the Week of Proper 23 / Ordinary 28
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New Living Translation
Psalms 49:5
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
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- InternationalParallel Translations
Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when iniquity at my heels compasseth me about?
Why should I fear in the days of evil, When iniquity at my heels compasses me about?
Why should I be afraid of bad days? Why should I fear when evil people surround me?
Why should I be afraid in times of trouble, when the sinful deeds of deceptive men threaten to overwhelm me?
Why should I fear in the days of evil, [when] the iniquity of my heels shall encompass me?
Why should I fear in the days of evil, When iniquity at my heels surrounds me?
Why should I fear in the days of evil, When the wickedness of those who would betray me surrounds me [on every side],
Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
Whi schal Y drede in the yuel dai? the wickidnesse of myn heele schal cumpasse me.
Why should I fear in times of trouble, when wicked usurpers surround me?
Why should I be afraid in times of trouble, when I am surrounded by vicious enemies?
Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, When iniquity at my heels compasseth me about?
What cause have I for fear in the days of evil, when the evil-doing of those who are working for my downfall is round about me?
I will listen with care to [God's] parable, I will set my enigma to the music of the lyre.
Wherefore should I fear in the days of adversity, [when] the iniquity of my supplanters encompasseth me?—
Why should I be afraid when trouble comes? There is no need to fear when evil enemies surround me.
I will incline mine ear to a parable; I will open my dark saying upon the harp.
Wherefore should I feare in the daies of euill, when the iniquitie of my heeles shall compasse me about?
Why should I be afraid in the days of trouble, when the sin of those who hate me is all around me?
Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me,
Wherefore should I feare in the euil dayes, when iniquitie shal compasse me about, as at mine heeles?
I will fear not in days of evil, when the iniquity of my enemies shall surround me,
I am not afraid in times of danger when I am surrounded by enemies,
Wherefore should I fear in the days of calamity, Though the iniquity of them who lie in wait for me should enclose me?
(48-6) Why shall I fear in the evil day? the iniquity of my heel shall encompass me.
Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me,
Wherfore shoulde I feare in euyll dayes? the wickednesse of my heeles [then] would compasse me round about.
Wherefore should I fear in the evil day? the iniquity of my heel shall compass me.
Why should I fear in times of trouble?The iniquity of my foes surrounds me.
Why should I fear in the days of evil, When iniquity at my heels surrounds me?
Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?
Why should I fear in times of calamity, when iniquity surrounds me at my heels,
Why should I fear in the days of evil, when the perversity of my ambushers will surround me?
Why do I fear in days of evil? The iniquity of my supplanters doth compass me.
Wherfore shulde I feare the euell dayes, whe the wickednesse of my heles copaseth me rounde aboute?
So why should I fear in bad times, hemmed in by enemy malice, Shoved around by bullies, demeaned by the arrogant rich?
Why should I fear in days of adversity, When the injustice of those who betray me surrounds me,
Why should I fear in the days of evil, When the iniquity at my heels surrounds me?
Why should I fear in days of adversity, When the iniquity of my foes surrounds me,
Why should I fear in days of evil,When the iniquity of my supplanters surrounds me,
Contextual Overview
For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah.
Listen to this, all you people! Pay attention, everyone in the world! 2 High and low, rich and poor—listen! 3 For my words are wise, and my thoughts are filled with insight. 4 I listen carefully to many proverbs and solve riddles with inspiration from a harp. 5 Why should I fear when trouble comes, when enemies surround me?Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Wherefore: Psalms 27:1, Psalms 27:2, Psalms 46:1, Psalms 46:2, Isaiah 41:10, Isaiah 41:11, Acts 27:24, Romans 8:33, Romans 8:34, Philippians 1:28
days: Proverbs 24:10, Amos 5:13, Ephesians 5:16
iniquity: Psalms 38:4, Proverbs 5:22, Hosea 7:2
heels: Psalms 22:16, Psalms 56:6, Psalms 56:7, Genesis 49:17, 1 Samuel 26:20
Reciprocal: Psalms 37:18 - the days Psalms 49:16 - Be not Zephaniah 3:11 - shalt thou Luke 12:19 - Soul
Cross-References
The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from his descendants, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will honor.
He ties his foal to a grapevine, the colt of his donkey to a choice vine. He washes his clothes in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.
May the God of your father help you; may the Almighty bless you with the blessings of the heavens above, and blessings of the watery depths below, and blessings of the breasts and womb.
There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried. There Isaac and his wife, Rebekah, are buried. And there I buried Leah.
When Jacob had finished this charge to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and joined his ancestors in death.
