Psalms 49:9

9 Do people live forever? Don't they all face death?

Psalms 49:9 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 49:9

That he should still live for ever
Or "though he should live" F23. Though the rich man should live ever so long, a thousand years twice told, as in ( Ecclesiastes 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, ( Psalms 49:10 ) . Or the meaning is, he cannot so redeem his brother, or give to God a ransom for him, that he should live a corporeal life for ever, and never die; since all men die, wise men and fools, rich and poor; and much less that he should live and enjoy an "eternal life", as the Targum; a life of happiness and bliss hereafter, which is not to be obtained by gold and silver, but is the pure gift of God;

[and] not see corruption;
the grave, the pit of corruption, the house appointed for all living: or "the judgment of hell", according to the Chaldee paraphrase.


FOOTNOTES:

F23 (yhyw) "etiamsi vivat", Gejerus.

Psalms 49:9 In-Context

7 No one can buy back the life of another. No one can pay God for his own life,
8 because the price of a life is high. No payment is ever enough.
9 Do people live forever? Don't they all face death?
10 See, even wise people die. Fools and stupid people also die and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their graves will always be their homes. They will live there from now on, even though they named places after themselves.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.