Passage

Psalms 49.5-12

Book: Psalms · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"3. My mouth shall speak wisdom; And the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding. 4. I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp."

"5. Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, When iniquity at my heels compasseth me about? 6. They that trust in their wealth, And boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; 7. None of them can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him; 8. (For the redemption of their life is costly, And it faileth for ever;) 9. That he should still live alway, That he should not see corruption. 10. For he shall see it. Wise men die; The fool and the brutish alike perish, And leave their wealth to others. 11. Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, And their dwelling-places to all generations; They call their lands after their own names. 12. But man being in honor abideth not: He is like the beasts that perish."

"13. This their way is their folly: Yet after them men approve their sayings. [[Selah 14. They are appointed as a flock for Sheol; Death shall be their shepherd; And the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; And their beauty shall be for Sheol to consume, That there be no habitation for it." (Psalms 49:3-14, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"3. My mouth will speak words of wisdom. My heart shall utter understanding. 4. I will incline my ear to a proverb. I will open my riddle on the harp."

"5. Why should I fear in the days of evil, when iniquity at my heels surrounds me? 6. Those who trust in their wealth, and boast in the multitude of their riches, 7. none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give God a ransom for him. 8. For the redemption of their life is costly, no payment is ever enough, 9. that he should live on forever, that he should not see corruption. 10. For he sees that wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless perish, and leave their wealth to others. 11. Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever, and their dwelling places to all generations. They name their lands after themselves. 12. But man, despite his riches, doesn’t endure. He is like the animals that perish."

"13. This is the destiny of those who are foolish, and of those who approve their sayings. Selah. 14. They are appointed as a flock for Sheol. Death shall be their shepherd. The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning. Their beauty shall decay in Sheol, far from their mansion." (Psalms 49:3-14, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"3. My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding. 4. I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp."

"5. Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about? 6. They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; 7. None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: 8. (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:) 9. That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption. 10. For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others. 11. Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names. ^{all: Heb. generation and generation} 12. Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish."

"13. This their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah. ^{approve: Heb. delight in their mouth} 14. Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. ^{beauty: or, strength} ^{in the grave from: or, the grave being an habitation to every one of them}" (Psalms 49:3-14, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"3. My mouth speaketh wise things, And the meditations of my heart [are] things of understanding. 4. I incline to a simile mine ear, I open with a harp my riddle:"

"5. Why do I fear in days of evil? The iniquity of my supplanters doth compass me. 6. Those trusting on their wealth, And in the multitude of their riches, Do shew themselves foolish. 7. A brother doth no one at all ransom, He doth not give to God his atonement. 8. And precious [is] the redemption of their soul, And it hath ceased, to the age. 9. And still he liveth for ever, He seeth not the pit. 10. For he seeth wise men die, Together the foolish and brutish perish, And have left to others their wealth. 11. Their heart [is]: Their houses [are] to the age, Their tabernacles to all generations. They proclaimed their names over the lands. 12. And man in honour doth not remain, He hath been like the beasts, they have been cut off."

"13. This their way [is] folly for them, And their posterity with their sayings are pleased. Selah. 14. As sheep for Sheol they have set themselves, Death doth afflict them, And the upright rule over them in the morning, And their form [is] for consumption. Sheol [is] a dwelling for him." (Psalms 49:3-14, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

Argument from Purpose Meaning and Hope

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.