Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 19 Nov. 2023
Psalm 53 is the second in a string of four Maskil/wisdom-Psalms attributed to David.
It is almost exactly the same as Psalm 14,
except for verse 5, which, in Psalm 53, comments on the wicked, but in Psalm 14, comments on the righteous. Taken together, what they say is not contradictory but is rather complementary, like two sides of the same coin.
Also, the four times that the name of Yahweh appeared in Psalm 14, are all changed in Psalm 53 to elohim, which is the general word in Hebrew for “god” – but, both Psalms still refer to the same God. Rabbi Cohen, the editor of the Soncino Bible commentary, suggested that the substitution was done to emphasize that the judgement coming upon the wicked was truly divine.
But why two editions of the same Psalm in the Bible?
Psalm 53 adds a note in its superscript that it is ‘al makhalot. There are a variety of opinions among Bible scholars as to what this term means1, but several Greek versions dating back to the 2nd century AD interpreted this as “for choir-singing,” so this may be a choral adaptation of Psalm 14, or, as other commentators have suggested, it might have been rearranged for a different instrument to accompany it.
It has also been hypothesized that Psalm 14 is David’s original composition, but Psalm 53 is a re-write by Jews later in history who changed v.5 to refer to their own experience of Israel being “rejected” by God2.
Some say that Jews from the exile in Babylon wrote it,
and others that refers to the time of King Hezekiah when the Assyrian army laid siege to Jerusalem and their commander, Rabshaqeh publicly mocked God and got humiliated for it3.
But whether Psalm 14 was adapted to a different musical setting or to a different historical context to give us Psalm 53, verse 3 occurs once more in the New Testament:
Romans 3:10ff “...[A]ll, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one… There is no fear of God before their eyes.’ ...there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…” (ESV)
Read
my translation:
{For
the concertmaster over choirs, a thought-provoking one by David.}
The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God!” They have
caused corruption and unjustly committed atrocities. There is no one
who does good. As for God, from the heavens He looked down over the
descendants of Adam to see – Is there an insightful man? One who
seeks God? Indeed everyone has regressed, together they have become
tainted. There is no one who does good – there is not even one!
Haven’t {any of} the workers of iniquity known – the ones who
eat up my people [like] they eat bread? They did not call upon God!
They were dreadfully terrified there,{where} there should not have
been terror, because God scattered the bones of {men-pleasers.
They were} ashamed because God rejected them. If only Israel’s
salvation would come into being from Zion! When God turns back His
people’s backsliding, Jacob will rejoice, {and} Israel will be
happy.”
This Psalm portrays the Biblical worldview of what is wrong with this world and how to make it right.
The root issue, as verse one says, is denying God. If you deny God, you lose all absolutes, because the only authority anyone can appeal to then is your own personal opinion.
If you do not “set God before” you as the authoritative touchstone for determining right from wrong, then anything you want is good (as far as you are concerned), and there is no limit to the amount of “injustice” and greed and “corruption” that can be rationalized by humans who have “turned away” from God.
The ubiquity of the problem is the worst of it. There is not a single human being who has not fallen into this problem, and, having fallen into it, there is no human way out of it: “There is NO one who does good… EVERY one has turned aside…”
Meanwhile, God still exists, despite the attempts to wish Him away, and He is “disgusted” with all that kind of behavior. Verse 5 teaches that God will punish the ungodly with “terror” and death and “shame.”
But there is good news: God “turns” His people back from their corruption. God has a “salvation” that will “restore” them and make them “happy” and “joyful!”
And, what to God’s people do when He brings salvation to them? How do they respond to this ray of light in the darkness? They “call upon God” to save, “seek after God,” and then “rejoice” and “be glad” in “restored” relationship with Him!
Do you see the flow of this psalm now?
Going back to v.1,
There have always been atheists who don’t believe in God, or don’t believe in an elohim God that is involved in our world, and certainly don’t believe in the personal Yahweh of the Bible.
John Dewey and the other signers of the Humanist Manifesto in the 20th Century stated, “No deity will save us; we must save ourselves... Traditional religions are … obstacles to human progress…” Dewey was the main philosopher behind American public education as it exists today.
And the Bible tells us to expect more of the same in the future (2 Tim. 3:13).
The Word of God calls such persons naval “a fool.”
Now, you might be thinking, “Isn’t that a bit harsh to label all who don’t believe in God ‘fools’? Aren’t some merely ignorant or mistaken on this point?”
The answer is found in Romans 1, which, the late pastor James Boice, said, “is actually a commentary on [this] Psalm… If a person knew there were no God and said so, he would be wise… If he did not know and said so, he would at least be an honest skeptic or agnostic. If a person is convinced there is no God when actually there is one, he is merely mistaken. But none of these is the case, according to Paul’s careful exposition [in his epistle to the Romans]. The reason the person is a fool and not merely mistaken is that he knows there is a God and yet chooses to believe and act as if there is none.” Romans 1:18-20 clears the fog by explaining that creation itself reveals God’s “eternal power and divine nature” and leaves mankind “without excuse.”
As my childhood pastor Frank Barker said, “An atheist can’t find God for the same reason that a thief can’t find a policeman…” In our guilt, mankind naturally doesn’t want God to exist because we don’t want to be held accountable to God.
The person who says, “There is no God,” is not an honest thinker but rather a truth-suppressor, and that’s one reason why David doesn’t spend the rest of the Psalm proving the existence of God. Instead he spends the rest of the Psalm talking about rebellion against God and how to be saved by God.
It is imperative that Christians, simmering like frogs in the pot of contemporary humanistic culture, look outside the pot to the objective standard of God’s word, which tells us that the removal of God from every holiday, from every public speech, from every entertainment show, from every classroom of learning, and even from many so-called churches is not inevitable, it is not progress, it is not o.k. Let God’s word set your thinking straight on this point. The one who says there is no God is a fool!
It may be hard for some of you to imagine that it is not normal or healthy for a culture to avoid talking about God, but that pattern in our culture is a wicked spread of foolishness, and it necessarily results in more broken relationships, more crime, and more oppression of the poor.
In the second half of v.1, the verb shakhat “corrupt” connotes a taking an organized system and messing it all up.
Shakhat first occurs in the Bible in Genesis 6, where God says that everyone had become corrupt, and the earth was filled with violence so bad that God sent the flood to destroy them all.
It is also used to describe God’s action in destroying Sodom & Gomorrah for their sin,
as well as wasting Egypt with the 10 plagues.
So it reminds us that just as surely as unregenerate mankind perverts God’s good order of creation, so surely God will stop man’s organized rebellion against Him when He visits in judgment!
As for the next verb Ta’av, the prophet Elijah used it to describe King Ahab for introducing Canaanite idol-worship in Israel: 1 Kings 21:25-26 “Surely there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the LORD, because Jezebel his wife incited him. He acted very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done...” (NASB)
The word “Iniquity” is a synonym for the word “vile/abominable” that stands in its place in Psalm 14. Other passages like Job 15:16 equate the two meanings: “What is man, that he should be pure, Or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? … [He is] detestable and corrupt, Man, who drinks iniquity like water!” (NASB)
But God will judge iniquity and abominable behavior: Psalm 5:5-6 “...You have hated all workers of iniquity. You will destroy speakers of falsehood; a man of bloodshed and deceit Yahweh will abhor.” (NAW)
Now, in v.2, the person of God is brought before our eyes as a radical contrast to the godless fool:
God is pictured as “looking down” from the vantage point of His castle. The Perfect tense indicates that God is already on top of what is going on; He has already “seen” the dishonorable conduct of the fool.
This word for “looked down” is also found in the account of God’s actions
regarding Sodom & Gomorrah (Gen. 18:16),
and regarding Egypt at the time of the Exodus (Ex. 14:24),
so it reminds us again that God sees what is going on, and He will hold men accountable when they rebel against Him, just as He did with Sodom and Gomorrah - and just as He did with Pharaoh!4
But God is also very interested in knowing who “seeks after” Him.
We’ve seen already in the Psalms that “wicked” people do “not seek” God (Psalm 10:4),
but that God “does not forsake those who seek Him” (Psalm 9:10, NAW)
This is what is on God’s mind: “Is there someone who is a man after my own heart who has received my word so that he has wisdom? I want to work with that person and bless him/her!”
This is who God is looking for: the person who “seeks” God and “perceives the falsity of the statement there is no God” (Cohen).
Next, in v.3, David pulls in the rest of the quote5 from Job 15:16 about the total depravity of mankind:
David’s son said the same thing in Ecclesiastes 7:20 “For there is not a just man on earth who does good And does not sin.” (NKJV)
And this comports with the doctrine of the book of Romans, chapter 3, which quotes from Psalm 53 and concludes, “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
But wait, don’t even atheists do some good things? How can God say nobody “does good”?
I believe this “good” refers back to Genesis 1 (vs.12, 25, 31) where “good” is defined as doing what God created things to do and to be.
This idea is further developed in Deuteronomy where “doing… good” is defined as obeying God’s law: Dt. 6:17-18 “You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you. And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may be well with you…” (cf. 12:28, 2Ki. 20:3).
This “doing good” is the opposite of “working iniquity” in v.4.
And, in Psalm 37:3, putting your “trust” in God is also part of “doing good: “Trust in the Lord and do good…”
So this is not just talking about bringing a can of food to the rodeo to help feed the poor – as good as that particular act might be, this is speaking of “good” in terms of believing in God and following all of His commands, including the Ten Commandments and all their ramifications in the law of Moses and in Jesus’ teachings.
When we look at how we measure up to the standard of God’s goodness, it should become obvious that David is correct. Nice people are in the same boat on judgment day as mean people because we have all broken God’s laws at some point. We all stand condemned before God.
Our problem, as Psalm 5:4-5 puts it, is that the LORD is “not a god [who] inclines toward wickedness, Evil will not be [His] guest… [He has] hated all workers of iniquity” (NAW).
Charles Spurgeon, in his sermon on this Psalm, noted that, “Those pure heathens and admirable savages that men talk so much of, do not appear to have been visible to the eye of Omniscience, the fact being that they live nowhere but in the realm of fiction… The fallen race of man, left to its own energy, has not produced a single lover of God or doer of holiness, nor will it ever do so. Grace must interpose or not one specimen of humanity will be found to follow after the good and true.”
Our only hope then, is for God to provide a way out of the punishment of death and hell which He has decreed is just for sin. What do we need to know about that? First...
The simile of “eating bread” paints a picture of a person who has hurt so many believers that he doesn’t think of it as any big deal, like you have bread (or some kind of starch) with every meal.6
Charles Spurgeon commented, “It is hard bondage to be a ‘worker of iniquity;’ a [slave] at the galleys, or in the mines of Siberia, is not more truly degraded and wretched; the toil is hard and the reward dreadful; those who have no knowledge choose such slavery, but those who are taught of God cry to be rescued from it.”
Those who “call7 upon the name” of the Lord Jesus will be saved; that’s what is says in 1 Cor. 1:2, and that’s basically what David already said in Psalm 3:4 “[With] my voice, I will call to Yahweh, and He will answer me from the mountain of His holiness” (NAW, cf. 4:3).
This, then, is the way out of God’s judgment: not to be among those who do “not know” God and say there is “no God,” but to be among those who know the name and character of God as Holy and Savior and who “call upon the Name” of the Lord in order that God may graciously share His holiness and salvation with us! Otherwise a fearful judgment awaits…
The parallel verse in Psalm 14 seems to describe the situation from the perspective of the righteous: “God was [in] the generation/ancestral-home of a righteous man. The council of the lowly y’all put to shame, for Yahweh is his refuge” (NAW), but in Psalm 53:5, it is the experience of the wicked which is described.
Either way, the unrighteous are judged by God. The Perfect-tense Hebrew verbs for “they were greatly terrified,” appear to refer to some past event, but we are not told what that event was for sure.
The next phrase “{where} terror did not exist” is not in Psalm 14.
The old Jewish Targums offer the explanation that what the wicked were afraid of was their “idols,” but they shouldn’t have been afraid of them. There is certainly truth in that.
19th Century commentator Franz Delitzsch suggested that it refers to when the Assyrian army ran away in terror from their siege of Jerusalem, when there was no natural reason for them to panic8.
Gerald Wilson, in the NIV Application Commentary elaborated, “The wicked who refuse to acknowledge Yahweh – either in actuality or practicality – will be overwhelmed with dread and destruction by the very one whose existence they deny! ... [D]estruction came… when they least expected it… when everything seemed to going their way.”
Augustine, in his sermon on this Psalm, noted that in the Gospel of John 11:48, the Chief Priests and Pharisees “feared” that the Romans would come and depose them if they didn’t kill Jesus9, but the Romans were not what they should have been afraid of! They should have feared God and believed in Jesus, but since they feared man rather than God, their bones literally were scattered all over the ground of Jerusalem by the Roman army when they destroyed the city in 70 AD (exactly as prophesied by David (Ps. 141:7) and Ezekiel 6:5, when God said, “...I will scatter your bones all around your altars.” ~NKJV).
Likewise today, many fear loosing their possessions, when they should not be afraid of that because, if God provides clothing for the lillies and food for the sparrows, we needn’t fear want.
Different Bibles have slightly different wordings to describe the wicked whose bones are scattered in God’s judgment:
Ancient Greek, Latin, and some Aramaic Bibles call them “men-pleasers,” and that is a perfect description of the Humanism that opposes us today – both the hard-core atheist kind and the compromising religious kind.
Bibles which are more influenced by Jewish tradition, including Hebrew and most English versions read “those encamped against you,” and, if it is indeed describing the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem, that paints a vivid picture of the army taking up an offensive position against God’s people.
A similar variation shows up in the next phrase of v. 5.
Most English versions follow the Jewish tradition that the wicked were putting the righteous to shame, but the ancient Christian versions have it that God put the wicked to shame. Neither is necessarily wrong.
Psalm 14 has extra words which explicitly say that the wicked were trying to shame the righteous, but there are also numerous Psalms10 which say that God will put the ungodly to shame, so both are true.
Meanwhile, those who trust in God to save them will not experience the “fearful dread” that the enemies of God will experience.
Using this same verb for “dread,” the prophet Isaiah wrote, “You will say in that day, ‘I will thank You, Yahweh, For You were angry with me, yet Your anger turned away and you showed compassion to me. Look, God is my salvation; I will trust and will not dread, for Yah Jehovah is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation!’” (Isaiah 12:1-2, NAW)
It is a cry of faith which knows that it is God’s nature to save His people and understands that we are God’s people who will be saved and therefore calls out to God to save us from our sin and to deliver us from our enemies.
V.6 opens with an expression of a godly person’s expectant longing for salvation. We don’t know when, but we do know God will save those who have called upon Him and who wait for Him.
Note who fixes the problem (v.6): God is the one who “restores/returns His people;” “salvation” comes from Zion. “[Z]ion was the holy place from which God had promised to hear the prayers of his servants11... He does not, therefore, doubt who would be the author of his salvation; but he asks, with a sorrowful heart, when at length that salvation will come forth which is to be expected from no other source than from God alone.” ~Calvin
And ‘Who shall give out of Sion salvation to Israel?’ Shall not that same [Jesus] of whom [the Pharisees] said, ‘He is not God’? ‘...He that willed to be a captive in [men’s] hands... is the very one who turns the captivity of His people! And who shall understand this thing? ...the true Israel… shall exult, for he shall himself understand.” ~Augustine, c.400AD
Now, what is it that God “turns back/returns” in v.6?
The Hebrew literally reads “in the turning-back by God of the turning-back of His people.”
KJV and NASB render it the “captivity” of His people,
and the NIV and ESV render it the “fortunes” of His people – a translation which the NIV Application Commentary expressed embarrased about, because the Hebrew word has nothing to do with “fortune.12”
The basic meaning of the word is to “turn-back,” and it is dramatically placed right after its verb form where God “turns” them back, so I think the Psalmist is anticipating God to “turn back” onto the right way the people who had “turned away” from God to the wrong way.
