Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Psalms 49:5 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 5. 5Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Psalm 49:5: Inside “Wealth cannot ransom life,” “Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the…” raises a real poetic question instead of supplying a detached answer.
A wisdom psalm calls every ear, then levels every purse
This verse is one part of that explanation in Psalms 49:1–20. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Psalms 49:1–20
Read Psalms 49:5 with 49:1–20. Read alone, “Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity…” could lose the communal voice, the parallel line or movement it develops, and the psalm's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Within Psalms 49:1–20, the communal voice carries the movement “Wealth cannot ransom life” as part of “Wealth cannot ransom life.” Its wisdom form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Psalms 49:1–20 opens Psalm 49 with “Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world” and establishes the communal voice and “Wealth cannot ransom life” movement before later lines develop or answer it. Within that relationship, Psalm 49:5 poses the poem's question through “Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my…” and leaves the surrounding lines to answer, intensify, or hold it open.
What Remains True
The verse's role is specific—Psalm 49:5 poses the poem's question through “Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my…” and leaves the surrounding lines to answer, intensify, or hold it open. Within that role, Confession seeks mercy and changed life while preserving truth, consequences, restitution, safeguarding, and the dignity of people harmed. The local movement is “Wealth cannot ransom life.” The unit's reviewed limit is: The poem levels rich and poor before mortality; it neither romanticizes poverty nor treats wealth as proof of wickedness.
How It Can Shape Life
- Start with the line's work inside “Wealth cannot ransom life”—Psalm 49:5 poses the poem's question through “Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my…” and leaves the surrounding lines to answer, intensify, or hold it open. Then name what “Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity…” confesses, seek mercy without minimizing injury, and ask what truth, repair, consequence, and protection now require.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Psalms 49:1–20 — Wealth cannot ransom lifeSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
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 ↗