New King James Version
Psalms 62:9
9Surely 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.
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 Living Translation (NLT)Common people are as worthless as a puff of wind, and the powerful are not what they appear to be. If you weigh them on the scales, together they are lighter than a breath of air.
Context of Psalms 62:9
7In God is my salvation and my glory; The rock of my strength, And my refuge, is in God. 8Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah 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. 10Do not trust in oppression, Nor vainly hope in robbery; If riches increase, Do not set your heart on them. 11God has spoken once, Twice I have heard this: That power 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 39:5Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah
- 1 Samuel 18:5So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.
- 1 Samuel 23:12Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the Lord said, “They will deliver you.”
- 2 Samuel 15:6In this manner Absalom acted toward all Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
- Matthew 21:9Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!”
- John 19:15But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”
- Psalms 55:13But it was you, a man my equal, My companion and my acquaintance.
- Psalms 118:9It is better to trust in the Lord Than to put confidence in princes.
- 1 Samuel 18:21So Saul said, “I will give her to him, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time, “You shall be my son-in-law today.”
- 1 Samuel 26:21Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David. For I will harm you no more, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Indeed I have played the fool and erred exceedingly.”
- 2 Samuel 15:31Then someone told David, saying, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “O Lord, I pray, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”
- Romans 3:4Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: “That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged.”
- Daniel 5:27TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting;
- Isaiah 40:15Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, And are counted as the small dust on the scales; Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing.
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries