Surely men of low degree are just a breath, and men of high degree are a lie. In the balances they will go up. They are together lighter than a breath.
Parallel Translations
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Surely men of low degree are just a breath, and men of high degree are a lie. In the balances they will go up. They are together lighter than a breath.
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Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.
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(62-10) Men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie; if they be laid in the balances, they are together lighter than vanity.
Cross-references (19)
Passages linked to Psalms 62:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 39:5 Behold, you have made my days hand widths. My lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely every man stands as a breath.”
- Isaiah 40:15 Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance. Behold, he lifts up the islands like a very little thing.
- Isaiah 40:17 All the nations are like nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity.
- Psalms 118:9 It is better to take refuge in Yahweh, than to put confidence in princes.
- Psalms 39:11 When you rebuke and correct man for iniquity, you consume his wealth like a moth. Surely every man is but a breath.”
- 1 Samuel 18:5 David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely; and Saul set him over the men of war. It was good in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.
- 1 Samuel 18:21-26 Saul said, I will give her to him, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Therefore Saul said to David, “You shall today be my son-in-law a second time.” Saul commanded his servants, “Talk with David secretly, and say, ‘Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore be the king’s son-in-law.’ ” Saul’s servants spoke those words in the ears of David. David said, “Does it seem to you a light thing to be the king’s son-in-law, since I am a poor man, and little known?” The servants of Saul told him, saying, “David spoke like this.” Saul said, “Tell David, ‘The king desires no dowry except one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies.’ ” Now Saul thought he would make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. When his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king’s son-in-law. Before the deadline,
- 1 Samuel 23:12 Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?” Yahweh said, “They will deliver you up.”
- 1 Samuel 23:19-20 Then the Ziphites came up to Saul to Gibeah, saying, “Doesn’t David hide himself with us in the strongholds in the woods, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the desert? Now therefore, O king, come down. According to all the desire of your soul to come down; and our part will be to deliver him up into the king’s hand.”
- 2 Samuel 15:6 Absalom did this sort of thing to all Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
- 2 Samuel 15:31 Someone told David, saying, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” David said, “Yahweh, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”
- Psalms 116:11 I said in my haste, “All people are liars.”
- Romans 3:4 May it never be! Yes, let God be found true, but every man a liar. As it is written, “that you might be justified in your words, and might prevail when you come into judgment.”
- 1 Samuel 18:7 The women sang to one another as they played, and said, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.”
- 1 Samuel 26:21-25 Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David; for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes today. Behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.” David answered, “Behold the spear, O king! Then let one of the young men come over and get it. Yahweh will render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness; because Yahweh delivered you into my hand today, and I wouldn’t stretch out my hand against Yahweh’s anointed. Behold, as your life was respected today in my eyes, so let my life be respected in Yahweh’s eyes, and let him deliver me out of all oppression.” Then Saul said to David, “You are blessed, my son David. You will both do mightily, and will surely prevail.” So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.
- Daniel 5:27 TEKEL: you are weighed in the balances, and are found wanting.
