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Psalms 49:1–20, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Psalms 49:1–20
Wealth cannot ransom life
A wisdom psalm calls every ear, then levels every purse
Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world: both low and high, rich and poor, together. The speaker will incline an ear to a parable and open a dark saying upon the harp. The riddle is mortality: they that trust in their wealth cannot redeem a brother or give God a ransom for him that he should still live for ever and not see corruption.
The redemption price of a life is called costly. No estate closes that account. Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death feeds on them. Honor without understanding is compared to beasts that perish.
God's ransom of the speaker is hope, not a market in souls
But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Therefore do not fear when a person is made rich and the house is increased. In death nothing is carried away; glory does not descend after him.
The poem neither romanticizes poverty nor treats wealth as automatic wickedness. It refuses ransom-by-money and fear-of-the-rich. Later Christian readings of redemption must not erase this Israelite wisdom about graves and boasts.
How this should shape us
Stop measuring a neighbor's worth by net worth. Plan, give, and bury people without imagining that money can buy anyone out of death, and without sneering at those who have little.
Teach it back
Explain Psalms 49:1–20 in your own words. Name the poetic voice and movement, trace its place in Psalm 49 and Book II, identify one exact source control or uncertainty, and reject one use the passage does not authorize.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Psalms 49:1–20, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 49:1–20
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 49:1–20.
Official NET Bible Psalm 49 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 49:1–20
Supports: Five-book, genre, poetic, historical, theological, liturgical, communal, and reception synthesis with visible limits.
Enter the Bible Psalms course, Introductory Issues: genres, parallelism, and forms; Theological Themes: Torah and human response; applied to Psalms 49:1–20
Supports: Ancient Greek wording, numbering, division, and superscription evidence where it materially clarifies translation or reception.
NETS Psalms, Pietersma introduction pp. 542–543 and exact Greek translation headed Ps 49 for Psalms 49:1–20
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Psalms 49:1–20, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Psalms
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 49:1–20
Open the fixed Hebrew Psalms file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Psalms 1-150
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, current official online edition
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 49:1–20.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Psalm 49 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 49:1–20
Open the official NET Psalms notes ↗modern scholarly book course
Psalms course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Fred Gaiser; revised by Nicholas Schaser
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised May 2024
Supports: Five-book, genre, poetic, historical, theological, liturgical, communal, and reception synthesis with visible limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Psalms course, Introductory Issues: genres, parallelism, and forms; Theological Themes: Torah and human response; applied to Psalms 49:1–20
Open the Enter the Bible Psalms course ↗ancient greek text translation and introduction
A New English Translation of the Septuagint: Psalms
Albert Pietersma
International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies; Oxford University Press, 2009
Supports: Ancient Greek wording, numbering, division, and superscription evidence where it materially clarifies translation or reception.
Exact location: NETS Psalms, Pietersma introduction pp. 542–543 and exact Greek translation headed Ps 49 for Psalms 49:1–20
Open NETS Psalms ↗