Korah respond to their situation:
They apply themselves to studying and speaking wisdom and understanding and proverbs,
And they discern what is of ultimate and enduring value – namely, getting right with God and receiving eternal life – and they invest themselves in that.
Psalm 49 opens with a...
“Listen to this, all you peoples; give hear, all inhabitants of the temporal-world - both sons of lowly-men and sons of elite-men, rich and poor together! My mouth will speak of wise things, and the meditation of my heart will be on things which must be understood; I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will expound/solve/express/open up my riddle, accompanied by a harp/lyre/guitar:”
This is wisdom literature. It is for everyone, rich or poor, wherever in the world you live, and it involves profound truths that take some mental effort to figure out, but which need to be understood.
One of the key principles of this psalm is introduced by the special Hebrew word for “world” at the end of v.1: חלד which emphasizes the finite-ness and temporary-ness of the material world in time and space1.
This world will go away at some point, and an evaluation will be made by the God who made it, of what every human did in it.
Biblical wisdom calls us to get right with God in preparation for that judgment day rather than ignore God, concentrating on what you can enjoy in the present moment.
“Now together let rich and poor hear, let goats and sheep feed in the same pasture, until He come who shall separate the one on His right hand, the other on His left. Let them all hear together the teacher, lest separated from one another they hear the voice of the Judge.” ~Augustine, c. 400 AD
Spiritual wisdom sees beyond the visible values of earthly things and begins to comprehend eternal realities which the eyes of men on earth have not seen (except in spiritual visions).
We who have lived on this earth in the 20th and 21st centuries have seen how mighty the power of an earthmoving machine is; we have felt our whole body vibrated by its throbbing motor and marvelled at the enormous rocks it can lift and carry, but we have no such experiential information about how powerful an angel is, even though angels are more powerful and have been around a lot longer.
We have all experienced the thrilling hormone rush of doing something we know is wrong – whether that is telling a lie, or stealing something, or disobeying an authority, or committing sexual impurity – we understand the benefits that sin can give us in the here-and-now, but it takes faith to go beyond that and trust that there is a God we’ve never seen, who, at some time in the future, will punish with eternal death all who commit sin. Human experience doesn’t really give us the kind of data we need to comprehend Judgment Day or hell or heaven.
But the wisdom that comes from God gives us enough perspective to make wise life choices, based, not merely on the things we can see and touch now but also on the unseen realities of the spiritual world yet to be revealed. And the way to this wisdom is through God’s word.
Psalm 119:130 “The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.” (NKJV)
Proverbs 1:1-6 “The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, To perceive the words of understanding, To receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, judgment, and equity; To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion-- A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, To understand a proverb and an enigma, The words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (NKJV)
In the New Testament, this way of wisdom is revealed through the good news of Jesus:
Matt. 13:34-35 “...Jesus spoke in parables to the crowds... Thus the word through the prophet was fulfilled which says, ‘I will open my mouth in parables; I will pour forth things which have been hidden since the foundation of the universe.’” (NAW)
And the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:1-10 “...I came... proclaiming to you God's mystery, for I did not decide to know anything among y'all except Jesus Christ – and Him having been crucified... and my word and my preaching were not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but rather in a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, in order that your faith/confidence might not exist in the wisdom of men, but rather in the power of God. Yet it is wisdom that we are uttering among the mature, but a wisdom neither of this age nor of the rulers of this age who are being put out of commission. Rather we are uttering GOD'S wisdom which has been hidden in a mystery... as it is written, ‘What eye did not see, and ear did not hear and [what] did not come upon the heart of mankind,’ what God prepared for those who love Him, even to us God revealed through the Spirit…” (NAW) Paul said that the love of God was revealed to us in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and those who believe that are tied-into the power of God!
So it is to the Bible that we must go for the wisdom we need to conduct our lives in the midst of this temporal world. “The truths of revelation are so high as to exceed our comprehension; but, at the same time, the Holy Spirit has accommodated them so far to our capacity, as to render all Scripture ‘profitable for instruction.’ None can plead ignorance: for the deepest and most difficult doctrines are made plain to the most simple and unlettered of mankind.” ~J. Calvin, 1554 AD
Finally, after a long prologue that sets the stage in terms of worldview, we get to the first issue of the Psalm in...
“Why should I be afraid in days of adversity/in times of trouble/during evil days? The iniquity of those at my heels surrounds me – those who are confident based on their wealth and boast in the amount of their riches.”