- Matthew 21:9 The multitudes who went in front of him, and those who followed, kept shouting, “Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
- John 19:15 They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”
- Psalms 55:13-14 But it was you, a man like me, my companion, and my familiar friend. We took sweet fellowship together. We walked in God’s house with company.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 9. Nevertheless, the sons of Adam are vanity. If…
9. Nevertheless, the sons of Adam are vanity. If we take the particle אך, ach, affirmatively, as meaning surely or certainly, then this verse contains a confirmation of the truth expressed in the preceding verse; and David argues by contrast, that as men are lighter than vanity, we are shut up to the necessity of placing all our expectation upon God. It would agree well, however, with the contrast to suppose, that, under an impression of the little effect which the truth he had announced was calculated to have upon the people, (ever disposed to build upon fallacious hopes,) he exclaims, with a degree of holy fervor, Nevertheless, etc. According to this view, he is here administering a reproof to the blind infidelity so prevalent amongst men, and which leads them to deceive themselves with lying vanities rather than trust in the infallible promises of Jehovah. Having had occasion to discover such a large amount of vanity in the chosen seed of Abraham, he does not scruple to speak of the whole human family in general as being abandoned to lying delusions. The adverb יחד, yachad, together, intimates that all, without exception, are ready to find an occasion of turning aside. Such is the sweeping condemnation passed, not upon a few individuals, but upon human nature, declaring men to be lighter than vanity; and may we not ask what in this case becomes of boasted reason, wisdom, and free-will? It is of no avail to object, that believers are delivered from the deceit which is here condemned. If they owe their exemption from lying and vanity to the regeneration of the Spirit, this is to grant that they were subject to these in their natural state. The first man was created by God upright, but drew us by his fall into such a depth of corruption, that any light which was originally bestowed has been totally obscured. Is it alleged that there still remain in man such gifts of God as are not to be despised, and as distinguish him from all the other creatures, this is easily answered, by remembering, that however great these may be, he is tainted by sin, and therefore nothing to be accounted of. It is only when allied with the knowledge of God that any of the endowments conferred upon us from above can be said to have a real excellency; — apart from this, they are vitiated by that contagion of sin which has not left a vestige in man of his original integrity. With too much justice, then, might David say that all men are vanity and nothingness.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 62:9 Surely men of low degree [are] vanity,…
Psa 62:9 Surely men of low degree [are] vanity, [and] men of high degree [are] a lie: to be laid in the balance, they [are] altogether [lighter] than vanity.
Ver. 9. Surely men of low degree are vanity] Man is a depending creature, and, like the vine, must have somewhat to lean upon; apt he is to leave God, and cleave to the creature, to make either men or means his refuge; David therefore dehorteth from both, in this and the next verse showing that men of what degree soever are in nowise to be confided in. The word rendered vanity denoteth a vain light thing, such as is the breath of one’s mouth or a bubble on the water
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Men of high degree are a lie] There is no more truth nor assurance in them than in a false tale; also they frustrate men’s hopes, as a barren fruit tree, Heb 3:17.
They are altogether, lighter,. &c.] Put all mankind into one bundle, into one balance, and vanity into the ether, and it will weigh them down, Ut ascendant ipsi prae vanitate simul.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Vanity, i.e. most vain, impotent, and helpless creatures in…
Vanity, i.e. most vain, impotent, and helpless creatures in themselves. This he delivers as a reason or argument to enforce his foregoing exhortation; trust in God, because there is no other person or thing to which you can safely trust.
A lie, because they promise much, and raise men’s expectations upon consideration of their great power and dignity, but are not able to perform, and generally deceive those who trust in them; in which respect lying is ascribed to a fountain, Jer 15:18, to wine, Hos 9:2, to the olive, Hab 3:17, when they do not give what they promise.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Surely men of low degree are vanity,.... Or "sons…
Surely men of low degree are vanity,.... Or "sons of Adam" (i); of the earthly man; of fallen Adam; one of his immediate sons was called Hebel, "vanity"; and it is true of all his sons; but here it designs only one sort of them; such as are poor and low in the world; mean men, as the phrase is rendered in Isa 2:9; See Gill on Psa 49:2; these are subject to sinful vanity; their thoughts are vain, their affections vain, their minds vain, their conversation vain, sinful, foolish, fallacious, and inconstant. The wicked poor are, generally speaking, of all persons, the most wicked; and therefore, though they are the multitude, they are not to be trusted in. The Arabic version is, they are as a "shadow", fleeting and unstable, no solidity in them; the Syriac version, "as a vapour", that soon passeth away, like the breath of the mouth, and so not to be accounted of;
and men of high degree are a lie; or "sons of men"; of "the great man" (k), as it is rendered in Isa 2:9, noblemen, men of high birth, fortune, rank, and quality; these are a "lie", fallacious and deceitful: they talk of their blood, as if it was different from the rest of mankind; but, trace them up to their original, Adam, and it is a lie. All men are made of one blood, Act 17:26; their riches promise them peace and pleasure, and long life, but do not give those things, Luk 12:16; their honour is fickle and inconstant; they are act in high places, and those are slippery ones; they are brought to desolation in a moment; and if they continue in them till death, their glory does not descend after them, Psa 49:17; they make promises of great things to those who apply to them, but rarely perform, and are by no means to be confided in. This distinction of high and low degree is observed in Jam 1:9;
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to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity; take a pair of balances, and put men both of high and low degree together in one scale, and vanity in the other, vanity will weigh heaviest; the scale in which men are will go up, as the word (l) here used signifies: they are "in the balances to ascend"; or being put in the balances, they will ascend, and the scale in which vanity is will go down; for, take them altogether, they are "lighter" than that: the word "lighter" is not in the text, but is rightly supplied, as it is by Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech. This last clause, according to the accents, may be best rendered thus; being put "in the balance, they must ascend; they are lighter than vanity together". The Targum is,
"if they should take the sons of men in a balance, and weigh their fates, they themselves would be "lighter" than nothing, as one;''
or than vanity together.
