Christian Standard Bible
Psalms 62:9
9Common people are only a vapor; important people, an illusion. Together on a scale, they weigh less than a vapor.
Psalms 62:9 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)Surely the lowborn are but a breath, the highborn are but a lie. If weighed on a balance, they are nothing; together they are only a breath.
- English Standard Version (ESV)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.
- New King James Version (NKJV)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.
Context of Psalms 62:9
7My salvation and glory depend on God, my strong rock. My refuge is in God. 8Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before him. God is our refuge.Selah Common people are only a vapor; important people, an illusion. Together on a scale, they weigh less than a vapor. 10Place no trust in oppression or false hope in robbery. If wealth increases, don’t set your heart on it. 11God has spoken once; I have heard this twice: strength belongs to God,
Read all of Psalms 62Psalms 62:9 word by word
אַ֤ךְ׀ הֶ֥בֶל בְּנֵֽי־אָדָם֮ כָּזָ֪ב בְּנֵ֫י אִ֥ישׁ בְּמֹאזְנַ֥יִם לַעֲל֑וֹת הֵ֝֗מָּה מֵהֶ֥בֶל יָֽחַד׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 62:9
- Psalms 39:5In fact, you have made my days just inches long, and my life span is as nothing to you. Yes, every human being stands as only a vapor.Selah
- 1 Samuel 18:5David marched out with the army and was successful in everything Saul sent him to do. Saul put him in command of the fighting men, which pleased all the people and Saul’s servants as well.
- 1 Samuel 23:12Then David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah hand me and my men over to Saul?” “They will,” the Lord responded.
- 2 Samuel 15:6Absalom did this to all the Israelites who came to the king for a settlement. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
- Matthew 21:9Then the crowds who went ahead of him and those who followed shouted: Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!
- John 19:15They shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Should I crucify your king?” “We have no king but Caesar!” the chief priests answered.
- Psalms 55:13But it is you, a man who is my peer, my companion and good friend!
- Psalms 118:9It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in nobles.
- 1 Samuel 18:21“I’ll give her to him,” Saul thought. “She’ll be a trap for him, and the hand of the Philistines will be against him.” So Saul said to David a second time, “You can now be my son-in-law.”
- 1 Samuel 26:21Saul responded, “I have sinned. Come back, my son David, I will never harm you again because today you considered my life precious. I have been a fool! I’ve committed a grave error.”
- 2 Samuel 15:31Then someone reported to David, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” “Lord,” David pleaded, “please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”
- Romans 3:4Absolutely not! Let God be true, even though everyone is a liar, as it is written: That you may be justified in your words and triumph when you judge.
- Daniel 5:27‘Tekel’ means that you have been weighed on the balance and found deficient.
- Isaiah 40:15Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered as a speck of dust on the scales; he lifts up the islands like fine dust.
Commentaries on Psalms 62:9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9Men of low degree are vanity - אדם בני beney Adam, which we here translate men of low degree, literally, sons of Adam, are put in opposition to איש בני 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…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9Surely 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…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-12Verses 8-12 Those who have found the comfort of the ways of God themselves, will invite others into those ways; we shall never have the less for others sharing with us. the good counsel given is, to trust wholly in God. We must so trust in him at all times, as not at any time to put that trust in ourselves, or in any creature, which is to be put in him only. Trust in him to guide us when in doubt, to protect us when in danger, to supply us when in want…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9are but a lie: People often try to appear stronger and better than they truly are.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. No kind of men are reliable, compared with God (Is 2:22; Jr 17:5). altogether--alike, one as the other (Psa 34:3).Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 62:9
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 62
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- The Treasury of David
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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