In v.5, our Psalmist introduces the problem of fear. This is a universal human problem, fear of bad things happening – and ultimately fear of death – the “evil day” in Ecclesiastes 21:1 clearly refers to old age and death, although “evil days” is also used in Psalm 94:13 to refer to times when we are hurt by evil people.
The end of v.5 says that the source of the “iniquity” that “surrounds” is literally “my heels.” What is the “iniquity of my heels”?
Some Bible scholars have interpreted the “iniquity of my heels” as sins2 in which we are tempted to walk, and indeed, we have good reason to be afraid of what will happen to us when we have to suffer the consequences of our own sins. However, those who are “converted to Christ... [have no reason to fear because He saves us from our sin] and there will be nothing [evil] to surround us, so we shall joy and not sorrow in the last day”! ~Augustine, c.400 AD
Most Bible scholars, however, interpret the “surrounding iniquity” as coming from other people rather than from the Psalmist himself – in other words, from “those at my heels” rather than from “my own heels,”
and so the standard English translations interpret this phrase somewhat paraphrastically as the “iniquity of my foes/wicked deceivers/those who cheat me.”
This interpretation connects the phrases of v.6 “those who trust in their wealth and boast in their riches” as explanatory clauses describing “the foes at my heels,” and it also connects well with v.16: “Do not be afraid of the rich” (and also with Psalm 41:9 where this same word for “heel” was used to describe the threat that David experienced from a treacherous friend).
But whether it be the threats we experience due to our own sin or due to the sin of others, the Psalmist seems to have a way to be free of the fear of these threats! We see some of that same freedom from fear throughout the Bible in places like:
Psalm 27:1 Where David wrote, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?”
and in Psalm 56:2-11, where David describes his troubles with Saul and the Philistines, “My enemies hound me all day... Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You... they twist my words; All their thoughts are against me for evil... they lie in wait for my life... When I cry out to You, Then my enemies will turn back; This I know, because God is for me… In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (NKJV)
Psalm 23:4 “Even when I shall walk in a valley of the shadow of death, I will not be afraid of evil because You are with me...” (NAW)
The prophet Isaiah also wrote extensively about freedom from fear:
Isa. 8:11-14 “Yahweh... instructed me away from walking in the way of this people saying, ‘...concerning all which this people calls conspiracy. Don't y'all fear its fear, nor be in dread. Yahweh of hosts: Him hallow... Him fear! Then He will become a sanctuary…” (NAW)
Isaiah 51:12 “I myself am He who comforts y'all. Who are you that you are afraid of the man who dies and of the son of a man who will be given [to the] grass?” (NAW)
In v.6, those whose confidence is based in their material wealth have a giant hole in their confidence and security which they can’t even see:
They do not trust in God, but God is the only one who can give them eternal security and wealth that can never be lost!
They do not boast in the Lord by worshiping God and telling other people about God’s salvation; all they can talk about is their things.
The
current popularity of the so-called “Prosperity Gospel” is a
case in point.
Lifeway Research conducted surveys in the
years 2017 and 2022, and found that during that five-year period,
the number of Christians who believed God wanted them to be prosperous financially increased from 69% to 76%. That’s over three-quarters of the Christians surveyed!
Almost half of them believed that, in order to get material blessings from God they had to do something for God,
and that corresponds with the finding that just over half of them said their churches were teaching them that God would bless them more if they gave more money to the church.
This is warped! Making lots of money is not the goal of the Christian life! Working responsibly is an important part of Christian maturity, but the goal is to honor God – whether or not you “make it big” financially.
The great Puritan commentator Matthew Henry explained: “God often gives abundance of the good things of this world to bad men who live in contempt of him and rebellion against him, by which it appears that they are not the best things in themselves (for then God would give most of them to his best friends), and that they are not the best things for us, for then those would not have so much of them who, being marked for ruin, are to be ripened for it by their prosperity.” ~Matthew Henry
The wisdom we receive from God’s word takes away our fear when we place our trust in God:
When Saul’s spy spotted David in the tabernacle, David could have panicked, but instead he wrote Psalm 52, “Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man? ... God shall... pluck you out of your dwelling place, And uproot you from the land of the living... The righteous also shall see and fear, And shall laugh at him, saying, ‘Here is the man who did not make God his strength, But trusted in the abundance of his riches, And strengthened himself in his wickedness.’ But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. I will praise You forever, Because You have done it; And in the presence of Your saints I will wait on Your name, for it is good.” (NKJV)
David’s son Solomon affirmed the same truth in Proverbs 11:28 “He who trusts in his riches will fall, But the righteous will flourish like foliage.”
