Biblion Bible Commentary
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No Man Can Redeem His Brother
Psalms 49:1-20
1 For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. Hear this, all you peoples. Listen, all you inhabitants of the world, · WEB
A wisdom psalm addressed to the whole world argues that wealth cannot buy the one thing everybody needs.
Hear this, all you peoples. Listen, all you inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor together Psalms 49:1–2.
The address is universal and deliberately levels its audience before the argument starts. Rich and poor are told to listen together, which is itself the psalm's conclusion in miniature.
Why should I fear in the days of evil, when iniquity at my heels surrounds me? Psalms 49:5.
The question is about the wealthy and powerful who are pressing him, and what follows is not a promise of rescue but an analysis of their position.
Those who trust in their wealth, and boast in the multitude of their riches — none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give God a ransom for him. For the redemption of their life is costly, no payment is ever enough Psalms 49:6–8.
The central argument. Money buys a great deal and there is one transaction it cannot complete. No amount is sufficient to purchase a life, and the psalm states the reason as a matter of price rather than of principle: the sum required is simply beyond any fortune.
This is worth reading beside what the New Testament says the ransom actually cost — not with corruptible things, with silver or gold... but with precious blood 1 Peter 1:18–19, and the Son of Man came... to give his life as a ransom for many Mark 10:45. The psalm establishes that the price is unpayable by anyone in the market. It does not say the price was never paid.
He sees that wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless perish, and leave their wealth to others Psalms 49:10.
Wisdom does not exempt anyone either. The psalm is not flattering its own readers.
Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever... They name their lands after themselves Psalms 49:11.
The observation is precise about how the illusion is maintained. Putting your name on property is a bid for permanence, and the psalm notes it as the characteristic gesture of people who have privately decided they are not going to die.
But man, despite his riches, doesn't endure. He is like the animals that perish Psalms 49:12.
The refrain, repeated at the end. The comparison is not an insult to humanity in general — it is aimed at a man who has riches without understanding Psalms 49:20, and the qualifier carries the whole weight.
But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me Psalms 49:15.
The psalm's answer, and it is placed exactly where the argument has left no other option. Nobody can pay this ransom, and God will. The verb receive is the one used of Enoch being taken Genesis 5:24.
For when he dies he will carry nothing away. His glory won't descend after him Psalms 49:17. The rich man's estate stops at the grave; the psalmist's hope starts on the other side of it.
settled What this mark means