Both low and high, rich and poor, together.
Parallel translations
- WEB both low and high, rich and poor together.
- BSB both low and high, rich and poor alike.
- NKJV Both low and high, Rich and poor together.
- NASB Both low and high, Rich and poor together.
- NLT High and low, rich and poor—listen!
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
Both the lowly and the great, rich and poor alike, are addressed. Death and the need for redemption level all distinctions.
Overview
The psalmist explicitly includes every social class because his message about wealth and mortality confronts all alike. The rich are warned not to trust their money, and the poor are comforted that worldly status is fleeting. This anticipates the gospel truth that all stand equal before God, equally needing the redemption He alone provides.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Ps 62:9Surely 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.
- Jas 2:1–7My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
- Prov 22:2The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all.
- 1 Sam 2:7–8The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.
- Job 34:19How much less to him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all are the work of his hands.
- Jer 5:4–5Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.
- Rev 6:15–17And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
- Jas 1:9–11Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:
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 49:2 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.