And there’s another famous passage in Jeremiah 9:23-24 Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth...” (NASB)
Luke 12:15-21 Jesus said, “...Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses… The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought... ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (NKJV)
1 Tim. 6:17 “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.” (NKJV)
Charles Spurgeon’s taunt in his sermon on Psalm 49 makes me smile: “Poor fools, to be content with such a rotten confidence. When we set our rock in contrast with theirs, it would be folly to be afraid of them… O ye boasters, think not to terrify us with your worthless wealth, go ye and intimidate death before ye threaten men in whom is immortality and life… Keep shoes to your own feet in death's dark pilgrimage, ere ye seek to bite our heels.”
Now, to underscore the wisdom that money is not ultimate and that eternal matters are more important than temporal matters, our psalmist turns his attention in...
Truly a man couldn’t by any means/even redeem a brother; he can’t give God his ransom/the price of his life, for/indeed the ransom of their soul/life is precious/costly/invaluable - indeed they would have to labor for ever/it would never suffice/be enough/he should cease trying forever, nevertheless/that, he will live on indefinitely/eternally/forever, and not see the grave/the pit/corruption/decay,
In v.7, despite the fact that the NIV and ESV use the word “another” and the NLT uses the word “self,” the Hebrew word is actually “brother,” and that word is emphasized in the Hebrew: not even the soul of a brother can be redeemed!
Now, it was a provision in the Old Testament law that if a person committed a crime and was convicted in court, a friend or relative could bargain with the judge and come up with a payment to the victim equal to the amount of punishment and thus “ransom/redeem” the offender3.
Exodus 21:30 “If a ransom is demanded of him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is demanded of him.” (NASB)
For instance, if the offender had attacked an innocent bystander in a drunken fit and rendered the victim blind in one eye, according to the law, the attacker should have one of his eyes put out, but say a rich uncle stepped into the court and asked the judge, “How much is one eye worth? Could I pay you a million dollars and ransom my nephew’s eye?” The judge might confer with the victim and say, “O.K. If you pay a million dollars to the victim, your nephew won’t have to have his eye poked out.” That’s the idea of a ransom.
This is the scenario in Job 33:14-28 “...God may speak… In order to turn man from his deed, And conceal pride from man, He keeps back his soul from the Pit, And his life from perishing by the sword... Yes, his soul draws near the Pit… If there is a messenger for him, A mediator, one among a thousand, To show man His uprightness, Then He is gracious to him, and says, ‘Deliver him from going down to the Pit; I have found a ransom’... He shall pray to God, and He will delight in him, He shall see His face with joy, For He restores to man His righteousness. Then he looks at men and says, ‘I have sinned, and perverted what was right, And it did not profit me.’ He will redeem his soul from going down to the Pit, And his life shall see the light.” (NKJV)
Death, however, is a spiritual matter.
As the Apostle Paul explained in 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 “...on account of a man, there is death... in Adam, all are dying…” (NAW)
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, God said, “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” (Gen. 3:19, NKJV)
Therefore God’s word says, “No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, And no one has power in the day of death…. And wickedness will not deliver those who are given to it.” (Eccl. 8:8, NKJV, cf. Psalm 89:48)
In v.8, the pronoun changes to the plural “they” (a technicality that the NASB and NIV unfortunately miss) – as both man and brother stand equally in need of the redemption of their souls and together lack any ability to pony-up anywhere-near what it would cost.
Ezekiel 7:19 “...Their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them In the day of the wrath of the LORD... Because it became their stumbling block of iniquity.” (NKJV, cf. Job. 36:19)
“Indeed a rich man may redeem his brother from debt... by paying his debts for him; or from thraldom and bondage... by giving a ransom for him. This he may do with respect to man; but, with respect to God, he cannot, with all his riches, pay the debts he owes to the law and justice of God; nor free him from his bondage to sin, Satan, and the law, by whom he is held a captive… [H]e cannot, with all his money, secure him from dying; nor, when dead, bring him back from the grave... much less deliver him from eternal death, or wrath to come; this only God can do...” ~John Gill, 1766 AD
v.8 says that the redemption of their souls is “costly/precious.”
This is a poetic understatement4, for if no one has enough money to redeem a single soul from death and hell, the price is not merely exorbitant, it is priceless/invaluable/impossible – it’s a lost cause!
