Show Bible Commentary For A Bible Verse

Click here to show/hide instructions.

Selected Verse: Psalms 49:1 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Ps 49:1	Strong Concordance	To the chief Musician [05329], A Psalm [04210] for the sons [01121] of Korah [07141]. Hear [08085] this, all ye people [05971]; give ear [0238], all ye inhabitants [03427] of the world [02465]:
	King James	To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world:

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

Open All | Close All Open All | Close All

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
This Psalm instructs and consoles. It teaches that earthly advantages are not reliable for permanent happiness, and that, however prosperous worldly men may be for a time, their ultimate destiny is ruin, while the pious are safe in God's care. (Psa. 49:1-20) All are called to hear what interests all. world--literally, "duration of life," the present time.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

This Psalm instructs and consoles. It teaches that earthly advantages are not reliable for permanent happiness, and that, however prosperous worldly men may be for a time, their ultimate destiny is ruin, while the pious are safe in God's care. (Psa. 49:1-20)

All are called to hear what interests all.

world--literally, "duration of life," the present time.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
Hear this, all ye people - That is, What I am about; to utter is worthy of universal attention; it pertains equally to all mankind. The psalmist; therefore calls on all the nations to attend to what he is about to say. Compare the notes at Isa 1:2. Give ear - Incline your ear; attend. Compare the notes at Psa 17:6. See also Isa 37:17; Isa 55:3; Dan 9:18; Pro 2:2. All ye inhabitants of the world - The truth to be declared does not pertain exclusively to any one nation, or any one class of people. All are interested in it. The term here rendered "world" - חלד cheled, - means properly "duration of life, lifetime;" then, "life, time, age;" and then it comes to denote the world, considered as made up of the living, or the passing generations.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
(Heb.: 49:2-5) Introduction. Very similarly do the elder (in the reign of Jehoshaphat) and the younger Micha (Micah) introduce their prophecies (Kg1 22:28; Mic 1:2); and Elihu in the Book of Job his didactic discourses (Psa 34:2, cf. Psa 33:2). It is an universal theme which the poet intends to take up, hence he calls upon all peoples and all the inhabitants of the חלד. Such is the word first of all for this temporal life, which glides by unnoticed, them for the present transitory world itself (vid., on Psa 17:14). It is his intention to declare to the rich the utter nothingness or vanity of their false ground of hope, and to the poor the superiority of their true ground of hope; hence he wishes to have as hearers both בני אדם, children of the common people, who are men and have otherwise nothing distinctive about them, and בּני־אישׁ, children of men, i.e., of rank and distinction (vid., on Psa 4:3) - rich and poor, as he adds to make his meaning more clear. For his mouth will, or shall, utter הכמות, not: all sorts of wise teachings, but: weighty wisdom. Just in like manner תּבוּנות signifies profound insight or understanding; cf. plurals like בּינות, Isa 27:11, ישּׁוּעת, Ps. 42:12 and frequently, שׁלוּת, Jer 22:21. The parallel word תּבוּנות in the passage before us, and the plural predicate in Pro 24:7, show that חכמות, here and in Pro 1:20; Pro 9:1, cf. Psa 14:1, is not to be regarded, with Hitzig, Olshausen, and others, as another form of the singular חכמוּת. Side by side with the speaking of the mouth stands חגוּת לב (with an unchangeable Kametz before the tone-syllable, Ew. 166, c): the meditation (lxx μελέτη) of the heart, and in accordance therewith the well-thought-out discourse. What he intends to discourse is, however, not the creation of his own brain, but what he has received. A משׁל, a saying embodying the wisdom of practical life, as God teaches men it, presents itself to his mind demanding to be heard; and to this he inclines his ear in order that, from being a diligent scholar of the wisdom from above, he may become a useful teacher of men, inasmuch as he opens up, i.e., unravels, the divine Mashal, which in the depth and fulness of its contents is a חידה, i.e., an involved riddle (from חוּד, cogn. אגד, עקד), and plays the cithern thereby (ב of the accompaniment). The opening of the riddle does not consist in the solving of it, but in the setting of it forth. פּתח, to open = to propound, deliver of a discourse, comes from the phrase את־ּפּיו-פּתח, Pro 31:26; cf. Psa 119:130, where פּתח, an opening, is equivalent to an unlocking, a revelation.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

