Psalms 53:1
in Psalms 53The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their ways are vile. There is no one who does good.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
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.
⋯
This verse in Psalms 53
Commentary
12 notes on this verseThe fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. And this he does because he is a fool. Being a fool he speaks according to his nature; being a great fool he meddles with a great subject, and comes to a wild conclusion. The atheist is, morally as well as mentally, a fool, a fool in the heart as well as in the head; a fool in morals as well as in philosophy. With the denial of God as a starting point, we may well conclude that the fool's progress is a rapid, riotous, raving, ruinous one.
This site's exposition
The fool says in his heart
on Psalms 53:1-2
The denial is said in the heart, and the verdict follows at once, that no one does good. Verse 2 has God looking down from heaven to see whether any man understands or seeks Him. Psalm 14:2 says the LORD where this says God.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"The unwise man hath said in his heart, There is no God" (ver. 1). Such sort is it of men amid whom is pained and groaneth the Body of Christ. If such is this sort of men, of not many do we travail; as far as seemeth to occur to our thoughts, very few there are; and a difficult thing it is to meet with a man that saith in his heart, "There is no God;" nevertheless, so few there are, that, fearing amid the many to say this, in their heart they say it, for that with mouth to say it they dare not. Not much then is that which we are bid to endure, hardly is it found: uncommon is that sort of men that say in their heart, "There is no God." But, if it be examined in another sense, is not that found to be in more men, which we supposed to be in men few and uncommon, and almost in none? Let them come forth into the midst that live evil lives, let us look into the doings of profligate, daring, and wicked men, of whom there is a great multitude; who foster day by day their sins, who, their acts having been changed into habit, have even lost sense of shame: this is so great a multitude of men, that the Body of Christ, set amid them, scarce dareth to censure that which it is not constrained to commit, and deemeth it a great matter for itself that the integrity of innocence be preserved in not doing that which now, by habit, either it doth not dare to blame, or if it shall have dared, there breaketh out the censure and recrimination of them that live evil lives, more readily than the free voice of them that live good lives. And those men are such as say in their heart, "There is no God." Such men I am confuting. Whence confuting? That their doings please God, they judge. He doth not therefore affirm, "some say," but "The unwise man hath said in his heart, There is no God." Which men do so far believe there is a God, that the same God they judge with what they do to be pleased. […]
To such people the word of the prophet can be applied most fittingly: "The fool says in his heart, there is no God." They who say that nothing is seen by God almost deprive him of eyes and even take away substance from him. For …
The Medieval Church2 voices
"They are corrupt." Here is the effect of their malice. Just as fear, knowledge, and love of God is the principle of every good work, so when knowledge and love of God are removed, all good life is taken away. And first he shows what …
"The fool has said." Above, the Psalmist rebuked the wickedness of sinners from the side of their affection for sin; here he rebukes their wickedness from their contempt of God. The title: "Unto the end, for understanding, of David, for Amalek." The history of this …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
It makes men filthy, altogether filthy. Wilful sinners are offensive in the nostrils of the God of heaven and of the holy angels. What decency soever proud sinners pretend to, it is certain that wickedness is the greatest defilement in the world.
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
); it is an evil thing; it is the worst of evils; it is that which makes this world such an evil world as it is; it is going back from God,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. And this he does because he is a fool. Being a fool he speaks according to his nature; being a great fool he meddles with a great subject, and comes to a wild conclusion. The atheist is, morally as well as mentally, a fool, a fool in the heart as well as in the head; a fool in morals as well as in philosophy. With the denial of God as a starting point, we may well conclude that the fool's progress is a rapid, riotous, raving, ruinous one. He who begins at impiety is ready for anything. No God, being interpreted, means no law, no order, no restraint to lust, no limit to passion. Who but a fool would be of this mind? What a Bedlam, or rather what an Aceldama, would the world become if such lawless principles came to be universal! He who heartily entertains an irreligious spirit, and follows it out to its legitimate issues is a son of Belial, dangerous to the commonwealth, irrational, and despicable. Every natural man is, more or less a denier of God. Practical atheism is the religion of the race. Corrupt are they. They are rotten. It is idle to compliment them as sincere doubters, and amiable thinkers—they are putrid. There is too much dainty dealing nowadays with atheism; it is not a harmless error, it is an offensive, putrid sin, and righteous men should look upon it in that light. All men being more or less atheistic in spirit, are also in that degree corrupt; their heart is foul, their moral nature is decayed. And have done abominable iniquity. Bad principles soon lead to bad lives. One does not find virtue promoted by the example of your Voltaires and Tom Paines. Those who talk so abominably as to deny their Maker will act abominably when it serves their turn. It is the abounding denial and forgetfulness of God among men which is the source of the unrighteousness and crime which we see around us.