There is a textual variant in the second half of v.8 where some manuscripts5 say you’d have to “labor forever” to redeem a soul and others6 say it’s so hard you should “quit trying forever” to redeem a soul, but either way, the same idea comes forth: You could labor in good deeds forever to redeem your brother’s life, and it would never be enough to offset the weight of one sin. Might as well cease trying! No human can fix this problem!
But despite the human impossibility of it, verse 15 holds out hope that our souls can be redeemed from the power of death, and I think that verse 9 also indicates that eternal life is a live prospect for the Psalmist! This good news is a golden strand throughout the Psalms (and the rest of Scripture): There is one person who can redeem us from sin and death!
Psalm 25:22 “God, redeem Israel from all its stresses!” (NAW)
Psalm 26:11 “LORD, ... Redeem me and be gracious to me!” (NAW)
Psalm 31:5 “It is into Your hand that I will commit my spirit. You, Yahweh the true God, redeem me.” (NAW)
Psalm 34:22 “Yahweh is redeeming the life of His vassals, so all those who take refuge in Him will not bear guilt.” (NAW)
Psalm 44:26 “{Yahweh}, please rise up to be a helper for us, and redeem us on account of your loving-kindness!” (NAW)
Psalm 49:15 “But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, For He shall receive me…” (NKJV)
Psalm 16:9-11 “...my flesh will settle down confidently, because you will not abandon my soul to Sheol; you will not destine Your godly man to the Pit. You will cause me to know the path of life; fullness of happinesses is with Your presence; endless pleasures are in Your right hand!” (NAW, cf.
In Acts 2:31, the Apostle Peter explains that Psalm 16 was talking about Jesus, the Son of God, who left heaven to become a man and suffer death by crucifixion to pay the price to ransom our souls, then was raised back to life and returned to heaven to receive those He had ransomed.
When you die, you will have to stand before God’s judgment. God will say, “I am your maker, and you are accountable to me. Now, I clearly told you not to have any gods before me, not to take my name in vain, not to work on the sabbath day, not to lie, not to dishonor your parents, not to commit adultery, not to covet, and not even to hate. I only gave you 10 commandments, and yet you broke every single one of them – many of them over and over and over again! There is no excuse for you! The punishment is to spend the rest of eternity in hell away from all life, deprived of all goodness, burning forever.” Then Jesus steps up to the bar and says, “Father, how much is this sinner’s life worth? If I were to suffer an eternal amount of death on his/her behalf, would you be willing to accept that as payment for his/her offenses against you? I would like to give my life as a ransom for his/her life.” That already happened in eternity past; God the Father already said, “Yes. That’ll do. This child can have eternal life if you do that.”
Jesus said in Matthew 16:26 “For what is a man profited if he happened to gain the whole universe, but is penalized his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” then in Matthew 20:28 Jesus said of Himself, “...the Son of Man did not come in order to be served, but rather in order to serve and to give His soul to be a ransom in the place of many.” (NAW)
I love the poetic way that St. Augustine framed this in his homily on Psalm 49: “Who is the brother, who if He hath not redeemed thee, no man will redeem? It is He who said after His resurrection, ‘Go, tell My brothers’(Mat. 28:10). Our Brother He hath willed to be: and when we say to God, ‘Our Father,’ this is manifested in us. For he that saith to God, ‘Our Father;’ saith to Christ, ‘Brother.’ Therefore let him that has God for his Father and Christ for his Brother, not fear in the evil day... Let him rely on Him who died for him, that he might not die eternally...”
In addition to placing our faith in the one Redeemer capable of ransoming us from eternal death and of giving us eternal life instead, let us also be careful not to place our confidence in riches. Don’t be awed by the lifestyles of the rich and famous and think to yourself, “Man, they are really living!” Because they aren’t. They are dying. You are living; you have the eternal life. Why should you be in awe of anyone else?!
“So when many poor and needy men of our times, unstable, and not looking to what God promises... see rich men in daily feastings, in the splendour and glitter of gold and of silver, they say... ‘They are really living!’ ...Say so no longer!” ~Augustine
“[A]s God’s providence of the world is not presently apparent, we must exercise patience, and rise superior to the suggestions of carnal sense… [I]t is our duty to maintain a resolute struggle with our afflictions, however severe these may be, and [see] that it is foolish to place happiness in the enjoyment of such fleeting possessions as the riches, honors, or pleasures of this world.” ~J. Calvin
And if God pleases to give you wealth, then, in the words of Matthew Henry, “Let those that are high and rich in the world hear of the vanity of their worldly possessions and not be proud of them, nor secure in the enjoyment of them, but lay them out in doing good, that with them they may make to themselves friends... A man may have abundance of the wealth of this world and be made better by it, may thereby have his heart enlarged in love, and thankfulness, and obedience, and may do that good with it which will be fruit abounding to his account; and therefore it is not men's having riches that denominates them worldly, but their setting their hearts upon them as the best things.”