This fits with the synonym in v.3 “all have turned away.” This is what resulted in them becoming “corrupt,” “abominable,” “unjust,” “tainted” “workers of wickedness” “rejected” by God. The only hope is for them to “call upon God” and for God to “extend salvation” to them and “turn them back.”
I will admit, however, that in later Biblical literature, this phrase “return the captivity” is often used to describe the restoration of the Jewish nation after their exile in Babylon, and it is used once in that sense before the Psalms:
Back in Deuteronomy 30:1-3, Moses prophesied it using the very words quoted by David, “Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God drives you, and you return to the LORD your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, that the LORD your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you” (NASB).
So it is possible that this could be a prophetic statement by David in which he sees that the idolatry of Israel and the oppressiveness of the Jewish noblemen13 will lead to the exile prophesied through Moses, yet David nevertheless hopes in the promise of God to restore captive Israel when, in the further future, they repent of their sin and return to love God with all their heart.
But even if it is referring to that specific reconstruction of Jerusalem, we can see that, in the broader scope of redemptive history, this is just one example of God’s work of fixing the problem of godlessness, and we can apply that “captivity/turning-back” from Psalm 53 to ourselves as “any great evil” (Fausset) from which we need God to turn us back.
“Jacob” and “Israel” were two names for the same man, so I think the two phrases are for poetic effect and mean the same thing (Augustine)14.
Like Jacob and like David, we too can trust in the faithful, covenantal lovingkindness of God and see salvation in the God “who was and is and is coming,” when His people repent and reject the council of the wicked and take refuge in Him through faith – in the One whose name means “salvation” – Jesus!
Psalm 13:5 “I trust in your lovingkindness, my heart exults in your salvation”
Then we will experience the “joy” of the Lord.
Well, are you a descendant of Adam (as v.2 put it) – one of the children of men? Then “God is looking upon” you and asking if you “understand” and “seek” Him.
When the Bible says “all have turned aside, there is no one who does good, not even one,” that includes you.15 With words like “all” and “not even one” you can’t say God will judge someone else but He won’t judge you. You’re fooling yourself if you think you’re a good enough person. You need the “salvation” which God offers to all who “call” on the “name” of Jesus and humbly ask for it.
“With what earnestness should we shun the appearance of doubt as to the presence, activity, power and love of God, for all such mistrust is of the nature of folly, and who among us would wish to be ranked with the fool in the text?” ~Ch. Spurgeon, 1885 AD
And then we must cling to that salvation in Jesus, despite the ridicule and persecution of atheists.
“The special point and butt of their jest seems to be the confidence of the godly in their Lord. ‘What can your God do for you now?’ ‘Who is that God who can deliver out of our hand?’ ‘Where is the reward of all your praying and beseeching?’ Taunting questions of this sort they thrust into the faces of weak but gracious souls, and tempt them to feel ashamed of their refuge. Let us not be laughed out of our confidence by them, let us scorn their scorning and defy their jeers; we shall need to wait but a little, and then the Lord our refuge will avenge his own elect and ease himself of his adversaries, who once made so light of him and of his people.” ~Spurgeon
and “[I]n the midst of the greatest desolations which we behold in the Church, we may comfort ourselves with this assurance, that God will finally deliver her from them.” ~Calvin
So, let us persevere in seeking God, for “[T]rue ‘understanding’… consists in ‘seeking after God’; … unless men devote themselves wholly to God, their life cannot be well ordered… [A]lthough God may leave us for a long time to languish, yet we ought not to weary, or lose courage, but should always glory in Him…” ~J. Calvin, 1554 AD
Vulgate (Ps. 52)B |
LXXC
|
Brenton (Vaticanus)D |
KJVE |
NAW
|
Masoretic Txt Ps53F |
MT Ps. 14G |
NAW Ps. 14 |
PeshittaH Ps. 53 |
1
in finem pro Melech intellegentiae David
dixit insipiens in corde suo non est Deus |
1
Εἰς τὸ τέλοςI,
ὑπὲρ μαελεθJ·
συνέσεως τῷ Δαυιδ. 2 Εἶπεν ἄφρων
ἐν καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ Οὐκ ἔστιν θεός.
