Psalms 49:14

14 They are like sheep and are destined to die; death will be their shepherd (but the upright will prevail over them in the morning). Their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions.

Psalms 49:14 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.
English Standard Version (ESV)
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; death shall be their shepherd, and the upright shall rule over them in the morning. Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
New Living Translation (NLT)
14 Like sheep, they are led to the grave, where death will be their shepherd. In the morning the godly will rule over them. Their bodies will rot in the grave, far from their grand estates.
The Message Bible (MSG)
14 Death herds them like sheep straight to hell; they disappear down the gullet of the grave; They waste away to nothing - nothing left but a marker in a cemetery.
American Standard Version (ASV)
14 They are appointed as a flock for Sheol; Death shall be their shepherd; And the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; And their beauty shall be for Sheol to consume, That there be no habitation for it.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
14 Like sheep, they are driven to hell with death as their shepherd. (Decent people will rule them in the morning.) Their forms will decay in the grave, far away from their comfortable homes.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
14 Like sheep they are headed for Sheol; Death will shepherd them. The upright will rule over them in the morning, and their form will waste away in Sheol, far from their lofty abode.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
14 Like sheep they will end up in the grave. Death will swallow them up. When honest people come to power, a new day will dawn. The bodies of sinners will waste away in the grave. They will end up far away from their princely houses.

Psalms 49:14 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 49:14

Like sheep they are laid in the grave
They are not in life like sheep, harmless and innocent; nor reckoned as such for the slaughter, as the people of God are; unless it be that they are like them, brutish and stupid, thoughtless of death, and unconcerned about their estate after it; and so die and go into the grave, like natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, ( 2 Peter 2:12 ) ; or rather like sheep that have been grazing in good pasture in the daytime, at night are put into a dark and narrow pinfold or pound; so wicked rich men, having lived in great abundance and plenty in the day of life, when the night of death comes, they are put into the dark and narrow grave. And it is further to be observed, that the comparison is not to sheep prepared for slaughter, and killed for food; for these are not laid in a ditch, to which the grave may answer; but, as Junius observes, to those that die of themselves; to rotten sheep, and who are no other than carrion, and are good for nothing but to be cast into a ditch; so wicked men are laid in the grave; but as to be laid in the grave is common to good and bad after death, rather the words should be rendered, "like sheep they are laid in hell" F3; as the word is in ( Psalms 9:17 ) ; a place of utter darkness and misery, where the wicked rich man was put when he died, ( Luke 16:19 Luke 16:22 Luke 16:23 ) ;

death shall feed on them:
or "rule them" F4; as shepherds rule their flocks, in imitation of whom kings govern their subjects; the same word is used of both; and so death is represented as a king, or rather as a tyrant reigning over the sons of men; even over kings and princes, and the great men of the earth, who have reigned over others; see ( Romans 5:14 ) ; or "shall feed them" F5, as the shepherd feeds the sheep; not by leading them into green pastures, into the Elysian fields; but where a drop of water cannot be obtained to cool the tongue; into utter darkness, where are weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth; into the apartments of hell, and habitations of devils, to be guests with them, and live as they do: or "shall feed on them"; as the wolf on the sheep, devouring their strength, and consuming their bodies, ( Job 18:13 ) ; but as this is no other than what it does to everyone, rather the second, or an eternal death, is here meant; the wrath of God, the worm that is always gnawing, eating, and consuming, and never dies;

and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning;
the upright are such to whom the uprightness or righteousness of Christ is shown or imputed, and who have right spirits renewed, and principles of grace and holiness formed in them, and walk uprightly in their lives and conversations; these, in the morning of the resurrection day, when Christ the sun of righteousness shall arise, when the light of joy and gladness, shall break forth upon his coming, at the beginning of the day of the Lord, which will last a thousand years; they, the dead in Christ, rising first, shall, during that time, reign with him as kings and priests; when the wicked, being destroyed in the general conflagration, shall become the footstool of Christ, and be like ashes under the soles of the feet of his people; and the kingdom, the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the saints; see ( 1 Thessalonians 4:16 ) ( Revelation 20:5 Revelation 20:6 ) ( Malachi 4:2 Malachi 4:3 ) ( Daniel 7:27 ) ; and though this is a branch of the happiness and glory of the people of God, yet it is here mentioned as an aggravation of the misery of the wicked, who, in another state, will be subject to those they have tyrannized over here;

and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling;
or "their form" F6 and figure; diseases often destroy the beauty of a man, death changes his countenance, and makes a greater alteration still; but the grave takes away the very form and figure of the man; or, as it is in the "Keri", or margin of the Hebrew text, "and their rock shall consume" F7; that is, their riches, which are their rock, fortress, and strong city, and in which they place their trust and confidence; these shall fail them when they come to the grave, which is "their dwelling", and is the house appointed for all living: and seeming it is so, rather this should be understood of "hell" F8, which will be the everlasting mansion of wicked men, and in which they will be punished in soul and body for ever; though rather the sense is, "when their rock", that is, Christ, shall come "to consume the grave", and destroy its power; when he, I say, shall come "out of his habitation", heaven, then shall the righteous have the dominion, ( 1 Thessalonians 4:16 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F3 (lwavl) "in inferno", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Gejerus, Michaelis; so Ainsworth.
F4 (Mery) "reget eos", Vatablus.
F5 "Pascet eos", Musculus, Tigurine version, Gejerus, Cocceius.
F6 (Mryu) "figura eorum", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; "forma eorum", Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
F7 (Mrwu) "auxilium eorum", Sept. V. L. Eth. Ar. "robur illorum", Musculus; "petra illorum", Cocceius.
F8 (lwav) "infernus", Musculus, Junius & Tremellius, Gejerus, Michaelis; so Ainsworth.

Psalms 49:14 In-Context

12 People, despite their wealth, do not endure; they are like the beasts that perish.
13 This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings.
14 They are like sheep and are destined to die; death will be their shepherd (but the upright will prevail over them in the morning). Their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions.
15 But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead; he will surely take me to himself.
16 Do not be overawed when others grow rich, when the splendor of their houses increases;

Cross References 3

  • 1. Jeremiah 43:11; Ezekiel 31:14
  • 2. Numbers 16:30; S Job 21:13; Job 24:19; Psalms 9:17; Psalms 55:15
  • 3. Isaiah 14:2; Daniel 7:18; Malachi 4:3; 1 Corinthians 6:2; Revelation 2:26
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