And all of you, don’t give-in to fear.
Yes, there are going to be “evil days” as long as you live, but you whose confidence is in Jesus rather than in wealth have no reason to fear because it is not up to you to take care of yourself; you have a Redeemer who is looking out for you to make sure you remain safe in His kingdom.
Yes, you are going to die physically (if the Lord tarries), but you whose confidence is in Jesus rather than in wealth have no reason to fear death either, for it is your passage out of this world of evil and into the blessed presence of Jesus!
LXXB
|
Brenton (Vaticanus)C |
Vulgate (Ps. 48)D |
KJVE |
NAW |
Masoretic TextF |
PeshittaG |
1
Εἰς
τὸ τέλοςH·
τοῖς υἱοῖς Κορε ψαλμός. |
1
For the end, a Psalm for the sons of
Core. Hear th |
1
in finem filiis Core psalmus |
1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world: |
1 {A psalm for the concertmaster, by the sons of Korah.} Listen to this, all you peoples; give hear, all inhabitants of the temporal-world – |
א
לַמְנַצֵּחַ לִבְנֵי
קֹרַח מִזְמוֹר. |
|
3 οἵ τε γηγενεῖς καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ πλούσιος καὶ πένης. |
2 both the sons of mean men, and sons of [great] men; the rich and poor man together. |
3 quique terriginae et filii hominum in unum dives et pauper |
2 Both X X X [low] and X X X [high], rich and poor, together. |
2 both sons of lowly-men and sons of big-men, rich and poor together! |
ג גַּם בְּנֵי אָדָם גַּם בְּנֵי אִישׁ יַחַד עָשִׁיר וְאֶבְיוֹן. |
3
X
בני
ארעא |
4 τὸ στόμα μου λαλήσει σοφίαν καὶ ἡ μελέτη τῆς καρδίας μου σύνεσιν· |
3 My mouth shall speak of wisdomX; and the meditation of my heart shall [bring forth] understandingX. |
4 os meum loquetur sapientiam et meditatio cordis mei prudentiam |
3 My mouth shall speak of wisdomX; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understandingX. |
3 My mouth will speak of wise things, and the meditation of my heart will be on things which must be understood; |
4 פומי נמלל חכמתא ורניה דלבי סוכלא |
|
5 κλινῶ εἰς παραβολὴν τὸ οὖς μου, ἀνοίξω ἐν ψαλτηρίῳ τὸ πρόβλημάN μου. |
4 I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my riddle on [the] harp. |
5 inclinabo in parabolam aurem meam aperiam in psalterio propositionem meam |
4 I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon [the] harp. |
4 I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will open up my riddle, accompanied by a guitar: |
5
אצלא
אדני למתל |
|
6
ἵνα τί φοβοῦμαι ἐν ἡμέρᾳX
πονηρᾷ; ἡ ἀνομία
τῆς πτέρν |
5 Wherefore should I fear in the evil dayX? the iniquity of my heelX shall compass me. |
6 cur timebo in die malo iniquitas calcanei mei circumdabit me |
5 Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about? |
5 Why should I be afraid during evil days? The iniquity of those at my heels surrounds me – |
6 לאX דחל אנא ביומתא בישׁא עולא [דב]עלדבביS כרכני |
|
7 οἱ πεποιθότες ἐπὶ τῇ δυνάμει αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ πλήθει τοῦ πλούτου αὐτῶν καυχώμενοι, |
6 They that trust in their strength, and boast themselves in the multitude of their wealth— |
7 qui confidunt in virtute sua et in multitudine divitiarum suarum gloriantur |
6 They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; |
6 those who are confident based on their wealth and boast in the amount of their riches. |
7 כל דתכילין על חילהון ומשׁתבהרין בסוגאא דעותרהון |
|
8 ἀδελφὸς οὐ λυτροῦται· λυτρώσεται ἄνθρωπος; οὐ δώσει τῷ θεῷ ἐξίλασμα αὐτοῦ |
7 A brother does not redeem, shall a man redeem? he shall not give to God a ransom for himself, |
8 frater non redimit redimet homo non dabit Deo placationem suam |
7
None of them
can by
any means redeem [his]
brother,
n |
7 A man couldn’t even redeem a brother; he can’t give God his ransom, |
ח אָחU לֹאV פָדֹה יִפְדֶּה אִישׁ לֹא יִתֵּן לֵאלֹהִים כָּפְרוֹW. |
8 אחא לא פרק X [ו]גברא לא יהב לאלהא פורקנה |
9
καὶ τὴν |
8
or the |
9
et |
8 (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:) |
8 indeed, the ransom of their soul is invaluable, indeed, they would have to {labor} for ever, |
9 xיקיר הו פורקנא דנפשׁהון ACxלאי לעלם |
|
καὶ ζήσεται εἰς τέλος, [ὅτι] οὐκ ὄψεται καταφθοράν, |
