Psalms 31:12

Psa 31:12 I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.

Ver. 12. I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind] How soon dead men are forgotten, even by those that promise to remember them longest of all, experience teacheth; trust not to protestations of best friends in that case.

I am like a broken vessel] Of which there is no further use or esteem.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa_31:12

I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind.

Buried alive

This title would suggest to many, terrible ideas of an awful physical calamity, such as has taken place in mines, or in actual burials ere life was extinct. But there are other senses in which men are buried alive.

I. in an unfortunate sense.

1. For want of opportunities of mental development. The human mind is like seed in the vegetable kingdom. It contains life and unbounded possibilities of increase, but unless it finds suitable soil, shower and warmth, the vital principle is buried alive, buried in the shell. And so it is too often with thousands of men. There are multitudes possessing brilliant natural capacities--mute Miltons and Shakespeares--but buried for lack of opportunity. Hence, let us rejoice at the growing determination that our children shall be educated, however poor they may be, and thus shall possess the means of stimulating life and growth.

2. Through the infirmities of age. Their day is past. They once were prominent and well known, but now are forgotten as dead men out of mind.

3. Through the envy of their contemporaries. This, perhaps, is the meaning of the psalmists words. Malice bespreads a thick cloud over a name which once has shone brightly. Now many are thus kept in the background.

II. in a criminal sense. To be carnally minded is death.

III. in a virtuous sense. We are buried with Him by baptism into death. Not the baptism of water, of course, but the baptism of that holy fire that burns up all carnalities. What is buried here? Not the mind, but the old man with its lusts. Nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ, etc. This is a virtuous burying alive. It means being dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto righteousness.

IV. conclusion. In which of these senses are you buried alive? Some of you may say that it is in the first sense. It may be so; ask God to guide you into a fit sphere. Or it may be by the infirmities of age. You cannot do what you once did and what you wish to do. But God accepts the will for the deed. He values service by its motive. But some of you are buried alive in the criminal sense. You are dead in the grave of depravity. Arise from the dead and Christ, etc. And others of you are so in the virtuous sense--dead to sin. You can say, God forbid that I should glory save . . . the world is crucified to me and I to the world. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa 31:12-13. I am forgotten, &c. — Whatsoever good service I have done to the king or kingdom, or to any particular persons, which they have sometimes acknowledged and highly commended, is now quite forgotten by them all: or at least they behave toward me as if it were so. As a dead man out of mind — Whose name and memory are quite lost within a few days. I am like a broken vessel — Made of earth, which is irreparable and useless, and therefore despised by all. For I have heard — With my own ears, or learned by information from others, the slander of many — Who reproach and defame me, as a turbulent and seditious person, an enemy to the public peace, and a conspirator against the king’s life, or dignity. Fear was on every side — Just cause for fear, even of the loss of my life; while they took counsel together against me — בהוסדם יחד, behiv-vasedam jachad, in their assembling together, and holding consultations; they devised, or plotted to take away my life — Namely, unjustly and violently. This and the preceding verses are plainly applicable to the Lord Jesus, and to the life of sorrow and reproach which he led among men.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. (Psa 31:12). I was forgotten as a dead man out of mind; I was like a broken vessel (or a vessel perishing). The next stage of his calamity was that of contemptuous oblivion, which usually follows the acute one of disgust and shame described in the foregoing verse.—From the heart, i.e. the memory; the expression seems to correspond exactly to the second member of the English proverb, Out of sight, out of mind.—The comparison with an earthen vessel, at best of little value, easily broken, and when broken, worthless, only fit to be contemptuously thrown aside, is a favourite with Jeremiah, who appears to have derived it, with some other favourite ideas and expressions, from the psalm before us. See Jer 19:11; Jer 22:28; Jer 25:34; Jer 48:38, and compare Hos 8:8.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

he is forgotten as one dead, and contemned as a useless broken vessel.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 12. I am forgotten as a dead man] I am considered as a person adjudged to death. I am like a broken vessel - like a thing totally useless.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. I am forgotten as one dead. The Psalmist still pursues the same idea, and complains that he was as completely blotted out of all men’s remembrance as if he had been dead. The memory of some men after their death flourishes for a time among survivors, but it more frequently vanishes; for there is no longer any intercourse between the quick and the dead, nor can the living be of any farther service to the dead. David illustrates this idea by the metaphor of a broken vessel, “I am become like a broken vessel;” that is, utterly neglected as being worthless.