(i) "filii Adam", Musculus, Michaelis; "nati plebeio homine", Junius & Tremellius; "plebeii", Gejerus; "sons of base men", Ainsworth. (k) "nati praestante viro", Junius & Tremellius; "sons of noble men", Ainsworth. Vid. Schindler. col. 214. (l) "ascendant", Pagninus, Cocceius; so Musculus, Junius & Tremellius, &c.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Vanity - Vain, and helpless creatures. A lie -…
Vanity - Vain, and helpless creatures. A lie - They promise much, but generally deceive those who trust in them.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 9. Men of low degree are vanity] בני…
Verse 9. Men of low degree are vanity] בני אדם beney Adam, which we here translate men of low degree, literally, sons of Adam, are put in opposition to בני איש beney ish, men of high degree, literally, the sons of substance, or children of substantial men. Adam was the name of the first man when formed out of the earth; Ish was his name when united to his wife, and they became one flesh. Before, he was the incomplete man; after, he was the complete man; for it seems, in the sight of God, it requires the male and female to make one complete human being. אנוש enosh is another name given to man, but this concerns him in his low, fallen, wretched estate: it properly signifies weak, poor, addicted, wretched man.
Common men can give no help. They are vanity, and it is folly to trust in them; for although they may be willing, yet they have no ability to help you: "Rich men are a lie." They promise much, but perform nothing; they cause you to hope, but mock your expectation.
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To be laid to the balance] במאזנים לעלות bemozenayim laaloth, In the balances they ascend: exactly answerable to our phrase, they kick the beam.
They are altogether lighter than vanity.] Literally, Both of them united are vanity, המה מהבל יחד hemmah mehebel yachad. Put both together in one scale, and truth in the opposite, and both will kick the beam. They weigh nothing, they avail nothing.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 62:9. Surely men of low degree are vanity…
Psa 62:9. Surely men of low degree are vanity — Are most vain, impotent, and helpless creatures in themselves. This he delivers as a reason, or argument, to enforce his foregoing exhortation to trust in God, because there was no other person or thing to which they could safely trust. Men of high degree are a lie — That is, deceitful; because unable to perform what by their power and dignity they seem to promise. They raise men’s expectations, and afterward disappoint them, and so deceive those that trust in them. In which sense lying is ascribed to a fountain, Jer 15:18; to wine, Hos 9:2; and to the olive, Heb 3:17, (see the Hebrew,) when they do not give what they promise. Or, a lie may signify, a mere nothing; for a lie has no reality in it.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Surely men of low degree are vanity - literally,…
Surely men of low degree are vanity - literally, “vanity are the sons of Adam,” but the word Adam here is used evidently to represent men, or the race. The same word is also employed particularly to represent common men, or men of the humbler rank, in contradistinction to the word אישׁ 'ı̂ysh - which is the other word used here, and rendered “men of high degree.” Compare, for this use of the word, Hos 6:7. The same antithesis between the two words is found in Isa 2:9; Isa 5:15. The idea here is, that in the great matters which pertain to us, we cannot depend on men, and that our hope - our trust - must be in God. Of men of the humbler or lower classes, it is said that they are “vanity;” that is, they are like a vain, empty, unsubstantial thing. They cannot help us. It is useless to rely on them when we most need aid.
Men of high degree are a lie - Men of exalted rank, kings, princes, nobles. This does not refer to their personal character, as if they were always false, deceitful, treacherous; but the idea is, that any prospect of protection or aid from men of rank and station - front any power which they wield - is unworthy to be relied on. It is not that which we need; it is not that on which we can depend.