διεφθάρησαν καὶ ἐβδελύχθησαν
[ἐν]
ἀνομί |
1
For the end, a Psalm of David upon
Maeleth, of instruction. The fool
has said in his heart, There is no God. They have corrupted
themselves, and become abominable [in]
iniquit |
1 To the chief Musician upon Mahalath, Maschil, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good. |
1 For the concertmaster over choirs, a thought-provoking one by David. The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God!” They have caused corruption and unjustly committed atrocities. There is no one who does good. |
(א) לַמְנַצֵּחַL עַל מָחֲלַתM מַשְׂכִּיל לְדָוִד. (ב) אָמַר נָבָל בְּלִבּוֹ אֵין אֱלֹהִים הִשְׁחִיתוּ וְהִתְעִיבוּN עָוֶלO אֵין עֹשֵׂה טוֹב. |
א
לַמְנַצֵּ֗חַ X
X X
לְדָ֫וִ֥ד |
1. For the concertmaster, X X X belonging to David. A fool said in his heart, “There is no God!” They have caused corruption; they have made [their] exploits abhorrent. There is no one who does good. |
|
3 Deus de caelo prospexit in filios hominum ut videat si est intellegens [aut]; requirens Deum |
3 ὁ θεὸς ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ διέκυψεν ἐπὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων τοῦ ἰδεῖν εἰ ἔστιν συνίων [ἢ] ἐκζητῶν τὸν θεόν. |
2 God looked down from heaven upon the sons of men, to see if there were [any] that understood, [or] sought after God. |
2 God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. |
2 As for God, from the heavens He looked down over the descendants of Adam to see – Is there an insightful man? One who seeks God? |
(ג)
אֱלֹהִיםP
מִשָּׁמַיִם הִשְׁקִיףQ |
ב
יְֽהוָ֗ה
מִשָּׁמַיִם֮ הִשְׁקִ֪יף עַֽל־בְּנֵי־אָ֫דָ֥ם
לִ֭רְאוֹת הֲיֵ֣שׁ מַשְׂכִּ֑יל דֹּ֝רֵשׁ
אֶת־ |
2. As for Yahweh, from the heavens He looked down over the descendants of Adam to see - Is there an insightful man, one who seeks God? |
3
אלהא
אדיק מן שׁמיא על בנינשׁא
דנחזא |
4 omnes declinaverunt simul inutiles facti sunt non est qui faciat bonum non est usque ad unum |
4 πάντες ἐξέκλινανR, ἅμα ἠχρεώθησανS, οὐκ ἔστιν ποιῶν ἀγαθόν, οὐκ ἔστιν ἕως ἑνός.T |
3 They have all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that does good, there is not even one. |
3
Every one of |
3 Indeed everyone has regressed, together they have become tainted. There is no one who does good – there is not even one! |
(ד) כֻּלּוֹU סָגV יַחְדָּו נֶאֱלָחוּ אֵין עֹשֵׂה טוֹב אֵין גַּם אֶחָד. |
ג
[הַ]כֹּ֥לx
סָר֮
יַחְדָּ֪ו נֶ֫אֱלָ֥חוּW
|
3. [The] entirety X has turned away, together they have become tainted, there is not one who does good – there is not even one! |
4 כלהון סטו אכחדא [ו]אתטנפו [ו]לית דעבד טבתא אף לא חד |
5 nonne scient [omnes]; qui operantur iniquitatem qui devorant plebem meam ut cibum panis 6 Deum non invocaverunt |
5
οὐχὶ γνώσονται [πάντες]
οἱ ἐργαζόμενοι τὴν ἀνομίαν;
οἱ Xἔσθ |
4 Will none of the workers of iniquity know, who devour my people [as] they would eat bread? they have not called upon God. |
4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God. |
4 Haven’t {any of} the workers of iniquity known – the ones who eat up my people [like] they eat bread? They did not call upon God! |
(ה) הֲלֹא יָדְעוּZ פֹּעֲלֵי אָוֶן אֹכְלֵי עַמִּי אָכְלוּ לֶחֶם אֱלֹהִיםAA לֹא קָרָאוּAB. |
ד הֲלֹ֥א יָדְעוּ֮ [כָּל] פֹּ֪עֲלֵ֫י אָ֥וֶן אֹכְלֵ֣י עַ֭מִּי אָ֣כְלוּ לֶ֑חֶםAC יְ֝הוָ֗ה לֹ֣א קָרָֽאוּ׃ |
4. Haven’t they known - [all] the workers of iniquity, the ones who eat my people [like] they eat bread? They did not call upon Yahweh. |
5
|
illic
trepidabunt
timore [ubi]
non fuit timor quoniam Deus
dissipavit ossa eorum qui |
6
ἐκεῖ φοβηθήσονταιAD
φόβον, [οὗ]
οὐκ ἦν φόβος, ὅτι ὁ
θεὸς διεσκόρπισεν ὀστᾶ
|
There
were they
greatly afraid,
[where]
there was no fear:
5
For God has
scattered
the bones of the |
5 There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them. |
5 They were dreadfully terrified there,{where} there should not have been terror, because God scattered the bones of {men-pleasers. They were} ashamed because God rejected them. |
(ו)
שָׁם
פָּחֲדוּ פַחַדAG
לֹא הָיָה פָחַד כִּי אֱלֹהִים פִּזַּרAH
עַצְמוֹתAI
|
ה
שָׁ֤ם׀ פָּ֣חֲדוּ
פָ֑חַד
X
X X
כִּֽי־אֱ֝לֹהִ֗ים
[בְּ]ד֣וֹר
צַדִּֽיק׃ |
5. They were dreadfully terrified there, X X X for God was [in] the ancestral-home of a righteous man. 6. [The council of] the lowly y’all put to shame, for Yahweh is his refuge. |
6
תמן
דחלו
דחלתא
[אתר]
דלית
הוא דחלתא
מטל דאלהא נבדר גרמיהון דאילין [דשׁפרין
לבני]
|
7
quis dabit ex Sion salutar |
7
τίς δώσει ἐκ Σιων τὸ σωτήρι |
6
Who will bring the salvationX
of Israel out of Sion? When the |
6 Oh that the salvationX of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. |
6 If only Israel’s salvation would come into being from Zion! When God turns back His people’s backsliding, Jacob will rejoice, {and} Israel will be happy. |
(ז) מִיAN יִתֵּן AOמִצִּיּוֹן יְשֻׁעוֹתAP יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּשׁוּב אֱלֹהִיםAQ שְׁבוּתAR עַמּוֹ יָגֵל יַעֲקֹב ASיִשְׂמַח יִשְׂרָאֵל. |
ז מִ֥י יִתֵּ֣ן מִצִּיּוֹן֮ יְשׁוּעַ֪ת יִשְׂרָ֫אֵ֥ל בְּשׁ֣וּב יְ֭הוָה שְׁב֣וּת עַמּ֑וֹ יָגֵ֥ל יַ֝עֲקֹ֗ב יִשְׂמַ֥ח יִשְׂרָֽאֵל׃ |
7. If only Israel’s salvation would come into being from Zion! When Yahweh turns back His people’s captivity, Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be happy. |
7
מן
נתל מן צהיון פורק |
1Including “dance” (Groves-Wheeler), and “musical instrument” (Cohen) and “tuning” (G.Wilson) – all of which could also fit the idea of an adaptation motivated by a different artistic medium. On the other hand is the definitions “sickness” (BDB), or “travailing in pain” (Augustine) – which would require a different explanation along the lines of adapting Psalm 14 to make it a relevant response to some later tragedy experienced by God’s people.