9 and live to the end, [so that] he should not see corruption. |
10
et vivet adhuc; in
finem |
9 That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption. |
9 nevertheless, he will live on indefinitely, {and} he will not see the grave, |
10
ד |
|
ὅταν
ἴδῃ σοφοὺς
ἀποθνῄσκοντας.11
ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ἄφρων καὶ ἄνους
ἀπολοῦνται καὶ καταλείψουσιν
|
10
When he
shall see wise men dying, the fool and the senseless one shall
perish together;
and they shall leave their wealth to |
cum
viderit sapientes morientes simul insipiens et stultus
peribunt et relinquent |
10
For he seeth that
wise men die, |
10 while he sees wise-men die. A fool and the stupid man will perish together, and they will abandon their wealth to those who follow. |
יא כִּי יִרְאֶה חֲכָמִים יָמוּתוּ יַחַד כְּסִיל וָבַעַר יֹאבֵדוּAH וְעָזְבוּ לַאֲחֵרִים חֵילָם. |
11
כד
|
1Cf. Rabbi A. Cohen’s commentary in the Soncino Books of the Bible “man’s temporary place of abode (cf. Rashi)” emphasis original. A.R. Fausset’s commentary defined it as “duration of life.”
2Including Augustine, Matthew Henry and John Gill
3cf. Exod. 21:30; Num. 35:31-32; Job 33:24; 36:18; Prov. 13:8; Isa. 43:3.
4Delitzsch called it “an easy flight of irony.”
5Namely, the 1st century AD Dead Sea Scroll 4Q91, the 4th-century Greek translations of Theodotian, the Vaticanus, and Origen’s “E,” and the 5th century Latin Vulgate and Syriac Peshitta.
6Namely, the 1st century AD Dead Sea Scroll 4Q85, the enlightenment-era Masoretic manuscripts, and later copies of 2nd-3rd Century Greek translations of Aquila and Symmachus.
AMy
original chart includes the NASB, NIV, and ESV, but their copyright
restrictions force me to remove them from the publicly-available
edition of this chart. (NAW is my translation.) When a translation
adds words not in the Hebrew text, but does not indicate it has done
so by the use of italics (or greyed-out text), I put the added words
in [square brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which is
different from all the other translations, I underline it.
When a version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either
departs too far from the root meaning of the Hebrew word or departs
too far from the grammar form of the original text, I use strikeout.
And when a version omits a word which is in the original text, I
insert an X. (I also place an X at the end of a word if the original
word is plural but the English translation is singular.) I
occasionally use colors to help the reader see correlations between
the various editions and versions when there are more than two
different translations of a given word. The only known Dead Sea
Scrolls containing Psalm 49 are 4Q85 Psalmsc (which
contains parts of vs. 1-16) and 4Q91 Psalmsj (which
contains parts of vs. 5-16), both dating to the first half of the
first century. Where the DSS is legible and reads the same as the
MT, the Hebrew text is colored purple. Where the DSS and ancient
versions support each other against the MT in such a way that I
suspect they are the original reading, I have highlighted
them with
yellow.
BThis Greek New Testament (GNT) is the 1904 "Patriarchal" edition of the Greek Orthodox Church. The Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine majority text of the GNT and the Textus Receptus are very similar. The Westcott-Hort, Nestle-Aland, and UBS editions are a slightly-different family of GNTs developed in the modern era as a break from the traditional Greek Bible by compiling just a few of the oldest-known manuscripts, but even so, the practical differences in the text between these two editing philosophies are minimal.
CEnglish translation of the Septuagint by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton, 1851, “based upon the text of the Vaticanus” but not identical to the Vaticanus. As published electronically by E-Sword.
DJerome's Latin Vulgate w/ Deuterocanon using Gallican Psalter, 405 AD. As published electronically by E-Sword.
E1769 King James Version of the Holy Bible; public domain. As published electronically by E-Sword.
