Bible Strands
Psalms 49:12
But a man, despite his wealth, cannot endure; he is like the beasts that perish.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the wealthy and the foolish, interrupting a discourse on temporal legacy to confront those who trust in material pride. The verse follows a description of graves as permanent dwellings and precedes a warning about the fate of those who endorse foolishness.
The words — בִּיקָר (biqar) translates to honor or wealth, while יָלִין (yalin) means to remain or endure. The construction בַּל־יָלִין בִּיקָר explicitly negates the possibility of lasting permanence despite prosperity.
The thread — The comparison to perishing animals appears in Psalms 49:20 and Ecclesiastes 3:18, where humanity is tested to reveal its beastly nature. The brevity of life undergirding this theme is stated in Psalms 39:5.
Why it lands — The text states that wealth cannot prevent death or secure legacy. It requires the reader to discard self-reliance on material success and accept mortality as a universal boundary.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.
Cross-references
- Ecclesiastes 3:18 I said to myself, “As for the sons of men, God tests them so that they may see for themselves that they are but beasts.”
- Psalms 39:5 You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah
- Psalms 49:20 A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.
- Psalms 82:7 But like mortals you will die, and like rulers you will fall.”
- Ecclesiastes 9:12 For surely no man knows his time: Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds trapped in a snare, so men are ensnared in an evil time that suddenly falls upon them.
- James 1:10 But the one who is rich should exult in his low position, because he will pass away like a flower of the field.
- 1 Peter 1:24 For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,