the Week of Proper 22 / Ordinary 27
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King James Version
Psalms 14:1
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The wicked fool says in his heart, "There is no God."They act corruptly, they commit abominable deeds;There is no one who does good.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good.The foole hath sayde in his heart there is no God: they haue corrupted [them selues] and done an abhominable worke, there is not one that doth good.
To the chief Musician. [A Psalm] of David.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They have corrupted themselves, they have done abominable works: there is none that doeth good.The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good.
To the chief musician. A Psalm of David. The fool has said in his heart, There is no God! They acted corruptly; they did hatefully in deeds; there is none doing good.
To the director: A song of David.
Only fools think there is no God. People like that are evil and do terrible things. They never do what is right.<
[To the chiefe musician, A Psalme of Dauid.] The foole hath sayd in his heart, There is no God: they are corrupt, they haue done abominable workes, there is none that doeth good.
The foolish bodyes saye in their hertes: Tush, there is no God. They are corrupte, ad become abhominable in their doynges, there is not one yt doth good.
A David Psalm
Bilious and bloated, they gas, "God is gone." Their words are poison gas, fouling the air; they poison Rivers and skies; thistles are their cash crop.For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works; There is none that doeth good.For the Chief Musician. [A Psalm] of David. The fool has said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done disgusting works; There is none that does good.
To the chief Musician, [A Psalm] of David. The fool hath said in his heart, [There is] no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, [there is] none that doeth good.
For the music director; by David.
Fools say to themselves, "There is no God." They sin and commit evil deeds; none of them does what is right.(A psalm by David for the music leader.)
Only a fool would say, "There is no God!" People like that are worthless; they are heartless and cruel and never do right.For the leader. By David: Fools say in their hearts, "There is no God." They deal corruptly, their deeds are vile, not one does what is right.
To him that excelleth. A Psalme of Dauid. The foole hath said in his heart, There is no God: they haue corrupted, & done an abominable worke: there is none that doeth good.
THE fool has said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have been defiled by their own devices; there is none that does good.
The [spiritually ignorant] fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they have committed repulsive and unspeakable deeds; There is no one who does good.
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For the Leader. [A Psalm] of David. {N}they have dealt corruptly, they have done abominably; there is none that doeth good.
For the choir director: A psalm of David.
Only fools say in their hearts, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are sinful and their actions are sinful. There is no one who does good.
The fool has said in his heart, There is no God. They have corrupted themselves, and become abominable in their devices; there is none that does goodness, there is not even so much as one.
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works; there is none that doeth good.
For the choirmaster. Of David. The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt; their acts are vile. There is no one who does good.
To the leader. Of David.
Fools say in their hearts, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is no one who does good.(13-1) <Unto the end, a psalm for David.> The fool hath said in his heart: There is no God. They are corrupt, and are become abominable in their ways: there is none that doth good, no not one.
For the music director. Of David.
The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt. They do abominable deeds. There is none who does good.To the choirmaster. Of David.
The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they have committed detestable acts; There is no one who does good.
For the director of music. Of David.
Fools say to themselves, "There is no God." Fools are evil and do terrible things; there is no one who does anything good.Fools say to themselves, "There is no God!" They are all corrupt, and they have done terrible things; there is no one who does what is right.
For the choir director. Davidic.
The fool says in his heart, "God does not exist." They are corrupt; they do vile deeds. There is no one who does good.The `title of the threttenthe salm. To the victorie of Dauid.
To the Overseer. -- By David. A fool hath said in his heart, `God is not;' They have done corruptly, They have done abominable actions, There is not a doer of good.
To the choirmaster. Of David. The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none that does good.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
fool: Psalms 73:3, Psalms 92:6, Psalms 107:17, 1 Samuel 25:25, Proverbs 1:7, Proverbs 1:22, Proverbs 13:19, Proverbs 27:22, Luke 12:20
no: Psalms 10:4, *marg. Psalms 52:1-6, Job 22:13, Romans 1:28, Ephesians 2:12
They are: Psalms 36:1-4, Psalms 94:4-8, Genesis 6:5, Genesis 6:11, Genesis 6:12, Isaiah 1:4
abominable: Job 15:16, Matthew 12:34, Matthew 15:19, John 3:19, John 3:20, Romans 1:21-32, Titus 1:16, Titus 3:3, Revelation 21:8
there: Romans 3:10-12, Ephesians 2:1-3
Reciprocal: Exodus 5:2 - Who Exodus 37:29 - incense 1 Kings 12:26 - said in his heart 1 Kings 22:13 - Behold now Job 5:2 - the foolish Psalms 5:5 - The Psalms 10:6 - said Psalms 14:3 - there Psalms 17:4 - works Psalms 53:1 - fool Psalms 53:4 - Have Ecclesiastes 2:1 - said Song of Solomon 1:1 - song Isaiah 5:18 - draw Jeremiah 4:22 - For my Micah 7:2 - is perished Zephaniah 1:12 - The Lord Matthew 5:22 - fool Mark 7:21 - out Luke 11:40 - fools John 12:6 - not
Cross-References
The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.
