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Psalms 62:9
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Surely men of low degree are merely vanity and men of rank are a lie;In the balances they go up;They are together lighter than a breath of vanity.
Men of low degree are only vanity and men of rank are a lie; In the balances they go up; They are together lighter than breath.
As for the chyldren of men, they be onlye but vanitie, the chyldren of lordes be but a lye: vpon the wayghtes they [be] altogether [lighter] then vanitie in selfe.
Men of low degree are only vanity; men of high degree, a lie: laid in the balance, they go up together [lighter] than vanity.
Surely men of low degree are a vapor, Men of high degree are a lie; If they are weighed on the scales, They are altogether lighter than vapor.
Surely the sons of men are vanity, the sons of man are a lie; they go up in the scales; they are higher than vanity together.
Surely men of low degree are just a breath, And men of high degree are a lie. In the balances they will go up. They are together lighter than a breath.
Surely men of low degree are vanitie, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the ballance, they are altogether lighter then vanitie.
Surely 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.
Sela. As for men, they are but vayne, me are disceatfull: vpo the weightes they are al together lighter then vanite itself.
Man as such is smoke, woman as such, a mirage. Put them together, they're nothing; two times nothing is nothing.
Men of low degree are only a breath (emptiness), and men of [high] rank are a lie (delusion). In the balances they go up [because they have no measurable weight or value]; They are together lighter than a breath.
Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: In the balances they will go up; They are together lighter than vanity.
Truly men of low birth are nothing, and men of high position are not what they seem; if they are put in the scales together they are less than a breath.
Surely sons of man are vanity, and sons of a man are a lie: In the balances they will go up; They are together lighter than vanity.
Surely 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.
Men are nothing but a mere breath; human beings are unreliable. When they are weighed in the scales, all of them together are lighter than air.
We humans are only a breath; none of us are truly great. All of us together weigh less than a puff of air.
Trust in him, people, at all times; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. (Selah)
Yet the children of men are vanitie, the chiefe men are lies: to lay them vpon a balance they are altogether lighter then vanitie.
Surely all untrue men are like vapor; when they are placed in the balance, they are found wanting.
Surely men of low degree are just a breath, And men of high degree are a lie. In the balances they will go up. They are together lighter than a breath.
Trust in Him at all times, ye people; pour out your heart before Him;
Common people are as worthless as a puff of wind, and the powerful are not what they appear to be. If you weigh them on the scales, together they are lighter than a breath of air.
Men who are not important come to nothing. Men who are important are a lie. When weighed they go up. Together they weigh less than a breath.
But the sons of men are vain; the sons of men are false, so as to be deceitful in the balances; they are all alike formed out of vanity.
Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: in the balances they will go up; they are together lighter than vanity.
Lowborn men are but a vapor, the exalted but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.
Those of low estate are but a breath, those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath.
Surely, vanity, are men of low degree, Deception, men of high degree, - In the balances, they go up, They, are made of vanity, altogether.
(61-10) But vain are the sons of men, the sons of men are liars in the balances: that by vanity they may together deceive.
Only a vapor are men of low degree, a deception are men of high degree. Weighed in a balance, together they are lighter than a vapor.
Those of low estate are but a breath; those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath.
People of low standing are only breath, and people of rank are a lie; In the balances they go up. Together they are lighter than breath.
The least of people are only a breath, and even the greatest are just a lie. On the scales, they weigh nothing; together they are only a breath.
Human beings are all like a puff of breath; great and small alike are worthless. Put them on the scales, and they weigh nothing; they are lighter than a mere breath.
Men are only a vapor; exalted men, an illusion. Weighed in the scales, they go up; together they are less than a vapor.
Netheles the sones of men ben veyne; the sones of men ben liers in balauncis, that thei disseyue of vanytee in to the same thing.
Only -- vanity [are] the low, a lie the high. In balances to go up they than vanity [are] lighter.
Men of low estate are but a breath, men of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Surely: Psalms 39:5, Psalms 39:11, 1 Samuel 18:5, 1 Samuel 18:7, 1 Samuel 23:12, 1 Samuel 23:19, 1 Samuel 23:20, 2 Samuel 15:6, Matthew 21:9, John 19:15
of high: Psalms 55:13, Psalms 55:14, Psalms 118:9, 1 Samuel 18:21-26, 1 Samuel 26:21-25, 2 Samuel 15:31, Romans 3:4
laid: Daniel 5:27
altogether: or, alike
lighter: Isaiah 40:15, Isaiah 40:17
Reciprocal: Judges 16:18 - Come up 1 Samuel 16:21 - loved him 1 Samuel 30:6 - the people 2 Samuel 3:12 - Make 2 Samuel 3:36 - as 2 Samuel 11:14 - wrote a letter 2 Samuel 15:13 - The hearts 2 Samuel 20:2 - every man Job 6:21 - ye are nothing Job 7:16 - my days Job 11:12 - For vain Psalms 5:9 - For Psalms 49:2 - General Psalms 52:7 - trusted Psalms 118:8 - General Psalms 144:4 - Man Psalms 146:3 - Put Proverbs 19:22 - and Proverbs 30:8 - Remove Ecclesiastes 1:2 - General Ecclesiastes 12:8 - General Isaiah 2:22 - Cease Isaiah 5:15 - the mean Isaiah 47:10 - thou hast trusted Jeremiah 17:5 - Cursed Daniel 6:9 - signed Daniel 11:27 - speak lies Micah 1:14 - houses Mark 14:1 - by 1 Corinthians 3:6 - God James 1:9 - the brother
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Surely men of low degree [are] vanity,.... Or "sons of Adam" i; of the earthly man; of fallen Adam; one of his immediate sons was called Hebel, "vanity"; and it is true of all his sons; but here it designs only one sort of them; such as are poor and low in the world; mean men, as the phrase is rendered in Isaiah 2:9;
