Psalms 112:6
in Psalms 112Surely he will never be shaken; the righteous man will be remembered forever.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For he shall never be moved; The righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance.
KJV
Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.
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This verse in Psalms 112
Commentary
11 notes on this verseSurely he shall not be moved for ever. God has rooted and established him so that neither men nor devils shall sweep him from his place.
This site's exposition
Light dawns in the darkness
on Psalms 112:4-6
Light comes up in the dark for the upright, and the same verse calls him gracious, compassionate and righteous. The man it describes gives freely, lends, and runs his affairs by justice. He will never be shaken, and he is remembered forever.
This site's exposition
will be remembered forever
Psalm 111:4 says the LORD caused His wonders to be remembered, and here the same word for remembrance is given to the righteous man. Proverbs 10:7 calls the memory of the righteous a blessing. Spurgeon read never shaken as a man the LORD has rooted in his place.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
He therefore who doth these things, "shall guide his words with discretion." His deeds themselves are the words whereby he shall be defended at the Judgment; which shall not be without mercy unto him, since he hath himself shown mercy. "For he shall never be moved" (ver. 6): he who, called to the right hand, shall hear these words, "Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." For no works of theirs, save works of mercy, are there mentioned. He therefore shall hear, "Come, ye blessed of My Father;" for, "the generation of the right ones shall be blessed." Thus, "the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance."
Today we celebrate the memory of the just. Therefore, this sermon is owed to your Charity through our ministry, so that we may speak something from that which we sang with heart and voice with the Lord's consent: "The just will be in eternal memory, he will not fear an evil hearing." For indeed this Psalm was read to remind us to what good purpose this solemnity is held. It is not because the holy Church celebrates with annual return the final days of those just and holy ones who depart from this world that honor is thereby increased for those just ones, but rather, an example is proposed for us to imitate.
Therefore, the righteous will be in eternal memory, and will not fear bad news. For the judge of all the living and the dead is coming, as we read in the Gospel. And it is true, because those things which we now see did not exist when they were foretold as future. What you see now is the name of Christ being preached among all nations, people turning to one God, idols being abandoned, demons being abandoned, temples being overthrown, images being shattered; all these things did not yet exist, yet they were foretold, and now they are seen. Therefore, in the Scriptures where these things, which we now see, are written (they were written then when they were not seen, but were promised as future), we read about things that have not yet come. For the day of judgment has not yet come, the resurrection of the dead has not yet come, He who was first to be judged has not yet come to judge. Judged unjustly, He will judge justly. Deferring power, showing patience when He wishes. Therefore, He will come, and just as He promised to come with His angels, so He will come and appear in glory to all, even to those resurrected. For each one will be resurrected with their cause. For as one is received into the prison upon dying, so they proceed to the judge in the same state. Now is the time to settle one's cause, as once enclosed, they cannot. Therefore, those who have good causes are received into rest: however, those who have bad causes are received into punishment. But they will endure greater punishments when they have been resurrected: in comparison with which, the ones that the souls of wicked men endure after death are like the dreams of those tormented in their sleep. For their souls suffer, their flesh does not suffer. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
A good man will have a settled reputation, and that is a great satisfaction. A good man shall have a good name, a name for good things, with God and good people: The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Surely he shall not be moved for ever,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Generosity, sound judgment in business, and confidence in God, form a character which preserves from fear of evil and ensures success against enemies. While a man thus truly pious is liberal, he increases in substance.
Surely he shall not be moved for ever. God has rooted and established him so that neither men nor devils shall sweep him from his place. His prosperity shall be permanent, and not like that of the gambler and the cheat, whose gains are evanescent: his reputation shall be bright and lustrous from year to year, for it is not a mere pretence; his home shall be permanent, and he shall not need to wander from place to place as a bird that wanders from her nest; and even his memory shall be abiding, for a good man is not soon forgotten, and the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. They are of a most ancient family, and not mushrooms of an hour, and their grand old stock shall be found flourishing when all the proud houses of ungodly men shall have faded into nothing. The righteous are worth remembering, their actions are of the kind which record themselves, and God himself takes charge of their memorials. None of us likes the idea of being forgotten, and yet the only way to avoid it is to be righteous before God.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Surely he shall not be moved for ever - Luther, “For he shall remain always.” He shall be fixed, stable, firm, prosperous. He shall not be driven from place to place. He shall have a permanent home. He shall have a steady reputation. He shall have a constant influence. He shall be a firm, establislied, prosperous man. Of course this is to be taken in the general, and should not be pressed to mean that it will be, in the most literal sense, and always, true, for a good man “may” be “unfortunate in business,” and suffer with others; he may be sick; he may see reason to change his residence; he will certainly die. But still it is true that religion “tends” to produce this permanency, and that in this respect there is a marked difference between people who are truly pious, and those who are not. The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance - In Pro 10:7, it is said that “the name of the wicked shall rot;” and the meaning here is, that the way to secure a grateful remembrance among people after we are dead is to be righteous - to do something that shall deserve to be remembered. It cannot mean that a man who is righteous will “never” be forgotten, or that his name and deeds will never pass from the recollection of mankind - for that would not be true; but that people will delight to cherish the memory of the righteous; that they will be disposed to do justice to their character after they are dead; that the benevolent and the upright will be remembered when the names of the wicked shall be forgotten. The world has no interest in keeping up the memory of bad people, and as soon as it can be done hastens to forget them. Wicked people are remembered only when their deeds are enormous, and then their memory is cherished only to admonish and to warn. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Good is the man who is gracious, etc. who is gracious to the poor and lends [to] them, and is not strict, saying, “I cannot afford it,” but [instead] his things, which he needs for himself, in food, drink, and clothing,
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לְעוֹלָ֥ם | leolam | for ever | H5769 → | 438 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִמּ֑וֹט | yimot | he will be shaken | H4131 → | 38 times |
| לְזֵ֥כֶר | lezekher | <into> a memory of | H2143 → | 23 times |
| ע֝וֹלָ֗ם | olam | perpetuity | H5769 → | 438 times |
| יִהְיֶ֥ה | yihyeh | he will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| צַדִּֽיק׃ | tzadik | a righteous [person] | H6662 → | 206 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
לְעוֹלָ֥םfor ever
leolamH5769 →438 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יִמּ֑וֹטhe will be shaken
yimotH4131 →38 times
לְזֵ֥כֶר<into> a memory of
lezekherH2143 →23 times
ע֝וֹלָ֗םperpetuity
olamH5769 →438 times
יִהְיֶ֥הhe will become
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
צַדִּֽיק׃a righteous [person]
tzadikH6662 →206 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 125:1Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion. It cannot be moved; it abides forever.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:7–8
But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him.
- Psalms 62:2
He alone is my rock and my salvation. He is my fortress; I will never be shaken.
- Proverbs 3:5–6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
- Psalms 118:8–9
It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
- Jeremiah 17:7–8
Through
Hebrews 6:10For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.
it leads to
- Hebrews 13:16
And do not neglect to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
- Matthew 10:42
And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”
- Galatians 6:10
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to the family of faith.
- 1 Thessalonians 1:3
and continually recalling before our God and Father your work of faith, your labor of love, and your enduring hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Hebrews 13:16
Where this verse is studied
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On this verse
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About Psalms
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 112; Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 335L.I; Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 328:5; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 5; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.