And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease.
And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.
Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar?
And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes,
There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of the living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit.
And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.
And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
The fool hath said in his heart,.... This is to be understood not of a single individual person, as Nabal, which is the word here used; nor of some Gentile king, as Sennacherib, or Rabshakeh his general, as Theodoret; nor of Nebuchadnezzar, nor of Titus, as some Jewish writers y interpret it, making one to be here intended, and the other in the fifty third psalm: the same with this; but of a body, a set of men, who justly bear this character; and design not such who are idiots, persons void of common sense and understanding; but such who are fools in their morals, without understanding in spiritual things; wicked profligate wretches, apostates from God, alienated from the life of God; and whose hearts are full of blindness and ignorance, and whose conversations are vile and impure, and they enemies of righteousness, though full of all wicked subtlety and mischief: these say in their hearts, which are desperately wicked, and out of which evil thoughts proceed, pregnant with atheism and impiety; these endeavour to work themselves into such a belief, and inwardly to conclude, at least to wish,
[there is] no God; though they do not express it with their mouths, yet they would fain persuade their hearts to deny the being of God; that so having no superior to whom they are accountable, they may go on in sin with impunity; however, to consider him as altogether such an one as themselves, and to remove such perfections from him, as may render him unworthy to be regarded by them; such as omniscience, omnipresence, c. and to conceive of him as entirely negligent of and unconcerned about affairs of this lower world, having nothing to do with the government of it: and thus to deny his perfections and providence, is all one as to deny his existence, or that there is a God: accordingly the Targum paraphrases it,
"there is no שולטנא, "government" of God in the earth''
so Kimchi interprets it,
"there is no governor, nor judge in the world, to render to man according to his works;''
they are corrupt; that is, everyone of these fools; and it is owing to the corruption of their hearts they say such things: they are corrupt in themselves; they have corrupt natures, they are born in sin, and of the flesh, and must be carnal and corrupt: or "they do corrupt", or "have corrupted" z: they corrupt themselves by their atheistic thoughts and wicked practices, Judges 1:10; or their works, as the Chaldee paraphrase adds; or their ways, their manner and course of life, Genesis 6:12; and they corrupt others with their evil communications, their bad principles and practices, their ill examples and wicked lives;
they have done abominable works: every sinful action is abominable in the sight of God; but there are some sins more abominable than others; there are abominable idolatries, and abominable lusts, such as were committed in Sodom; and it may be these are pointed at here, and which are usually committed by such who like not to retain God in their knowledge; see Romans 1:24;
[there is] none that doeth good; anyone good work in a spiritual manner; not in faith, from love, in the name and strength of Christ, and with a view to the glory of God: nor can any man do a good work without the grace of God, and strength from Christ, and the assistance of the Spirit of God: hence, whatsoever a wicked man does, whether in a civil or in a religious way, is sin; see Proverbs 21:4. Arama takes these to be the words of the fool, or atheist, saying, there is no God that does good, like those in Zephaniah 1:12.
y Vid. Jarchi, Kimchi Ben Melech in loc. z השחיתו "corruperunt", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Gejerus "corrumpunt", Junius Tremellius "corrumpunt se", Piscator.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
The fool - The word “fool” is often used in the Scriptures to denote a wicked man - as sin is the essence of folly. Compare Job 2:10; Psalms 74:18; Genesis 34:7; Deuteronomy 22:21. The Hebrew word is rendered “vile person” in Isaiah 32:5-6. Elsewhere it is rendered “fool, foolish,” and “foolish man.” It is designed to convey the idea that wickedness or impiety is essential folly, or to use a term in describing the wicked which will, perhaps, more than any other, make the mind averse to the sin - for there is many a man who would see more in the word “fool” to be hated than in the word “wicked;” who would rather be called a “sinner” than a “fool.”
