I will incline my ear to a proverb. I will open my riddle on the harp.
Parallel translations
- KJV I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.
- BSB I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will express my riddle with the harp:
- NKJV I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will disclose my dark saying on the harp.
- NASB I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will express my riddle on the harp.
- NLT I listen carefully to many proverbs and solve riddles with inspiration from a harp.
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 psalmist listens for a proverb and unfolds his riddle to music. He treats the mystery of life and death as a problem to ponder before God.
Overview
He approaches his theme as a 'proverb' and 'riddle'—a puzzle to be solved—and sets it to the harp, joining instruction with worship. The riddle is the great question of why death claims all and how anyone can escape its power. The answer the psalm gives is that God alone can redeem the soul from death (v. 15).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ps 78:2I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old,
- Matt 13:35that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.”
- Num 23:7He took up his parable, and said, “From Aram has Balak brought me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East. Come, curse Jacob for me. Come, defy Israel.
- Num 12:8With him, I will speak mouth to mouth, even plainly, and not in riddles; and he shall see Yahweh’s form. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?”
- Luke 12:3Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light. What you have spoken in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.
- 2 Cor 3:12Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech,
- Matt 13:11–15He answered them, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them.
- Prov 1:6to understand a proverb, and parables, the words and riddles of the wise.
- Ezek 20:49Then I said, “Ah Lord Yahweh! they say of me, ‘Isn’t he a speaker of parables?’”
- Dan 8:23In the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors have come to the full, a king of fierce face, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 49:4 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.