Isaiah 2:9- :; these are subject to sinful vanity; their thoughts are vain, their affections vain, their minds vain, their conversation vain, sinful, foolish, fallacious, and inconstant. The wicked poor are, generally speaking, of all persons, the most wicked; and therefore, though they are the multitude, they are not to be trusted in. The Arabic version is, they are as a "shadow", fleeting and unstable, no solidity in them; the Syriac version, "as a vapour", that soon passeth away, like the breath of the mouth, and so not to be accounted of;
[and] men of high degree [are] a lie; or "sons of men"; of איש, "the great man" k, as it is rendered in Isaiah 2:9, noblemen, men of high birth, fortune, rank, and quality; these are a "lie", fallacious and deceitful: they talk of their blood, as if it was different from the rest of mankind; but, trace them up to their original, Adam, and it is a lie. All men are made of one blood, Acts 17:26; their riches promise them peace and pleasure, and long life, but do not give those things, Luke 12:16; their honour is fickle and inconstant; they are act in high places, and those are slippery ones; they are brought to desolation in a moment; and if they continue in them till death, their glory does not descend after them, Psalms 49:17; they make promises of great things to those who apply to them, but rarely perform, and are by no means to be confided in. This distinction of high and low degree is observed in James 1:9;
to be laid in the balance, they [are] altogether [lighter] than vanity; take a pair of balances, and put men both of high and low degree together in one scale, and vanity in the other, vanity will weigh heaviest; the scale in which men are will go up, as the word l here used signifies: they are "in the balances to ascend"; or being put in the balances, they will ascend, and the scale in which vanity is will go down; for, take them altogether, they are "lighter" than that: the word "lighter" is not in the text, but is rightly supplied, as it is by Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech. This last clause, according to the accents, may be best rendered thus; being put "in the balance, they must ascend; they are [lighter] than vanity together". The Targum is,
"if they should take the sons of men in a balance, and weigh their fates, they themselves would be "lighter" than nothing, as one;''
or than vanity together.
i בני אדם "filii Adam", Musculus, Michaelis; "nati plebeio homine", Junius Tremellius "plebeii", Gejerus; "sons of base men", Ainsworth. k בני איש "nati praestante viro", Junius Tremellius "sons of noble men", Ainsworth. Vid. Schindler. col. 214. l לעלות "ascendant", Pagninus, Cocceius; so Musculus, Junius & Tremellius, &c.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Surely men of low degree are vanity - literally, “vanity are the sons of Adam,” but the word Adam here is used evidently to represent men, or the race. The same word is also employed particularly to represent common men, or men of the humbler rank, in contradistinction to the word אישׁ 'ı̂ysh - which is the other word used here, and rendered “men of high degree.” Compare, for this use of the word, Hosea 6:7. The same antithesis between the two words is found in Isaiah 2:9; Isaiah 5:15. The idea here is, that in the great matters which pertain to us, we cannot depend on men, and that our hope - our trust - must be in God. Of men of the humbler or lower classes, it is said that they are “vanity;” that is, they are like a vain, empty, unsubstantial thing. They cannot help us. It is useless to rely on them when we most need aid.
Men of high degree are a lie - Men of exalted rank, kings, princes, nobles. This does not refer to their personal character, as if they were always false, deceitful, treacherous; but the idea is, that any prospect of protection or aid from men of rank and station - front any power which they wield - is unworthy to be relied on. It is not that which we need; it is not that on which we can depend.
To be laid in the balance - literally, “In the scales to go up;” that is, they are seen to go up, or to show how light they are. They have no real weight; no real value. On the scales or balance, see the notes at Daniel 5:27.
They are altogether lighter than vanity - They are all vain; single or combined, they have no power to save us. The meaning is not that if these two ranks of persons were weighed against each other they would both be found to be vanity; but that it is true of each and every rank of men - high and low - whether single or combined - that, as weighed against our interests and needs, they are nothing. All the kings of the earth with all their hosts of war, all princes and nobles with all that they can summon from the lower ranks of their people, cannot save one soul from death - cannot deliver us from the consequences of our transgressions. God, and God alone, can do this.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Psalms 62:9. Men of low degree are vanity — בני אדם beney Adam, which we here translate men of low degree, literally, sons of Adam, are put in opposition to בני איש beney ish, men of high degree, literally, the sons of substance, or children of substantial men. Adam was the name of the first man when formed out of the earth; Ish was his name when united to his wife, and they became one flesh. Before, he was the incomplete man; after, he was the complete man; for it seems, in the sight of God, it requires the male and female to make one complete human being. אנוש enosh is another name given to man, but this concerns him in his low, fallen, wretched estate: it properly signifies weak, poor, addicted, wretched man.
Common men can give no help. They are vanity, and it is folly to trust in them; for although they may be willing, yet they have no ability to help you: "Rich men are a lie." They promise much, but perform nothing; they cause you to hope, but mock your expectation.
To be laid to the balance — במאזנים לעלות bemozenayim laaloth, In the balances they ascend: exactly answerable to our phrase, they kick the beam.
They are altogether lighter than vanity.] Literally, Both of them united are vanity, המה מהבל יחד hemmah mehebel yachad. Put both together in one scale, and truth in the opposite, and both will kick the beam. They weigh nothing, they avail nothing.