FFrom
the Wiki Hebrew Bible
https://he.wikisource.org/wiki/%D7%AA%D7%94%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%9D_%D7%9E%D7%98/%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%AA.
DSS text comes from https://downloads.thewaytoyahuweh.com
GThe Leiden Peshitta, Copyright © 2012 by The Peshitta Foundation c/o Leiden University Institute for Religious Studies, as published electronically in BibleWorks.
H2nd-4th century Greek translators Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotian all rendered this word with a form of the Greek noun for “victory.” Aquila and “E” do it again with the “telos” that appears between verses 9-10.
IFields noted that “other” Greek translators rendered “this” as singular, matching the MT.
JFields noted that most other Greek versions used the synonym [εγ]καταδυ-σιν/τον (“settling-down”).
KThis word only occurs four other times in the Hebrew Bible, all in poetic literature (Job 11:17; Ps. 17:14; 39:6; 89:48), and is translated “life,” “time,” “lifetime,” “span of time,” and “world” in English versions. Augustine found in these paired nouns (“peoples” and “land-residents,” “adam” and “ish,” “rich and poor”) a contrast between believers and unbelievers, and this is also reflected in the Targum (“sons of old Adam” – i.e. Gentiles – “and sons of Jacob”), but I think they have more to do with various ways we identify ourselves. All would agree, however, that they are merisms signifying “everybody without exception.”
LWisdom unites the lips and the heart with integrity. “For many have understanding in their lips, but have not in their heart, of whom the Scripture saith, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.’” ~Augustine, quoting Isa. 29:13.
M“understandings”
- plural like this in only five other places: Job 32:11
(“reasonings”); Ps. 78:72 (“skilfulness”); Prov. 11:12;
28:16; Isa. 40:14. Delitzsch commented that the plural indicates
profoundness. Calvin commented, “He puts himself forward as an
humble scholar, one who, in acting the part of teacher, has an eye
at the same time to his own improvement. It were desirable that all
the ministers of God should be actuated by a similar spirit,
disposing them to regard God as at once their own teacher and that
of the common people, and to embrace in the first place themselves
that divine word which they preach to others.”
Delitzsch
noted that this introduction is “Very similarly [to the way] the
elder (in the reign of Jehoshaphat) and the younger Micha (Micah)
introduce their prophecies in 1 Kings 22:28 & Micah 1:2; and
Elihu in the Book of Job his didactic discourses.”
Ncf. Aquila, αινιγμα from which we get “enigma.”
Ocf. Psalm 78:2 “I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old” (NKJV) Augustine commented: “And why ‘to a parable’? Because ‘ we see through a glass darkly,’ (1 Cor. 13:12) as the Apostle said; ‘while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.’ (2 Cor. 5:6) For our vision is not yet that ‘face to face’ ... where there no longer are riddles and comparisons... However much a man may cultivate his heart and apply himself to apprehend mysteries, so long as we see through the corruption of this flesh, we ‘see but in part’.…But, as He ‘was seen by those who believed,’ and by those who crucified Him, when He was judged; so will He be seen, when He shall have begun to be judge, both by those whom He shall condemn, and by those whom He shall crown.”
PSymmachus rendered ιχνεων (“footsteps”).
QGill suggested (based on Eccl. 12:1) that “evil days” meant the approach of death, but Delitzsch (based on Psalm 94:13 and Amos 6:3) argued that it meant, “days in which one experiences evil.” Both are themes of this Psalm.
RLit. “my heels” cf. Psalm 41:9 “Even my peaceful ally – who I confided in, who ate my food – he has enlarged [his] footprint/heel over me.” (NAW) Delitzsch was the only commentator I read who found this “inadmissable,” but his translator was so taken aback by this that he added a conciliatory paragraph to tone it down.
S“Enemies” is the interpretation here. The Arabic Bible also interprets the Hebrew word thus.
TLXX,
Vulgate, and KJV connect this verse with the following verse
(explaining who cannot be redeemed), whereas NASB, NIV, and ESV
connect it with the previous verse as further explanation of who
“those at my heels” are.
Calvin commented: “[T]he fear of
man is unwarrantable… it argues ignorance of what man is even at
his best... it were as reasonable to startle at a shadow or a
spectre... It is not merely from the intrinsic insufficiency of
wealth, honors, or pleasures, to confer true happiness that the
Psalmist proves the misery of worldly men, but from their manifest
and total incapacity of forming a correct judgment of such
possessions.”