Horsley takes the same view. He reads, “the mighty.”

“Fearfulness on every side, or terror round about. In Heb., magor missabib, which name Jeremiah gave to Pashur the priest, signifying that he should be a terror to himself and to all his friends; Jeremiah 20:3, 4.” — Ainsworth. Horsley reads,

“Truly I heard the angry muttering of the mighty, of them that are the general dread.”

On this he has the following note: ”מסביב מגור, I take this to be a phrase describing the mighty, whose malignant threats against him he overheard, as persons universally dreaded for their power and their cruelty.”

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(12) Broken vessel.—A favourite image with Jeremiah (Jer_19:11; Jer_22:28; Jer_25:34; Jer_48:38), but not peculiar to him among the prophets. (Comp. Hos_8:8, and see Introduction to this psalm.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. As a dead man passes out of men’s minds, so he is forgotten. Cp. Job_19:14. He is like a broken (lit. perishing) vessel, flung aside contemptuously and no more remembered. Cp. (though the phrase there is different) Jer_22:28 (R.V.).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind,.... Either by his friends, being out of sight, out of mind; as even the nearest relations and acquaintance are, in process of time, when dead, Ecc 9:5; or by the Lord; which shows the weakness of his faith, the uncomfortable frame he was in, through darkness and desertion; see Psa 88:5;

I am like a broken vessel; or a "perishing vessel" (c); or "a vessel of perdition" (d): the Septuagint version renders it "a lost vessel" (e); one entirely useless, wholly lost, and irrecoverably so; like a broken vessel, which can never be put together again, Isa 30:14; a most sad apprehension he had of himself, as if his case was desperate, and he a vessel of wrath; compare with this, Rom 9:22.

(c) "sicut vas periens", Montanus, Cocceius, Gejerus. (d) So Ainsworth. (e) V. L. Pagninus, Musculus, Piscator.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind - Like the man who is dead, and who has passed away from the recollection of mankind. Compare Psa 88:4-5. The Hebrew is, “as a dead man from the heart;” that is, from the memory or recollection of men, so as to be no more remembered; no more regarded. The expression is nearly the same in meaning as our common English proverb: “out of sight, out of mind.” The allusion is to the fact that a man who is dead is soon forgotten. He is missed at first by a few friends, while the rest of the world knows little about him, or cares little for him. He is no longer seen where he has been accustomed to be seen, at the place of business, in the social circle, in the scenes of amusement, in the streets, or in public assemblies. For a short period a vacancy is created which attracts attention and causes regret. But the world moves on. Another comes to fill his place, and soon his absence ceases to be a subject of remark, or a cause of regret; the world says little about him, and soon he altogether ceases to be remembered. At no distant time the rude board with his name written on it, or the marble sculptured with all the skill of art, falls down. The passing traveler casts an eye upon the “name” of him who slept his last sleep there, and neither knows nor cares who he was.

“The gay will laugh

When thou art gone, the solemn brood of care

Plod on, and each one as before will chase

His favorite phantom”

- Bryant

“On my grassy grave

The men of future times will careless tread,

And read my name upon the sculptured stone;

Nor will the sound, familiar to their ears,

Recall my vanish’d memory.”

- Henry Kirke White

It is sad to reflect that this is to be our lot; but so it is. It would cast a most gloomy shade over life if this was to be the end of man, and if he passed from existence as soon as he passes from the recollection of the living. The idea of the psalmist here is, that, in the circumstances to which he referred, he had been forgotten by mankind, and he uses the most striking image which could be employed to convey that idea.