2According to Cohen, Malbim suggested that Psalm 14 was written in David’s time and Psalm 53 was written in Hezekiah’s time. Spurgeon seemed to think that the same author penned both Psalms, indicating of Psalm 53, “It is evidently expressive of a higher state of realisation in the poet, he emphasises the truth by stronger expressions.” G. Wilson was just as adamant in the other direction that an exilic community was behind this Psalm.
3Delitzsch summarized earlier rabbinical comments by writing, “A later poet, perhaps belonging to the time of Jehoshaphat or Hezekiah, has here adapted the Davidic Psalm to some terrible catastrophe that has just taken place, and given a special character to the universal announcement of judgment.”
4“Just as הִשְׁהִיתוּ reminds one of the history of the Flood, so does לִרְאֹות of the history of the building of the tower of Babel, Gen. 11:5” ~Delitzsch
5This is what I assume, since it’s the only other place in the Bible besides Psalm 14 that this verb “become filthy/ corrupt” appears.
6Cf. Augustine: “every day,” Calvin: “C’est, n’en font non plus de conscience, que de manger un morceau de pain,” Spurgeon: “daily, ravenously,” Kimchi: “with apparent ease,” G. H. Wilson: “casual attitude”
7“[T]he phrase, calling upon God, as it constitutes the principal exercise of godliness, it includes by synecdoche… the whole of the service of God.” ~Calvin
8A Jewish Rabbinical tradition flips it around, saying that it describes Hezekiah and the Jews who were afraid of the Assyrian army when it laid siege to Jerusalem (Cohen, quoting Malbim & Metsudath David).
9John 11:48 “If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.” (NKJV)
10For instance, in Psalms previous to this: 6:10, 25:3, 31:17, 35:4 & 26, 40:14, 44:7
11G. Wilson offered the following proof texts for this: Ps. 74:2, 76:2, 132:13, 135:21, 9:11, 84:7, 110:2, 99:2, 149:2, 128:5, 133:3, 134:3, 50:2, 14:7, 20:2, 53:6
12Although it is used in the context of Job’s return to prosperity Job 42:10: “And the LORD returned Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.” (NKJV)
13While the Jewish commentators naturally assume the converse, Calvin wrote, “the structure of the psalm very clearly shows that David means rather the domestic tyrants and enemies of the faithful than foreign ones.” Calvin, however, refers it to the time of Saul. Augustine also wrote that it speaks of Jews, not Gentiles, and Dr. Cleveland Coxe, who translated Augustine’s works for the Nicene & Post-Nicene Fathers Compilation, called this verse, “A prophetic prolepsis of the Captivity; but stretching forward to the final restoration…” Delitzsch added, “What the psalmist says, applies primarily to Israel, his immediate neighbours, but at the same time to the heathen, as is self-evident. What is lamented is neither the pseudo-Israelitish corruption in particular, nor that of the heathen, but the universal corruption of man…” Gerald Wilson, on the other hand suggests that verse 7 was not prophetic but rather was added later during the Babylonian exile and referred particularly to the longing of the Jewish exiles.
14although Spurgeon made a plausible point that “Jacob” and “Israel” could represent two stages of following God: “Jacob” could represent believers who are still struggling and wrestling with God, and “Israel” could represent believers who have prevailed and received God’s blessing, so this would apply not only at the beginning of your spiritual life but even in your mature years.
15“The judgment is inclusive, including you and me as well as those at whom we are wont to point the finger.” ~G.Wilson
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 53 are 4Q83 Psalmsa (which
contains parts of verses 1-6 and dates between 200-100 BC),
and 4Q85 Psalmsc
(which contains
part of v.1 and dates
around 50 AD).
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.
BJerome's Latin Vulgate w/ Deuterocanon using Gallican Psalter, 405 AD. As published electronically by E-Sword.
CThis 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.
DEnglish 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.
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%A1%D7%A4%D7%A8_%D7%AA%D7%94%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%9D.
DSS text comes from https://downloads.thewaytoyahuweh.com
GVariants between Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 are colored orange.
HThe Leiden Peshitta, Copyright © 2012 by The Peshitta Foundation c/o Leiden University Institute for Religious Studies, as published electronically in BibleWorks.
ISecond century Greek versions by Aquilla, Symmachus, and Theodotion all rendered the Hebrew title menatzech as some form of the Greek word nikos (“victory/conquest”), while the LXX (and Vulgate) rendered it as “end.”
JSecond century Greek versions by Aquilla, Symmachus, and Theodotion (as well as “E”) all rendered this Hebrew title mechalat with a form of χορεια (“choirs”).