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To be laid in the balance - literally, “In the scales to go up;” that is, they are seen to go up, or to show how light they are. They have no real weight; no real value. On the scales or balance, see the notes at Dan 5:27.
They are altogether lighter than vanity - They are all vain; single or combined, they have no power to save us. The meaning is not that if these two ranks of persons were weighed against each other they would both be found to be vanity; but that it is true of each and every rank of men - high and low - whether single or combined - that, as weighed against our interests and needs, they are nothing. All the kings of the earth with all their hosts of war, all princes and nobles with all that they can summon from the lower ranks of their people, cannot save one soul from death - cannot deliver us from the consequences of our transgressions. God, and God alone, can do this.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain No kind of men are reliable, compared with God…
No kind of men are reliable, compared with God (Isa 2:22; Jer 17:5).
altogether--alike, one as the other (Psa 34:3).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 9. Men of low degree… high degree—Men of all…
9. Men of low degree… high degree—Men of all degrees, as Psa_49:2. The first designation denotes in the Hebrew the masses of our race as descendants of Adam; the second, those classes which have attained distinction on account of rank, wealth, or other circumstances. These all, apart from God, and of themselves considered as sources of help or objects of trust, are, the first class, vanity, the second, a lie.
To be laid in the balance—Literally, going up, or ascending in the balance, as being the lighter scale.
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Altogether lighter than vanity—The meaning is: Put every one of them together in one scale of the balance, and vanity, or a breath, in the other, and they would mount up, as less than a breath. This estimate is not of man as God made him, but of man as sin and selfishness have corrupted him. It is man apart from God, and fighting against God, and fitly applies to Absalom with his accomplices, and the thoughtless multitude that follow them.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 9. Surely] Lit., as before, only. Nought but vanity…
9. Surely] Lit., as before, only. Nought but vanity are men, (nought but) a lie are great men. Only a mere breath which vanishes, an imposture which deludes those who trust them, are all men, whatever may be their rank. For the phrases bnç âdâm, bnç îsh, ‘low’ and ‘high,’ see Psa_49:2. In Psa_4:2 Absalom’s followers are termed bnç îsh: waverers would be influenced by seeing the number of leading men on his side. The same phrase nought but vanity is used in Psa_39:5; Psa_39:11, to describe the transitoriness and unsubstantiality of man, but the point is wholly different.
to be laid in the balance &c.] In the balances they will go up, they are altogether of vanity. They spring from and consist of mere breath (Isa_41:24): put them in the scale, it flies up, for they have no weight or substance. The rendering ‘lighter than vanity’ is possible but less probable.
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9–12. Trust in God, I say, and not in man or in material force. God’s strength and love are the guarantee for the punishment of the wicked and the reward of the righteous.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (9) Are vanity.—Or, mere breath.
(9) Are vanity.—Or, mere breath.
To be laid in the balance.—Literally, in the balances to go up, which may mean in the scales they must go up, i.e., kick the beam. But a slight change in one letter gives the more probable, when weighed in the scales.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 9-12. the psalmist becomes didactic" (Professor Cheyne). He…
Vers. 9-12. the psalmist becomes didactic" (Professor Cheyne). He encourages the faithful, and warns the wicked, by the declaration that men of every sort "are but vanity have no strength, no permanence while power belongs only to God. Those who "oppress" and "rob" are, consequently, not to be feared there is no strength in riches God alone determines the issues of things. Unto him belongs mercy, or loving kindness a quality which leads him not only to forgive men their transgressions, but to "reward" them, when, by his assisting grace, they have done good works.
Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie; rather, only vanity or, nought but vanity are men of low degree; common men, as we call them mere sons of Adam. This is too evident for dispute; but, in the view of the psalmist, this is not the worst. "Men of high degree" (beney ish) are no better they are "a lie an unreality a fading, false illusion. To be laid in the balance; rather, in the balance, they go up (Hupfeld, Ewald Hitzig, Revised Version). They are altogether lighter than vanity; or, altogether made out of vanity (Kay); i.e. there is no substance, no solidity, in them.
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"Laid in the balance.
I RANK. Precedence among men does not depend on moral worth. It is a matter of etiquette. The man of "low degree" before men may be of "high degree" before God. The man who gets the "lowest place" in the great houses of this world may sit in the highest place in the kingdom of God. "Knighthoods and honours borne without desert are titles but of scorn" (Shakespeare). The true honour is that which cometh from God only.