I am like a broken vessel - Margin, as in Hebrew, “like a vessel that perisheth.” That is, like a vessel made of clay - a piece of pottery - that is easily broken and rendered worthless. This is a favorite comparison with Jeremiah. See Jer 22:28; Jer 48:38; Lam 4:2. Compare also Psa 2:9; Isa 30:14; Hos 8:8.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Whatsoever good service I have done to the king, or kingdom, or to any particular persons, neighbours, friends, or others, which sometimes they have acknowledged and highly commended, is now quite forgotten by all of them; or, at least, they carry themselves to me as if it were so.

As a dead man; whose name and memory is quite lost within a few days. See Psa 88:12; Ecc 9:5.

Like a broken vessel, made of earth; which is irreparable, and useless, and therefore despised by all.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 12. I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind. All David's youthful prowess was now gone from remembrance; he had been the saviour of his country, but his services were buried in oblivion. Men soon forget the deepest obligations; popularity is evanescent to the last degree: he who is in every one's mouth today may be forgotten by all tomorrow. A man had better be dead than be smothered in slander. Of the dead we say nothing but good, but in the psalmist's case they said nothing but evil. We must not look for the reward of philanthropy this side of heaven, for men pay their best servants but sorry wages, and turn them out of doors when no more is to be got out of them. I am like a broken vessel, a thing useless, done for, worthless, cast aside, forgotten. Sad condition for a king! Let us see herein the portrait of the King of kings in his humiliation, when he made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant.

Ver. 12. I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind. A striking instance of how the greatest princes are forgotten in death is found in the deathbed of Louis XIV. "The Louis that was, lies forsaken, a mass of abhorred clay; abandoned `to some poor persons, and priests of the Chapelle Ardente, 'who make haste to put him `in two lead coffins, pouring in abundant spirits of wine.' The new Louis with his court is rolling towards Choisy, through the summer afternoon: the royal tears still flow; but a word mispronounced by Monseigneur d'Artois sets them all laughing, and they weep no more." Thomas Carlyle in "The French Revolution."

Ver. 12. I am forgotten, etc. As a dying man with curtains drawn, whom friends have no hope of, and therefore look off from; or rather like a dead man laid aside out of sight and out of mind altogether, and buried more in oblivion than in his grave; when the news is, "she is dead, trouble not the Master." Lu 8:49. Anthony Tuckney, D.D., 1599-1670.

Ver. 12. I am like a broken vessel. As a vessel, how profitable soever it hath been to the owner, and how necessary for his turn, yet, when it is broken is thrown away, and regarded no longer: even so such is the state of a man forsaken of those whose friend he hath been so long as he was able to stand them in stead to be of advantage to them. Robert Cawdray.

Ver. 12-15:

Forgot as those who in the grave abide,

And as a broken vessel past repair,

Slandered by many, fear on every side.

Who counsel take and would my life ensnare.

But, Lord, my hopes on thee are fixed: I said,

Thou art my God, my days are in thy hand;

Against my furious foes oppose thy aid,

And those who persecute my soul withstand. George Sandys.

Ver. 12. The world's treatment of its best friends.

Psalms 31:13*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. Out of mind—Hebrew, Out of heart. Perished from the affections of the living. Compare, “No man cared for my soul,” (Psa_142:4,) and the phrase, “out of the mouths,” (cease to be repeated,) Deu_31:21

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind. (comp. Psa_88:5) I am like a broken vessel. Of no value to any one; only fit to be thrown away.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A broken vessel - Which is irreparable, and useless, and therefore despised by all.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

as a dead man whom no one thinks about

People do not think about dead people. The writer does not think people think about him. (See: Simile)

like a broken pot

The writer speaks of himself as if he was completely useless. "as useless as a broken pot" (See: Simile)

the whispering of many

It is implied that "many" refers to people. AT: "many people talking about me" (See: Ellipsis)

terrifying news from every side

"scary reports from many sources"

take away my life

This idiom means to kill someone. AT: "kill me" (See: Idiom)

translationWords

die

terror

life

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

From all my tormentors From all my tormentors [not because of my tormentors]. I have become a reproach Heb. חרפה, a reproach.

to my neighbors I am very much a reproach. and fright to my acquaintances A mes connaissances in French, to my acquaintances. They are frightened by what happens to me.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.