KInstead of the LXX “in lawlessnesses” Symmachus rendered it epethdeusan meta adikiaV (“they fly? after unrighteousness”).
LSecond century Greek versions by Aquilla, Symmachus, and Theodotion all rendered the Hebrew title menatzech as some form of the Greek word nikos (“victory/conquest”), while the LXX and Vulgate rendered it as “end.”
MThis designation is not in Psalm 14. Augustine interpreted it as “to the one travailing, or in pain,” and therefore interpreted the whole Psalm as “He is comforting the [godly] man that groaneth [under the evil of the ungodly].” BDB and Strong assigned the root meaning of the word to mean “sick/weak;” Cohen agreed with the meaning of “sickness” but suggested it was an “abbreviation” of the longer title Mahalath Leannoth in Psalm 88 and might have been “the name of a musical instrument.” G. Wilson also thought it might be a harp “tune or tuning.” Groves-Wheeler Westminster Morphology and Lemma Database assigned the root meaning “dance;” Holladay was not willing to associate any meaning with it beyond “musical term.” It appears in only three other passages in the Hebrew O.T.: in the superscription of Psalm 88, and in Gen. 28:9 and 2 Chr. 11:18 as the names of women. Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotian (and later Jerome) all rendered this word “choirs” (with some form of coreia). Kittel noted that this could be supported with the unpointed Hebrew text, but it would require the MT pointing to be מְחֹלֹת instead of what it is (מָחֲלַת).
NThe footnote in the BHS about the Targum supporting the Peshitta’s (and Psalm 14’s) omission of the vav conjunction here is misleading, since the Targums actually have a stronger independent conjunction here, which leans in support of the MT. But the overall meaning is not substantially changed by the presence or non-presence of a conjunction here.
OLXX, Vulgate, Peshitta have plural forms of “iniquity/injustice,” but it is singular in the MT and Targums. Delitzsch commented on why this word was substituted for the word עֲלִילָה in Psalm 14: “the expression is rendered more bombastic by the use of עָוֶל instead of עֲלִילָה.
P“Elohim... in this instance is a proper name of equal dignity with the name Jahve.” ~Delitszch (who saw the systematic substitution of Elohim for Yahweh in this psalm as evidence that David did not write this edition of the psalm)
QAugustine commented, “if God looketh out from Heaven, in order that He may see if there is one understanding or seeking after God; there stealeth upon an unwise man the thought, that God knoweth not all things... The question then is solved as followeth: ofttimes the Scripture speaketh in such manner, that what by the gift of God a creature doth, God is said to do.…For hence has been said the following also, ‘For the Spirit searcheth all things, even the depth of God;’ not because He that knoweth all things searcheth, but because to thee hath been given the Spirit, which maketh thee also to search: and that which by His own gift thou doest, He is said to do; because without Him thou wouldest not do it: therefore God is said to do, when thou doest.…And because this by the gift of God thou doest, God from heaven is ‘looking forth upon the sons of men.’”
RAquilla rendered the MT more literally with paV autoV apestrafh.
S2nd century Greek versions used a different verb root επλακησαν (“stricken”?) with a prefix (A. = sun- , S. = peri-), emphasizing their “damaged” nature (as the MT does) rather than their lack of “usefulness” (emphasized by the verb choice of the LXX).
TThe Septuagint of Psalm 14 has a bit of extra text at this point which is not here in the Septuagint of Psalm 53. That extra text is not in the MT of Psalm 14, but contains quotes from Psalm 5:10, 140:3, 10:7, 36:1, Prov. 1:16 and Isa. 59:7.
UThis subject is in the most emphatic position. DSS = כיל – which doesn’t exist as a word or root in Davidson’s Analytical Lexicon, although seems to support the LXX and Vulgate (“all”) which don’t have the 3ms pronoun suffix (“every one”) found in the MT. The Targums and Peshitta have a 3mp pronoun suffix (“all of them”). It is curious that the KJV, NASB, and ESV abandoned their usual preference for the MT and translated according to the Targums and Peshitta. Psalm 14 has no pronoun suffix but has a definite article prefix (“The all”).
VIn the MT (followed by Aquilla, KJV, NASB, NIV), this verb is singular, but LXX, Vulgate, Peshitta, and Targums (זרו) all changed it to plural (“they turned” – followed by ESV). There is also some debate over whether the verb should be סר (“turn away” – NASB, NIV, Targums, Psalm 14) or סג (“go back” – MT, KJV, ESV). The meanings are so close that I am not sure which way the Peshitta, LXX and Vulgate lean. Cohen commented that, although the “verbs have much the same meaning… sag is used especially of backsliding and is therefore more emphatic.”
WRare verb only found here, in the parallel verse in Psalm 14, and in Job 15:16. Cohen preferred the translation “taint.”
XSymmachus kept the same spelling as LXX, but Aquilla and Theodotian added the prefix κατ- (lit. “eat down”). The MT has no such specialization to its Hebrew verb for “eat.”
Y“feed on” cf. Symmachus’ and Theodotion’s synonym efagon (“ate”).
ZLXX, Syriac, Targums, & Vulgate, all add “all,” which matches Psalm 14.
AAPsalm 14 uses יהוה here instead of elohim, but it refers to the same personal God.