II RICHES. Most people would like to be rich. In this, as in other matters, there is a right way and a wrong way. It is hinted (ver. 10) that if riches increase, it may be by "oppression" and "robbery." But though they should be obtained lawfully, they bring great responsibilities and risks, and often prove a delusion and a mockery. (1Ti_6:9) The true riches are not in the hand, but in the heart; not in the abundance of things outward, but in faith and love and good works in being "rich toward God". (Luk_12:21)
III REFUTATION. What others think of us is of importance. It so far settles our place and our influence in society. But the judgment of men is not the judgment of God. In the world, in society, in the Church, our reputation may stand high, but if our reputation and our character which is what we are really and in the sight of God do not agree, we are but hypocrites and liars. "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of God". W.F. (Mat_5:20)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 9. Surely men of low degree are vanity.…
Ver. 9. Surely men of low degree are vanity. Here the word is only again; men of low degree are only vanity, nothing more. They are many and enthusiastic, but they are not to be depended on; they are mobile as the waves of the sea, ready to be driven to and fro by any and every wind; they cry "Hosanna" today, and "Crucify him" tomorrow. The instability of popular applause is a proverb; as well build a house with smoke as find comfort in the adulation of the multitude. As the first son of Adam was called Abel or vanity, so here we are taught that all the sons of Adam are Abels: it were well if they were all so in character as well as in name; but alas! in this respect, too many of them are Cains.
And men of high degree are a lie. That is worse. We gain little by putting our trust in the aristocracy, they are not one whit better than the democracy: nay, they are even worse, for we expect something from them, but get nothing. May we not trust the elite? Surely reliance may be placed in the educated, the chivalrous, the intelligent? For this reason are they a lie; because they promise so much, and in the end, when relied upon, yield nothing but disappointment. How wretched is that poor man who puts his trust in princes. The more we rely upon God, the more shall we perceive the utter hollowness of every other confidence.
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To be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity. Take a true estimate of them; judge them neither by quantity nor by appearance, but by weight, and they will no longer deceive you. Calmly deliberate, quietly ponder, and your verdict will be that which inspiration here records. Vainer than vanity itself are all human confidences: the great and the mean, alike, are unworthy of our trust. A feather has some weight in the scale, vanity has none, and creature confidence has less than that: yet such is the universal infatuation, that mankind prefer an arm of flesh to the power of the invisible but almighty Creator; and even God's own children are too apt to be bitten with this madness.
Ver. 9. Other doctrines, moral or civil instructions, may be delivered to us possibly, and probably, and likely, and credibly, and under the like terms and modifications, but this in our text, is assuredly, undoubtedly, undeniably, irrefragably, Surely men of low degree, etc. For howsoever when they two are compared together with one another, it may admit discourse and disputation, whether men of high degree, or of low degree, do most violate the laws of God; that is, whether prosperity or adversity make men most obnoxious to sin; yet, when they come to be compared, not with one another, but both with God, this asseveration, this surely reaches to both: "Surely men of low degree are vanity, and, as surely, men of high degree are a lie." And though this may seem to leave room for men of middle ranks, and fortunes, and places, that there is a mediocrity that might give an assurance, and an establishment, yet there is no such thing in this case; (as surely still) to be laid in the balance, they are all (not of low, and all of high degree, all rich, and all poor), but all, of all conditions, altogether lighter than vanity. Now, all this doth destroy, not extinguish, not annihilate, that affection in man, of hope and trust, and confidence in anything; but it rectifies that hope, and trust, and confidence, and directs it upon the right object. Trust not in flesh, but in spiritual things, that we neither bend our hope downward, to infernal spirits, to seek help in witches; nor miscarry it upward, to seek it in saints or angels, but fix it in him who is nearer to us than our own souls--our blessed, and gracious, and powerful God, who in this one Psalm is presented unto us by so many names of assurance and confidence: "my expectation, my salvation, my rock, my defence, my glory, my strength, my refuge, "and the rest... Men of high degree are a lie. The Holy Ghost hath been pleased to vary the phrase here, and to call men of high degree not "vanity, " but a lie; because the poor, men of low