he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light of day.
Parallel translations
- WEB he shall go to the generation of his fathers. They shall never see the light.
- KJV He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light.
- NKJV He shall go to the generation of his fathers; They shall never see light.
- NASB He will go to the generation of his fathers; They will never see the light.
- NLT But they will die like all before them and never again see the light of day.
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 self-satisfied rich man joins his ancestors in death and never again sees the light. Without God, his end is darkness.
Overview
Despite his earlier boasting, the wealthy man dies and goes the way of all his forefathers, never to see the light of life again. For those who trust only in riches, death is final loss. This stands in stark contrast to v. 15, where the one who trusts God is redeemed from Sheol.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Job 33:30to bring back his soul from the Pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of life.
- Gen 15:15You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.
- Ps 56:13For You have delivered my soul from death, and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.
- Luke 12:20But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’
- Jude 1:13They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
- 1 Kgs 16:6And Baasha rested with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah, and his son Elah reigned in his place.
- Matt 22:13Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
- Luke 16:22–23One day the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. And the rich man also died and was buried.
- Eccl 3:21Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and the spirit of the animal descends into the earth?
- Eccl 12:7before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
- Matt 8:12But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 49:19 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.