Psalms 49:9
in Psalms 49that he should live on forever and not see decay.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
That he should still live alway, That he should not see corruption.
KJV
That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption.
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This verse in Psalms 49
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThat he should still live for ever,.... Or "though he should live", &c. (w). Though the rich man should live ever so long, a thousand years twice told, as in Ecc 6:6; yet he could not in all this time, with all his riches, redeem his brother; and at last must die himself, and so must his brother too, as his own experience and observation may assure him, Psa 49:
This site's exposition
Why should I fear
on Psalms 49:5-9
Why should I fear opens the singer's own answer. Those he fears trust in their wealth, and redeeming a brother is beyond any man. A soul's redemption is costly, and the life that does not see decay stands at Psalm 16:10, quoted of Christ at Acts 2:27.
This site's exposition
live on forever
No wealth can buy a life that never sees decay. Gill read the verse as a concession: though the rich man lived a thousand years twice over, he must die, and his brother too. Spurgeon called gold spent on embalming the dead a miserable business.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
And what has he said of such a man? "Yea, he has laboured for ever, and shall live till the end" [Psalm 49:9]. His labour shall be without end, his life shall have an end. Wherefore says he, "He shall live till the end"? Because such men think life to be nought but daily enjoyments. So when many poor and needy men of our times, unstable, and not looking to what God does promise them for their labours, see rich men in daily feastings, in the splendour and glitter of gold and of silver, they say what? "These are the only people; they really live!" This is a saying, be it said no longer: we both warn you, and it remains to warn you, that it be said by fewer persons than it would be said, if we had not warned you. For we do not presume to say that we so say these words, as that it be not said, but that it be said by fewer persons: for it will be said even unto the end of the world. It is too little that he says, "he lives;" he adds and says, he thunders, do you think that he alone lives? Let him live! His life will be ended: because he gives not the price of the redemption of his soul, his life will end, his labour will not end. "He laboured for ever, and shall live till the end." How shall he live till the end? As he lived that was "clothed with purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day," [Luke 16:19] who, being proud and puffed up, spurned the man full of sores lying before his gate, whose sores the dogs licked, and who longed for the crumbs which fell from his table. What did those riches profit him? Both changed places: the one was borne from the rich man's gate into Abraham's bosom, the other from his rich feasts was cast into the fire; the one was in peace, the other burned; the one was sated, the other thirsted; the one had laboured till the end, but he lived for ever; the other had lived till the end, but he laboured for ever. […]
The Medieval Church1 voice
"Those who trust in their own strength." Here is set forth the reason why there is cause for fear, namely on account of sin. And there is a twofold reason why sin should be feared. First, on account of the impossibility of escaping the punishment …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
It is certainly true that the redemption of the soul is precious and ceaseth for ever; that is, life, when it is going, cannot be arrested, and when it is gone it cannot be recalled, by any human art, or worldly price. But this looks further, to the eternal redemption which was to be wrought out by the Messiah, whom the Old-testament saints had an eye to as the Redeemer.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
No price could secure for any man that he should still live for ever, and not see corruption. Mad are men now after gold, what would they be if it could buy the elixir of immortality? Gold is lavished out of the bag to cheat the worm of the poor body by embalming it, or enshrining it in a coffin of lead, but it is a miserable business, a very burlesque and comedy. As for the soul, it is too subtle a thing to be detained when it hears the divine command to soar through tracks unknown.
No price could secure for any man that he should still live for ever, and not see corruption. Mad are men now after gold, what would they be if it could buy the elixir of immortality? Gold is lavished out of the bag to cheat the worm of the poor body by embalming it, or enshrining it in a coffin of lead, but it is a miserable business, a very burlesque and comedy. As for the soul, it is too subtle a thing to be detained when it hears the divine command to soar through tracks unknown. Never, therefore, will we fear those base nibblers at our heels, whose boasted treasure proves to be so powerless to save.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
That he should still live for ever - That his brother whom he could not redeem - or that he himself - should not die, Psa 49:8. The idea is, that the price of life is so great that no wealth can rescue it so that a man shall not die. And not see corruption - Should not return to dust, or moulder away in the grave. See the notes at Psa 16:10.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וִֽיחִי־ | vichi- | so he may live | H2421 → | 282 times |
| ע֥וֹד | od | still | H5750 → | 490 times |
| לָנֶ֑צַח | lanetzach | to perpetuity | H5331 → | 43 times |
| לֹ֖א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִרְאֶ֣ה | yireh | he will see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| הַשָּֽׁחַת׃ | hashachat | the pit | H7845 → | 23 times |
וִֽיחִי־so he may live
vichi-H2421 →282 times
ע֥וֹדstill
odH5750 →490 times
לָנֶ֑צַחto perpetuity
lanetzachH5331 →43 times
לֹ֖אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִרְאֶ֣הhe will see
yirehH7200 →1300 times
הַשָּֽׁחַת׃the pit
hashachatH7845 →23 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 16:10For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.
it leads to
- Acts 2:27–31
because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.
- Psalms 49:15
But God will redeem my life from Sheol, for He will surely take me to Himself. Selah
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Acts 13:35–38
So also, He says in another Psalm: ‘You will not let Your Holy One see decay.’
- Revelation 1:18
the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.
- Acts 2:27–31
Through
Proverbs 10:2Ill-gotten treasures profit nothing, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.
it leads to
- Proverbs 11:4
Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.
- Proverbs 11:4
Through
Ecclesiastes 8:8As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release…
it leads to
- Job 14:5
Since his days are determined and the number of his months is with You, and since You have set limits that he cannot exceed,
- Psalms 89:48
What man can live and never see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah
- Job 14:5
Through
Psalms 89:48What man can live and never see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 9:5
For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten.
- Ecclesiastes 9:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 49; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.