The fool hath said in his heart - The whole of this Psalm, except a few inconsiderable differences, is the same as the fourteenth; and, therefore, the same notes and analysis may be applied to it; or, by referring to the fourteenth, the reader will find the subject of it amply explained. I shall add a few short notes. Have done abominable iniquity - Instead of עול avel, evil or iniquity, eight of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s MSS. have עלילה alilah, work, which is nearly the same as in Psa xiv.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The fool hath said in his heart ... - For the meaning of this verse, see the notes at Psa 14:1. The only change in this verse - a change which does not affect the sense - is the substitution of the word “iniquity,” in Psa 53:1-6, for “works,” in Psa 14:1-7.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
on machalath The name of a musical instrument. Another explanation: concerning the malady (מחלתן) of Israel when the Temple will be destroyed.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The fool said in his heart This is Titus; when he cut into the curtain and his sword was dripping with blood, he said that he had killed [God] Himself.
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. 5 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
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אָ֘מַ֤ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| נָבָ֣ל | naval | a fool | H5036 → | 18 times |
| בְּ֭לִבּוֹ | belibo | in heart his | H3820 → | 595 times |
| אֵ֣ין | ʾein | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֑ים | ʾelohim | [is] a god | H430 → | 2601 times |
| הִֽ֝שְׁחִ֗יתוּ | hishchitu | they act corruptly | H7843 → | 146 times |
| וְהִֽתְעִ֥יבוּ | vehitivu | and they act abominably | H8581 → | 22 times |
| עָ֝֗וֶל | ʾavel | unrighteousness | H5766 → | 54 times |
| אֵ֣ין | ʾein | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| עֹֽשֵׂה־ | ʾoseh- | [is one who] does | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| טֽוֹב׃ | tov | <of> good | H2896 → | 538 times |
אָ֘מַ֤רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
נָבָ֣לa fool
navalH5036 →18 times
בְּ֭לִבּוֹin heart his
beliboH3820 →595 times
אֵ֣יןthere not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
אֱלֹהִ֑ים[is] a god
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
הִֽ֝שְׁחִ֗יתוּthey act corruptly
hishchituH7843 →146 times
וְהִֽתְעִ֥יבוּand they act abominably
vehitivuH8581 →22 times
עָ֝֗וֶלunrighteousness
ʾavelH5766 →54 times
אֵ֣יןthere not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
עֹֽשֵׂה־[is one who] does
ʾoseh-H6213 →2628 times
טֽוֹב׃<of> good
tovH2896 →538 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
Romans 1:28Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
it leads to
- Romans 1:21
For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:10–12
and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.
- Titus 1:16
They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.
- Jeremiah 9:6
You dwell in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares the LORD.
- Romans 1:24
Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another.
- Romans 1:21
Through
Luke 12:20But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’
it leads to
- Job 27:8
For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
- Jeremiah 17:11
Like a partridge hatching eggs it did not lay is the man who makes a fortune unjustly. In the middle of his days his riches will desert him, and in the end he will…
- 1 Timothy 6:7
For we brought nothing into the world, so we cannot carry anything out of it.
- Job 27:8
About Psalms
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 53; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Salvian the Presbyter, THE GOVERNANCE OF GOD 4:9 and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.