Their inner thought is that their houses are forever And their dwelling places to all generations; They have named their lands after their own names.
Parallel translations
- WEB Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever, and their dwelling places to all generations. They name their lands after themselves.
- KJV Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.
- BSB Their graves are their eternal homes—their dwellings for endless generations—even though their lands were their namesakes.
- NKJV Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever, Their dwelling places to all generations; They call their lands after their own names.
- NLT The grave is their eternal home, where they will stay forever. They may name their estates after themselves,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The wealthy imagine their estates will last forever and name lands after themselves, but this is self-deception. Their permanence is an illusion.
Overview
In their inward thoughts the rich suppose their houses will endure through all generations, even immortalizing their names on their lands. The psalm exposes this as a delusion, since they cannot escape death. The pursuit of earthly legacy apart from God is shown to be vain in light of mortality.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Gen 4:17Cain knew his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Enoch. He built a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.
- Ps 64:6They plot injustice, saying, “We have made a perfect plan!” Surely man’s mind and heart are cunning.
- Ps 5:9For there is no faithfulness in their mouth. Their heart is destruction. Their throat is an open tomb. They flatter with their tongue.
- Ezek 38:10Thus says the Lord Yahweh: It shall happen in that day, that things shall come into your mind, and you shall devise an evil device:
- Ps 10:6He says in his heart, “I shall not be shaken. For generations I shall have no trouble.”
- 2 Sam 18:18Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself the pillar which is in the king’s valley, for he said, “I have no son to keep my name in memory.” He called the pillar after his own name. It is called Absalom’s monument, to this day.
- Luke 11:39The Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness.
- Acts 8:22Repent therefore of this, your wickedness, and ask God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.
- 1 Sam 15:12Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and Samuel was told, saying, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal.”
- Deut 3:14Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob, to the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called them, even Bashan, after his own name, Havvoth Jair, to this day.)
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 49:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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