Hath said - That is, has “thought,” for the reference is to what is passing in his mind.
In his heart - See the note at Psalms 10:11. He may not have said this to others; he may not have taken the position openly before the world that there is no God, but such a thought has passed through his mind, and he has cherished it; and such a thought, either as a matter of belief or of desire, is at the foundation of his conduct. He “acts” as if such were his belief or his wish.
There is no God - The words “there is” are not in the original. The literal rendering would be either “no God,” “nothing of God,” or “God is not.” The idea is that, in his apprehension, there is no such thing as God, or no such being as God. The more correct idea in the passage is, that this was the belief of him who is here called a “fool;” and it is doubtful whether the language would convey the idea of desire - or of a wish that this might be so; but still there can be no doubt that such is the wish or desire of the wicked, and that they listen eagerly to any suggestions or arguments which, in their apprehension, would go to demonstrate that there is no such being as God. The exact state of mind, however, indicated by the languaqe here, undoubtedly is that such was the opinion or the belief of him who is here called a fool. If this is the true interpretation, then the passage would prove that there have been people who were atheists. The passage would prove, also, in its connection, that such a belief was closely linked, either as a cause or a consequent, with a corrupt life, for this statement immediately follows in regard to the character of those who are represented as saying that there is no God. As a matter of fact, the belief that there is no God is commonly founded on the desire to lead a wicked life; or, the opinion that there is no God is embraced by those who in fact lead such a life, with a desire to sustain themselves in their depravity, and to avoid the fear of future retribution. A man who wishes to lead an upright life, desires to find evidence that there is a God, and to such a man nothing would be more dark and distressing than anything which would compel him to doubt the fact of God’s existence. It is only a wicked man who finds pleasure in an argument to prove that there is no God, and the wish that there were no God springs up only in a bad heart.
They are corrupt - That is, they have done corruptly; or, their conduct is corrupt. “They have done abominable works.” They have done that which is to be abominated or abhorred; that which is to be detested, and which is fitted to fill the mind with horror.
There is none that doeth good - Depravity is universal. All have fallen into sin; all fail to do good. None are found who are disposed to worship their Maker, and to keep his laws. This was originally spoken, undoubtedly, with reference to the age in which the psalmist lived; but it is applied by the apostle Paul, Romans 3:10 (see the note at that passage), as an argument for the universal depravity of mankind.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
PSALM XIV
The sentiments of atheists and deists, who deny the doctrine
of a Divine providence. Their character: they are corrupt,
foolish, abominable, and cruel, 1-4.
God fills them with terror, 5;
reproaches them for their oppression of the poor, 6.
The psalmist prays for the restoration of Israel, 7.
NOTES ON PSALM XIV
There is nothing particular in the title; only it is probable that the word לדוד ledavid, of David, is improperly prefixed, as it is sufficiently evident, from the construction of the Psalm, that it speaks of the Babylonish captivity. The author, whoever he was, (some say Haggai, others Daniel, c.,) probably lived beyond the Euphrates. He describes here, in fervid colours, the iniquity of the Chaldeans. He predicts their terror and destruction he consoles himself with the prospect of a speedy return from his exile; and hopes soon to witness the reunion of the tribes of Israel and Judah. It may be applied to unbelievers in general.
Verse Psalms 14:1. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. — נבל nabal, which we render fool, signifies an empty fellow, a contemptible person, a villain. One who has a muddy head and an unclean heart; and, in his darkness and folly, says in his heart, "There is no God." "And none," says one, "but a fool would say so." The word is not to be taken in the strict sense in which we use the term atheist, that is, one who denies the being of a God, or confounds him with matter.
1. There have been some, not many, who have denied the existence of God.
2. There are others who, without absolutely denying the Divine existence, deny his providence; that is, they acknowledge a Being of infinite power, c., but give him nothing to do, and no world to govern.
3. There are others, and they are very numerous, who, while they profess to acknowledge both, deny them in their heart, and live as if they were persuaded there was no God either to punish or reward.
They are corrupt — They are in a state of putrescency and they have done abominable works - the corruption of their hearts extends itself through all the actions of their lives. They are a plague of the most deadly kind; propagate nothing but destruction; and, like their father the devil, spread far and wide the contagion of sin and death. Not one of them does good. He cannot, for he has no Divine influence, and he denies that such can be received.