UThis is the Hebrew word for “brother.” The LXX & Vaticanus interpreted it as the subject, but Ibn Ezra and Delitzsch and the English versions interpreted it as the object. Either is possible, as the Hebrew here is somewhat ambiguous, but what is clear here is that the word “brother” is emphatic. (The NLT, instead, renders “self,” and NIV/ESV “another.”)
V“[T]he negative in other instances stands after the intensive infinitive, but here, as in Gen. 3:4, Amos 9:8, and Isa. 28:28, before it.” ~Delitzsch
WAugustine interpreted this to mean that the ungodly refuse to give alms, but I think this is saying that it is not possible to use temporal wealth to redeem a man’s soul from God’s judgment. On “precious,” cf. 1 Sam. 26:21 Then Saul said, "I have sinned. Return, my son, David, for I will not cause harm to you any more, since, when it came down to it, my soul was precious in your eyes this day..." Psalm 72:14 “He will redeem their life from oppression and violence; And precious shall be their blood in His sight.” (NKJV) and Isaiah 43:3-4 “...I gave Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Sudan instead of you. Because you are precious in my eyes, you were honored, and I myself loved you, and I gave a man instead of you and peoples instead of your soul.” (NAW)
XAquila and Symmachus corrected to the MT reading with a form of the verb παυσ- “cease,” but Theodotian and “E” used the same verb for “labor” as the LXX.
YThe meaning has to do with being valuable because it is rare. Calvin noted, “not to be understood as implying merely that it is an event of rare occurrence, but that it never can take place… [I]t is not merely impossible to redeem the life of menwhen they are dead, but impossible while they are yet living, to extend the term of their existence.” “Jarchi observes, ‘heavier than their substance’: it is too weighty a matter for the richest man in the world to engage in” ~J. Gill. “[T]he λυτρον which is required to be paid for the souls of men is too precious, i.e., exorbitant, or such as cannot be found…” Often connected with the value of a life, cf. 1 Sam. 26:21, Ps. 72:12-14, Isa. 43:3-4. LXX renders this word as a noun out of the same consonants, as though it were pointed וׅיקָר.
ZOnly other instance of this word in the Hebrew OT is in Exodus 21:30.
AALXX & Vulgate have a singular pronoun “his” instead of “their,” but the Peshitta matches the plural in the MT.
ABDSS 4Q85 reads the same as the MT (“and he ceased”), but DSS 4Q91 reads וחלו matching the LXX, Vulgate, and Peshitta “labor,” (although it is singular in LXX and Peshitta, “he labour”). Calvin, on the other hand, rendered it “continue.” AJV = “let alone” Gill commented, “...the redemption of the soul... must have ceased, it could never have been accomplished, had not Christ undertook it... Or ...the brother, whose soul or life is to be redeemed, he ...dies the second and eternal death, for aught his brother can do for him... Jarchi[Rashi] observes; he ceases from redeeming his brother; he finds he cannot do it... Some... connect these words with the following... that is, it is impossible that such an one by such means should live for ever.” Fausset = “that is, the ransom fails, the price is too precious, costly.”
ACBauscher translated “it labors,” which matches the LXX, Vulgate, and 4Q91. Lamsa translated “do good,” which seems to be out in left field.
AD“[N]othing remains but to take v.9 as a parenthesis; the principal clause affirms that no man can give to God a ransom that shall protect another against death, so that this other should still continue (עֹוד) to live… The כִּי in v.11 is now confirmatory of what is denied by its opposite...” ~Delitzsch
AEDead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint, and Peshitta all have a vav prefix.
AFTargum explains the pit as “the judgment of Gehenum/hell.”
AGThe Syriac changed the person of the verbs in this verse (and in the next) to second singular “you”
AH“Designedly
the word used of the death of wise men is מוּת,
and of the death of the fool and the stupid man, אָבַד.”
~Delitzsch. In other words, while affirming that wise men and fools
both die, it is not denying that the fool experiences a destructive
judgment not experienced by the wise.
“It is a common
proverb, that experience teaches fools, and they may be looked upon
as something worse who will not lay to heart their mortality, when
surrounded by so many convincing illustrations of it.” ~J.
Calvin
Luke
16:22
“So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to
Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.” “And
what did it profit the rich man, who asked, while lying in torments
in hell, that a drop of water should be poured upon his tongue from
the finger of Lazarus... and it was not granted to him? One longed
for the drop from the finger, as the other had for the crumbs from
the rich man’s table; but the labour of the one is ended, and the
life of the other is ended” ~Augustine