Bible Strands
Psalms 49:9
that he should live on forever and not see decay.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the crowd regarding the impossibility of using wealth to escape mortality.
The words — לָ/נֶ֑צַח (la./Ne.tzach) translates to perpetuity, and הַ/שָּֽחַת (ha./Sha.chat) denotes the pit.
The thread — This motif runs through Psalms 89:48, Ecclesiastes 8:8, and Psalms 16:10.
Why it lands — The text states that no ransom can purchase endless life or halt descent into the pit. It commands the reader to recognize wealth as powerless against death and to stop trusting in it for deliverance.
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
That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption.
Cross-references
- Psalms 89:48 What man can live and never see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah
- Psalms 16:10 For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.
- Ecclesiastes 8:8 As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.
- Proverbs 10:2 Ill-gotten treasures profit nothing, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.
- Proverbs 11:4 Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.
- John 8:51 Truly, truly, I tell you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death.”
- Acts 2:27 because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.
- Psalms 22:29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before Him—even those unable to preserve their lives.
- Zechariah 1:5 Where are your fathers now? And the prophets, do they live forever?
- Luke 16:22 One day the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. And the rich man also died and was buried.