1 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.
2 God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.
3 Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God.
5 There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them.
6 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
1 [[To the chief Musician H5329 upon Mahalath, H4257 Maschil, H4905 A Psalm of David.]] H1732 The fool H5036 hath said H559 in his heart, H3820 There is no God. H430 Corrupt H7843 are they, and have done abominable H8581 iniquity: H5766 there is none that doeth H6213 good. H2896
2 God H430 looked down H8259 from heaven H8064 upon the children H1121 of men, H120 to see H7200 if there were H3426 any that did understand, H7919 that did seek H1875 God. H430
3 Every one of them is gone back: H5472 they are altogether H3162 become filthy; H444 there is none that doeth H6213 good, H2896 no, not one. H259
4 Have the workers H6466 of iniquity H205 no knowledge? H3045 who eat up H398 my people H5971 as they eat H398 bread: H3899 they have not called H7121 upon God. H430
5 There were they in great H6343 fear, H6342 where no fear H6343 was: for God H430 hath scattered H6340 the bones H6106 of him that encampeth H2583 against thee: thou hast put them to shame, H954 because God H430 hath despised H3988 them.
6 Oh that H5414 the salvation H3444 of Israel H3478 were come out of Zion! H6726 When God H430 bringeth back H7725 the captivity H7622 of his people, H5971 Jacob H3290 shall rejoice, H1523 and Israel H3478 shall be glad. H8055
1 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.
2 God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there were any that did understand, That did seek after God.
3 Every one of them is gone back; they are together become filthy; There is none that doeth good, no, not one.
4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge, Who eat up my people `as' they eat bread, And call not upon God?
5 There were they in great fear, where no fear was; For God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: Thou hast put them to shame, because of God hath rejected them.
6 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Then shall Jacob rejoice, `and' Israel shall be glad. Psalm 54 For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. Maschil of David; when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us?
1 To the Overseer. -- `On a disease.' -- An instruction, by David. A fool said in his heart, `There is no God.' They have done corruptly, Yea, they have done abominable iniquity, There is none doing good.
2 God from the heavens looked on the sons of men, To see if there be an understanding one, `One' seeking God.
3 Every one went back, together they became filthy, There is none doing good -- not even one.
4 Have not workers of iniquity known, Those eating my people have eaten bread, God they have not called.
5 There they feared a fear -- there was no fear, For God hath scattered the bones of him Who is encamping against thee, Thou hast put to shame, For God hath despised them.
6 Who doth give from Zion the salvation of Israel? When God turneth back `to' a captivity of His people, Jacob doth rejoice -- Israel is glad!
1 {To the chief Musician. On Mahalath: an instruction. Of David.} The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God! They have corrupted themselves, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.
2 God looked down from the heavens upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.
3 Every one of them is gone back, they are together become corrupt: there is none that doeth good, not even one.
4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge, eating up my people [as] they eat bread? they call not upon God.
5 There were they in great fear, where no fear was; for God scattereth the bones of him that encampeth against thee. Thou hast put [them] to shame, for God hath despised them.
6 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God turneth again the captivity of his people, Jacob shall be glad, Israel shall rejoice.
1 > The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity. There is no one who does good.
2 God looks down from heaven on the children of men, To see if there are any who understood, Who seek after God.
3 Every one of them has gone back. They have become filthy together. There is no one who does good, no, not one.
4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge, Who eat up my people as they eat bread, And don't call on God?
5 There they were in great fear, where no fear was, For God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you. You have put them to shame, Because God has rejected them.
6 Oh that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When God brings back the captivity of his people, Then Jacob shall rejoice. Israel shall be glad.
1 <To the chief music-maker; put to Mahalath. Maschil. Of David.> The foolish man has said in his heart, God will not do anything. They are unclean, they have done evil works; there is not one who does good.
2 God was looking down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any who had wisdom, searching after God.
3 Every one of them has gone back; they are unclean: there is not one who does good, no, not one.
4 Have the workers of evil no knowledge? they take my people for food, as they would take bread; they make no prayer to God.
5 They were in great fear, where there was no cause for fear: for the bones of those who make war on you have been broken by God; you have put them to shame, because God has no desire for them.
6 May the salvation of Israel come out of Zion! When the fate of his people is changed by God, Jacob will have joy, and Israel will be glad.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 53
Commentary on Psalms 53 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Elohimic Variation of the Jahve - Psalms 14:1-7
Psalms 52:1-9 and Psalms 53:1-6, which are most closely related by occasion, contents, and expression, are separated by the insertion of Psalms 53:1-6, in which the individual character of Psalms 52:1-9, the description of moral corruption and the announcement of the divine curse, is generalized. Psalms 53:1-6 also belongs to this series according to its species of poetic composition; for the inscription runs: To the Precentor, after Machalath, a Maskı̂l of David . The formula על־מחלת recurs in Psalms 88:1 with the addition of לענּות . Since Ps 88 is the gloomiest of all the Psalms, and Psalms 53:1-6, although having a bright border, is still also a dark picture, the signification of מחלה , laxness (root חל , opp . מר ), sickness, sorrow, which is capable of being supported by Exodus 15:26, must be retained. על־מחלת signifies after a sad tone or manner ; whether it be that מחלת itself (with the ancient dialectic feminine termination, like נגינת , Psalms 61:1) is a name for such an elegiac kind of melody, or that it was thereby designed to indicate the initial word of some popular song. In the latter case מחלת is the construct form, the standard song beginning מחלת לב or some such way. The signification to be sweet (Aramaic) and melodious (Aethiopic), which the root חלי obtains in the dialects, is foreign to Hebrew. It is altogether inadmissible to combine מחלת with Arab. mahlt , ease, comfort (Germ. Gemächlichkeit , cf. mächlich , easily, slowly, with mählich , by degrees), as Hitzig does; since מחל , Rabbinic, to pardon, coincides more readily with מחה , Psalms 51:3, Psalms 51:11. So that we may regard machalath as equivalent to mesto , not piano or andante .