ABI am unsure whether the DSS is illegible at the last letter of this word (and therefore supports the MT, LXX, Vulgate, and Peshitta) or whether it actually left out the final letter found in the MT (and therefore has a singular rather than plural subject). This question could be resolved by examining the scroll’s image at: https://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/explore-the-archive/manuscript/4Q83-1
ACAugustine interpreted “as they eat bread” to mean “Without intermission, without cessation” seeing as bread was eaten at every meal.
ADAquilla (eptohqhsan “they were frightened”) and Symmachus (eqambhqhsan “they trembled with fear”) offered synonyms closer to the MT vocabulary, whereas the LXX uses the simpler vocabulary word for “fear.”
AEAquilla & Symmachus followed the MT tradition with = paremballw (“encamped around”).
AFAquilla picked up on the meaning of “rejection” (NASB, ESV) in the Hebrew word ma’as with aperriyen (“threw away”), whereas Symmachus picked up on the meaning of “despised” (KJV, NIV) in the same Hebrew word with apedokimasen (“disregarded”) – which is also the sense of the LXX here (“made nothing of”).
AGHere the LXX, Vulgate, Targums, and Peshitta all add a relative pronoun “where.” The following phrase “terror did not exist” is not in Psalm 14. Targums offer the explanation that what they were afraid of was their “idols” but they shouldn’t have been afraid of them.
AHThis is the first instance in the Bible of this verb. Later it occurs again in the negative sense of “broken up/scattered” (Est. 3:8; Ps. 89:11; 141:7; Jer. 50:17; Joel 4:2), but also in the positive sense of “distributed/handed out widely” (Psalm 112:9; 147:16; Prov. 11:24; Jer. 3:13). Especially cf. Psalm 141:7 “...our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol.”
AITargums renders “bones” as “might,” but all the other texts read “scattered the bones.” Psalm 14 instead has “was in the generation of the righteous.”
AJLXX, Vulgate, Peshitta all read “men-pleasers” instead of the MT (and Aq. and Symm.) “those encamped against you.” Targums renders it “army-camp of sinners.” In Psalm 14 it is instead “the counsel of the lowly.” If the final letter is supposed to be the pronoun “you,” the final vowel is irregular (should be a qamets instead). Kittel suggested that the final letter should instead be a pe, changing the meaning from “camp you” to “covered” (or possibily the Aramaic “scraped”), but all the manuscripts without exception have coph as the last letter.
AKThe reading of the LXX, Vulgate, and Peshitta (“they were ashamed”) makes more sense than the reading of the MT (and Targum and English versions) because with the latter, the identity of “you” and “them” is confused.
ALPsalm 14 reads “refuge/stronghold” instead of “rejected/despised.”
AMPeshitta reads “of those who are pleasing to men” instead of the MT “those who encamp against me.” Lamsa’s translation of the Peshitta reads “of hypocrites.”
ANLXX, Vulgate, Peshitta, and Targums all render this word and the next with their literal meanings (“Who will give...?”) whereas the standard English versions all render the phrase figuratively in the sense of “if only” all of the 17 times it occurs in the Hebrew Bible (Ex. 16:3; Deut. 5:29; 28:67; 2 Sam. 18:33; Job 6:8; 11:5; 13:5; 14:4,13; 19:23; 23:3; 31:31,35; Psalms 14:7; 53:6; 55:6; Jer. 9:1).
AODSS has three extra letters in front of this word, changing the meaning to “in Zion’s day” ביוםציון instead of “from Zion.” No other manuscript seems to carry this variant, however.
APThis word is plural in the MT, but it is singular in the LXX, Vulgate, Targums, Peshitta, and all the English versions, as well as in Psalm 14. It would be easy to miss this difference in spelling in copying over Psalm 14, so it’s hard to tell whether Psalm 14 biased copiers toward the singular or whether there was some manuscript reason why the versions did not use the plural form found in the MT (what a pity that the DSS became illegible at this word and not after this word!). Plurality would not change the gist of the meaning, although it might add a shade of emphatic-ness or thoroughness to the meaning of “salvation” (Cohen, citing Daath Sofrim. Spurgeon and Delitzsch made the same observation).
AQThe LXX, Peshitta, and Targums all use “Lord” instead of “God” here, comporting with יהוה in Psalm 14. This raises a question about either the accuracy of the elohistic editors or the accuracy of the theory of yahwistic vs. elohistic Psalters.
ARThis has been interpreted by many to mean “Babylonian captivity,” but it is not so specific a word, for it only means “turning” and is dramatically placed right after its verb form where “God turns them,” so the Psalmist is anticipating God to turn back onto the right way people who had turned away from God to the wrong way. This fits with the synonym in v.3 “all have turned away.” This is what resulted in them becoming “corrupt,” “abominable,” “unjust,” “tainted” “workers of wickedness” “rejected” by God. The only hope is for them to “call upon God” and for God to “extend salvation” to them and “turn them back.” Granted, the majority of occurrences of this word for “turning” in the Hebrew O.T. refer to the “Babylonian captivity” but then again, the majority of occurrences of this word occur hundreds of years after David. If you take into consideration what scripture was written by the time of David, then there were only two other instances of this word in scripture, one in the book of Job referring to a slump in health and assets, and one in the book of Deuteronomy prophesying the Babylonian captivity.
ASLXX, Vulgate, and Peshitta (followed by the NIV) add “and” here. Targums support the simpler reading of the MT. This doesn’t change the meaning, though. Either way, these appear to be parallel phrases meaning the same thing, Jacob and Israel being the same historical person, although perhaps the two names could be differentiated to refer to him in a state of spiritual immaturity vs. later life in covenant with God.