A lazy person is as bad as someone who destroys things.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil,.... This is the principal thing that all are before called to hearken to. This is the wisdom and understanding the psalmist had been meditating upon, and was about to utter; this is the parable he inclined his ear to, and the dark saying he would open; namely, that a saint has nothing to fear in the worst of times; which is a riddle to a natural man. Aben Ezra interprets "the days of evil" of the days of old age, as they are called, Ecclesiastes 12:1, which bring on diseases, weakness, and death; in which a good man has no reason to fear; as that he should want the necessaries of life, since they that fear the Lord shall want no good thing; or that he should not hold out to the end, seeing God, who is the guide of youth, is the staff of old age, and carries to hoary hairs, and will never leave nor forsake; and though the wicked man in old age has reason to be afraid of death and eternity at hand, the saint has not; but may sing, on the borders of the grave, "O death! where is thy sting?" c. 1 Corinthians 15:55. Also days in which iniquity abounds, and error and heresy prevail, are days of evil and though the good man may fear he shall be led aside by the ill example of some, or by the craft of others; yet he need not, since the foundation of God stands sure, and he knows them that are his, and will take care of them and preserve them. Moreover, times of affliction and persecution are evil days; see Ephesians 5:16; and such will be the hour of temptation, that shall try the inhabitants of the earth, Revelation 3:10. Yet the righteous man need not fear, since it is always well with him, let his case and circumstances be what they will. Yea, the day of death, and the day of judgment are days of evil to wicked men; and therefore they put them away far from them, Amos 6:3; but believers have reason to rejoice at them, the day of their death being better than the day of their birth; and the day of judgment will be the time of the glorious appearing of Christ to them. It is added,
[when] the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about; that is, the sins of life and conversation; "heels" denote "steps", and the word is sometimes so rendered, as in Psalms 56:6; and "iniquity" intends sin committed in walking; and so designs not original sin, as some have thought, but actual sins and transgressions: and these may be said to "compass [the saints] about", when they are chastised for them, and so are brought to a sense and acknowledgment of them, and to be humbled for them; and then they have nothing to fear in a slavish way, since these chastisements are not in wrath, or in a way of vindictive justice, or punishment for sin; but the fruits of love and favour. Or the sense may be, when death, the fruit of iniquity, the wages of sin, surrounds and seizes upon me; בסופי, "in my end", as the Targum; in my last days, at the heel or close of them, I will not fear; the saint has no reason to fear, when he walks through death's dark valley; for death is abolished as a penal evil, its sting is took away, and its curse removed. Some render the words, "when the iniquity of my supplanters shall compass me about" o; meaning his enemies, who either lay in wait for him privately, and endeavoured to supplant him; or that pursued him closely, and pressed upon his heels, just ready to destroy him; yet even then he signifies he should not fear: and then the sense is the same with Psalms 27:1; to which agree the Syriac and Arabic versions, which render it, "the iniquity of mine enemies"; or, "when my enemies surround me": and it may be literally rendered, when "iniquity surrounds me at my heels" p; that is, when men, who are iniquity itself, encompass me, are at my heels, ready to seize me, I will not fear.
o עון עקבי "iniquitas supplantatorum meorum", Gejerus; "insidiatorum meorum", some in Vatablus. p "Iniquitas oppressorum", i.e. "iniquissimi mei oppressores ambiunt me", Gejerus.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil - This verse is designed evidently to state the main subject of the psalm; the result of the reflections of the author on what had been to him a source of perplexity; on what had seemed to him to be a dark problem. He “had” evidently felt that there was occasion to dread the power of wicked rich men; but he now felt that he had no ground for that fear and alarm. He saw that their power was short-lived; that all the ability to injure, arising from their station and wealth, must soon cease; that his own highest interests could not be affected by anything which they could do. The “days of evil” here spoken of are the times which are referred to in the following phrase, “when the iniquity of my heels,” etc.
When the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about - It would be difficult to make any sense out of this expression, though it is substantially the same rendering which is found in the Vulgate and the Septuagint. Luther renders it “when the iniquity of my oppressors encompasses me.” The Chaldee Paraphrase renders it, “why should I fear in the days of evil, unless it be when the guilt of my sin compasses me about?” The Syriac renders it, “the iniquity of “my enemies.” The Arabic, “when my enemies surround me.” DeWette renders it as Luther does. Rosenmuller, “when the iniquity of those who lay snares against me shall compass me around.” Prof. Alexander, “when the iniquity of my oppressors (or supplanters) shall surround me.” The word rendered “heels” here - עקב ‛âqêb - means properly “heel,” Genesis 3:15; Job 18:9; Judges 5:22; then, the rear of an army, Joshua 8:13; then, in the plural, “footsteps,” prints of the heel or foot, Psalms 77:19; and then, according to Gesenius (Lexicon) “a lier in wait, insidiator.”
Perhaps there is in the word the idea of craft; of lying in wait; of taking the advantages - from the verb עקב ‛âqab, to be behind, to come from behind; and hence to supplant; to circumvent. So in Hosea 12:3, “in the womb he held his brother by the heel” (compare Genesis 25:26). Hence, the word is used as meaning to supplant; to circumvent, Genesis 27:36; Jeremiah 9:4 (Hebrew, Jeremiah 9:3) This is, undoubtedly, the meaning here. The true idea is, when I am exposed to the crafts, the cunning, the tricks, of those who lie in wait for me; I am liable to be attacked suddenly, or to be taken unawares; but what have I to fear? The psalmist refers to the evil conduct of his enemies, as having given him alarm. They were rich and powerful. They endeavored in some way to supplant him - perhaps, as we should say, to “trip him up” - to overcome him by art, by power, by trick, or by fraud. He “had” been afraid of these powerful foes; but on a calm review of the whole matter, he came to the conclusion that he had really no cause for fear. The reasons for this he proceeds to state in the following part of the psalm.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Psalms 49:5. The iniquity of my heels — Perhaps עקבי akebai, which we translate my heels, should be considered the contracted plural of עקבים akebim, supplanters. The verse would then read thus: "Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, though the iniquity of my supplanters should compass me about." The Syriac and Arabic have taken a similar view of the passage: "Why should I fear in the evil day, when the iniquity of my enemies compasses me about." And so Dr. Kennicott translates it.