degree, in their condition promise no assistance, feed not men with hope, and therefore cannot be said to lie; but in the condition of men of high degree, who are of power, there is a tacit promise, a natural and inherent assurance of protection and assistance flowing from them. For the magistrate cannot say that he never promised me justice, never promised me protection; for in his assuming that place, he made me that promise. I cannot say that I never promised my parish my service; for in my induction I made them that promise, and if I perform it not I am a lie: for so this word chasab (which we translate a lie) is frequently used in the Scriptures, for that which is defective in the duty it should perform: "Thou shalt be a spring of water" (says God in Isaiah), cujus aquae non mentiuntur, "whose waters never lie; "that is, never dry, never fail. So, then, when men of high degree do not perform the duties of their places, then they are a lie of their own making; and when I over magnify them in their place, flatter them, humour them, ascribe more to them, expect more from them, rely more upon them than I should, then they are a lie of my making... To be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity. Vanity is nothing, but there is a condition worse than nothing. Confidence in the things or persons of this world, but most of all a confidence in ourselves, will bring us at last to that state wherein we would fain be nothing, and cannot. But yet we have a balance in our text; and all these are but put together in one balance. In the other scale there is something put too, in comparison whereof all this world is so light. God does not leave our great and noble faculty and affection of hope, and trust, and confidence without something to direct itself upon, and rectify itself in. He does not: for, for that he proposes himself. The words immediately before the text are, God is a refuge; and, in comparison of him, To be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity. John Donne.
Ver. 9. Surely men of low degree are vanity.
"Who over the herd would wish to reign,
Fantastic, fickle, fierce, and vain!
Vain as the leaf upon the stream,
And fickle as a changeful dream;
Fantastic as a woman's mood,
And fierce as Frenzy's fevered blood,
Thou many headed monster thing,
O, who would wish to be thy king!" Walter Scott (1771-1832).
Ver. 9. Surely men of low degree are vanity, etc. Or, sons of Adam; of the earthly man; of fallen Adam; one of his immediate sons was called Hebel, vanity; and it is true of all his sons, but here it designs only one sort of them; such as are poor and low in the world; mean men, as the phrase is rendered in Isa 2:9; these are subject to sinful vanity; their thoughts are vain, their affections vain, their minds vain, their conversation vain, sinful, foolish, fallacious, and inconstant. John Gill.
Ver. 9. Men... are a lie. An active lie--they deceive others; and a passive lie--they are deceived by others; and they who are most actively a lie, are most usually and most deservedly a passive lie, or fed with lies. Joseph Caryl.
Ver. 9. Lighter than vanity. If there were any one among men immortal, not liable to sin, or change, whom it were impossible for any one to overcome, but who was strong as an angel, such a one might be something; but inasmuch as every one is a man, a sinner, mortal, weak, liable to sickness and death, exposed to pain and terror, like Pharaoh, even from the most insignificant animals, and liable to so many miseries that it is impossible to count them, the conclusion must be a valid one: "Man is nothing." Arndt.
None.
Psalms 62:10*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 men of low standing ... men of high standing…
men of low standing ... men of high standing are a lie
This refers to men of all levels of wealth and importance. The phrases "are vanity" and "are a lie" have the same meaning. One cannot confidently trust in anyone. AT: "you cannot place your trust in men, no matter how important they are" (See: Merism and Parallelism)
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weighed together, they are lighter than nothing
If you put all of these kinds of men together on a scale, they would have no weight. This means that they have no real value to you.
oppression or robbery
These two words have basically the same meaning. You cannot trust in money that you get by taking it from other people. (See: Doublet)
for they will bear no fruit
The writer speaks of riches as if they were trees or vines that could bear fruit. AT: "for they will provide nothing good for you" (See: Metaphor)
do not fix your heart on them
Here "fix your heart" is an idiom that means to desire something greatly. AT: "do not desire them" (See: Idiom)
translationWords
vain
oppress
hope
fruit
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 62:9-12 Unlike God, humans are transient beings. Even when…
62:9-12 Unlike God, humans are transient beings. Even when they thrive, their prosperity is fleeting.
62:9 not what they appear to be: People often try to look stronger and better than they are.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.