That the two texts, Psalms 14:1-7 and Psalms 53:1-6, are “vestiges of an original identity” (Hupfeld) is not established: Psalms 53:1-6 is a later variation of Psalms 14:1-7. The musical designation, common only to the earlier Psalms, at once dissuades one from coming down beyond the time of Jehoshaphat or Hezekiah. Moreover, we have here a manifest instance that even Psalms which are composed upon the model of, or are variations of Davidic Psalms, were without any hesitation inscribed לדוד .
Beside the critical problem, all that remains here for the exegesis is merely the discussion of anything peculiar in the deviations in the form of the text.
The well-grounded asyndeton השׁהיתוּ התעיבוּ is here dismissed; and the expression is rendered more bombastic by the use of עול instead of עלילה . עול (the masculine to עולה ), pravitas , is the accusative of the object (cf. Ezekiel 16:52) to both verbs, which give it a twofold superlative attributive notion. Moreover, here השׁחיתו is accented with Mugrash in our printed texts instead of Tarcha . One Mugrash after another is contrary to all rule.
In both recensions of the Psalm the name of God occurs seven times. In Psalms 14:1-7 it reads three times Elohim and four times Jahve ; in the Psalm before us it is all seven times Elohim , which in this instance is a proper name of equal dignity with the name Jahve . Since the mingling of the two names in Psalms 14:1-7 is perfectly intentional, inasmuch as Elohim in Psalms 53:1, Psalms 53:2 describes God as a Being most highly exalted and to be reverentially acknowledged, and in Psalms 52:5 as the Being who is present among men in the righteous generation and who is mighty in their weakness, it becomes clear that David himself cannot be the author of this levelling change, which is carried out more rigidly than the Elohimic character of the Psalm really demands.
Instead of הכּל , the totality, we have כּלּו , which denotes each individual of the whole, to which the suffix, that has almost vanished (Psalms 29:9) from the genius of the language, refers. And instead of סר , the more elegant סג , without any distinction in the meaning.
Here in the first line the word כּל־ , which, as in Psalms 5:6; Psalms 6:9, is in its right place, is wanting. In Psalms 14:1-7 there then follow, instead of two tristichs, two distichs, which are perhaps each mutilated by the loss of a line. The writer who has retouched the Psalm has restored the tristichic symmetry that had been lost sight of, but he has adopted rather violent means: inasmuch as he has fused down the two distichs into a single tristich, which is as closely as possible adapted to the sound of their letters.
The last two lines of this tristich are in letters so similar to the two distichs of Psalms 14:1-7, that they look like an attempt at the restoration of some faded manuscript. Nevertheless, such a close following of the sound of the letters of the original, and such a changing of the same by means of an interchange of letters, is also to be found elsewhere (more especially in Jeremiah, and e.g., also in the relation of the Second Epistle of Peter to Jude). And the two lines sound so complete in themselves and full of life, that this way of accounting for their origin takes too low an estimate of them. A later poet, perhaps belonging to the time of Jehoshaphat or Hezekiah, has here adapted the Davidic Psalm to some terrible catastrophe that has just taken place, and given a special character to the universal announcement of judgment. The addition of לא־היה פּחד (supply אשׁר = אשׁר שׁם , Psalms 84:4) is meant to imply that fear of judgment had seized upon the enemies of the people of God, when no fear, i.e., no outward ground for fear, existed; it was therefore חרדּת אלהים (1 Samuel 14:15), a God-wrought panic. Such as the case with the host of the confederates in the days of Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20:22-24); such also with the army of Sennacherib before Jerusalem (Isaiah 37:36). כּי gives the proof in support of this fright from the working of the divine power. The words are addressed to the people of God: Elohim hath scattered the bones (so that unburied they lie like dirt upon the plain a prey to wild beasts, Psalms 141:7; Ezekiel 6:5) of thy besieger , i.e., of him who had encamped against thee. חנך .eeht tsniaga instead of חנך = חנה עליך .
(Note: So it has been explained by Menachem; whereas Dunash wrongly takes the ך of חנך as part of the root, overlooking the fact that with the suffix it ought rather to have been חנך instead of חנך . It is true that within the province of the verb âch does occur as a pausal masculine suffix instead of écha , with the preterite (Deuteronomy 6:17; Isaiah 30:19; Isaiah 55:5, and even out of pause in Jeremiah 23:37), and with the infinitive (Deuteronomy 28:24; Ezekiel 28:15), but only in the passage before us with the participle. Attached to the participle this masculine suffix closely approximates to the Aramaic; with proper substantives there are no examples of it found in Hebrew. Simson ha-Nakdan, in his חבור הקונים (a MS in Leipzig University Library, fol. 29 b ), correctly observes that forms like שׁמך , עמּך , are not biblical Hebrew, but Aramaic, and are only found in the language of the Talmud, formed by a mingling of the Hebrew and Aramaic.)
By the might of his God, who has overthrown them, the enemies of His people, Israel has put them to shame, i.e., brought to nought in a way most shameful to them, the project of those who were so sure of victory, who imagined they could devour Israel as easily and comfortably as bread. It is clear that in this connection even Psalms 53:5 receives a reference to the foreign foes of Israel originally alien to the Psalm, so that consequently Micah 3:3 is no longer a parallel passage, but passages like Numbers 14:9, our bread are they (the inhabitants of Canaan); and Jeremiah 30:16, all they that devour thee shall be devoured .
The two texts now again coincide. Instead of ישׁוּעת , we here have ישׁעות ; the expression is strengthened, the plural signifies entire, full, and final salvation.