(Heb.: 49:2-5) Introduction. Very similarly do the elder (in the reign of Jehoshaphat) and the younger Micha (Micah) introduce their prophecies (Kg1 22:28; Mic 1:2); and Elihu in the Book of Job his didactic discourses (Psa 34:2, cf. Psa 33:2). It is an universal theme which the poet intends to take up, hence he calls upon all peoples and all the inhabitants of the חלד. Such is the word first of all for this temporal life, which glides by unnoticed, them for the present transitory world itself (vid., on Psa 17:14). It is his intention to declare to the rich the utter nothingness or vanity of their false ground of hope, and to the poor the superiority of their true ground of hope; hence he wishes to have as hearers both בני אדם, children of the common people, who are men and have otherwise nothing distinctive about them, and בּני־אישׁ, children of men, i.e., of rank and distinction (vid., on Psa 4:3) - rich and poor, as he adds to make his meaning more clear. For his mouth will, or shall, utter הכמות, not: all sorts of wise teachings, but: weighty wisdom. Just in like manner תּבוּנות signifies profound insight or understanding; cf. plurals like בּינות, Isa 27:11, ישּׁוּעת, Ps. 42:12 and frequently, שׁלוּת, Jer 22:21. The parallel word תּבוּנות in the passage before us, and the plural predicate in Pro 24:7, show that חכמות, here and in Pro 1:20; Pro 9:1, cf. Psa 14:1, is not to be regarded, with Hitzig, Olshausen, and others, as another form of the singular חכמוּת. Side by side with the speaking of the mouth stands חגוּת לב (with an unchangeable Kametz before the tone-syllable, Ew. 166, c): the meditation (lxx μελέτη) of the heart, and in accordance therewith the well-thought-out discourse. What he intends to discourse is, however, not the creation of his own brain, but what he has received. A משׁל, a saying embodying the wisdom of practical life, as God teaches men it, presents itself to his mind demanding to be heard; and to this he inclines his ear in order that, from being a diligent scholar of the wisdom from above, he may become a useful teacher of men, inasmuch as he opens up, i.e., unravels, the divine Mashal, which in the depth and fulness of its contents is a חידה, i.e., an involved riddle (from חוּד, cogn. אגד, עקד), and plays the cithern thereby (ב of the accompaniment). The opening of the riddle does not consist in the solving of it, but in the setting of it forth. פּתח, to open = to propound, deliver of a discourse, comes from the phrase את־ּפּיו-פּתח, Pro 31:26; cf. Psa 119:130, where פּתח, an opening, is equivalent to an unlocking, a revelation.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Hear this, all ye people - The four first verses contain the author's exordium or introduction, delivered in a very pompous style and promising the deepest lessons of wisdom and instruction. But what was rare then is common-place now.

Top

² So that thou incline [07181] thine ear [0241] unto wisdom [02451], and apply [05186] thine heart [03820] to understanding [08394];

¹⁸ O my God [0430], incline [05186] thine ear [0241], and hear [08085]; open [06491] thine eyes [05869], and behold [07200] our desolations [08074], and the city [05892] which is called [07121] by thy name [08034]: for we do not present [05307] our supplications [08469] before [06440] thee for our righteousnesses [06666], but for thy great [07227] mercies [07356].

³ Incline [05186] your ear [0241], and come [03212] unto me: hear [08085], and your soul [05315] shall live [02421]; and I will make [03772] an everlasting [05769] covenant [01285] with you, even the sure [0539] mercies [02617] of David [01732].

¹⁷ Incline [05186] thine ear [0241], O LORD [03068], and hear [08085]; open [06491] thine eyes [05869], O LORD [03068], and see [07200]: and hear [08085] all the words [01697] of Sennacherib [05576], which hath sent [07971] to reproach [02778] the living [02416] God [0430].

⁶ I have called [07121] upon thee, for thou wilt hear [06030] me, O God [0410]: incline [05186] thine ear [0241] unto me, and hear [08085] my speech [0565].

² Hear [08085], O heavens [08064], and give ear [0238], O earth [0776]: for the LORD [03068] hath spoken [01696], I have nourished [01431] and brought up [07311] children [01121], and they have rebelled [06586] against me.

¹³⁰ The entrance [06608] of thy words [01697] giveth light [0215]; it giveth understanding [0995] unto the simple [06612].

²⁶ She openeth [06605] her mouth [06310] with wisdom [02451]; and in her tongue [03956] is the law [08451] of kindness [02617].

¹ To the chief Musician [05329], A Psalm of David [01732]. The fool [05036] hath said [0559] in his heart [03820], There is no God [0430]. They are corrupt [07843], they have done abominable [08581] works [05949], there is none that doeth [06213] good [02896].

¹ Wisdom [02454] hath builded [01129] her house [01004], she hath hewn out [02672] her seven [07651] pillars [05982]:

²⁰ Wisdom [02454] crieth [07442] without [02351]; she uttereth [05414] her voice [06963] in the streets [07339]:

⁷ Wisdom [02454] is too high [07311] for a fool [0191]: he openeth [06605] not his mouth [06310] in the gate [08179].

²¹ I spake [01696] unto thee in thy prosperity [07962]; but thou saidst [0559], I will not hear [08085]. This hath been thy manner [01870] from thy youth [05271], that thou obeyedst [08085] not my voice [06963].

¹¹ When the boughs [07105] thereof are withered [03001], they shall be broken off [07665]: the women [0802] come [0935], and set them on fire [0215]: for it is a people [05971] of no understanding [0998]: therefore he that made [06213] them will not have mercy [07355] on them, and he that formed [03335] them will shew them no favour [02603].

³ But know [03045] that the LORD [03068] hath set apart [06395] him that is godly [02623] for himself: the LORD [03068] will hear [08085] when I call [07121] unto him.

¹⁴ From men [04962] which are thy hand [03027], O LORD [03068], from men [04962] of the world [02465], which have their portion [02506] in this life [02416], and whose belly [0990] thou fillest [04390] with thy hid [06840] treasure: they are full [07646] of children [01121], and leave [03240] the rest [03499] of their substance to their babes [05768].

² Praise [03034] the LORD [03068] with harp [03658]: sing [02167] unto him with the psaltery [05035] and an instrument of ten strings [06218].

² My soul [05315] shall make her boast [01984] in the LORD [03068]: the humble [06035] shall hear [08085] thereof, and be glad [08055].

² Hear [08085], all ye people [05971]; hearken [07181], O earth [0776], and all that therein [04393] is: and let the Lord [0136] GOD [03069] be witness [05707] against you, the Lord [0136] from his holy [06944] temple [01964].

²⁸ And Micaiah [04321] said [0559], If thou return [07725] at all [07725] in peace [07965], the LORD [03068] hath not spoken [01696] by me. And he said [0559], Hearken [08085], O people [05971], every one of you.