Psalms 49:17

Psa 49:17 For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him.

Ver. 17. For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away] Nothing but a shroud, as that great emperor caused to be proclaimed at his funeral. He was a fool that on his death bed clapped a piece of gold into his mouth, and said, Some wiser than some; I will take this with me. See Job 1:21 1Ti 6:7. {See Trapp on "Job 1:21"} {See Trapp on "1Ti 6:7"}

His glory shall not descend after him] No, nor be able to breathe one cold blast upon him, when he is burning in hell. Oh that wicked rich men would think of this, before the cold grave hold their bodies, and hot hell hold their souls.

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.

18. (Psa 49:17.) For not in his death will he take the whole; not down will go after him his glory. The form of the original is here retained as far as possible, in order to exhibit its highly idiomatic character. The position of the negative in both clauses makes it far more emphatic than in our English collocation. At his death, in his dying, when he dies. The whole this word is usually rendered all, but it is invariably a substantive in Hebrew, and is here determined to be such by the definite article prefixed. Not the whole, however, or not all, is by no means so significant a phrase in English as in Hebrew, where the absence of indefinite pronouns makes this the only way of saying not anything, i.e. nothing While the words therefore certainly mean that he shall not take all, they likewise mean that he shall not take any of his secular possessions with him; and this stronger sense is here required by the context. His glory, as in the preceding verse, his wealth and the honours or distinctions springing from it. Descend after him, not in the moral or legal sense of a hereditary descent to his heirs, but in the local sense of a descent into the grave or the unseen world. The whole verse assigns a reason for not envying the wealthy sinner, namely, because he will be soon obliged to leave his wealth behind him.

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

17. Cp. Job_1:21; Ecc_5:15; 1Ti_6:7; and parallels from classical authors: e.g. Propertius IV. 5. 13:

Haud ullas portabis opes Acherontis ad undas:

Nudus at inferna, stulte, vehere, rate.

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.

For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away,.... Such men, with all their riches and honour, must die; therefore why should men be afraid of them? or wherein are they to be accounted of, whose breath is in their nostrils? nor can they carry either of them with them; their riches will be of no profit to them after death, when they will be upon a level with the poor, who will have nothing to fear from them; see Ti1 6:7;

his glory shall not descend after him; either into the grave, the pit of corruption, the lower part of the earth, where kings, princes, counsellors, and peasants, are all alike, Job 3:14; or into hell, where are no titles of honour, nor respect of persons; no Pharaoh king of Egypt, or Sennacherib king of Assyria, there; but plain Pharaoh, &c. see Eze 32:31.

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

For when he dieth - He must die. His wealth cannot save him from the grave. It is always to be “assumed” of rich people, as of all other men, that they “will” have to die. The point is not one which is to be argued; not one about which there can be any doubt. Of all people, whatever else may be said of them, it may always be affirmed that they must die, and important inferences may be always drawn from that fact.

He shall carry nothing away - It is not improbable that the apostle Paul had this passage in his eye in what he says in 1Ti 6:7, “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that we can carry nothing out.” See the notes at that passage. Compare Job 27:16-19.

His glory shall not descend after him - His wealth, and those things which have been procured by wealth, as indicating station and rank, cannot accompany him to the other world. This is said to show that he is not to be “feared” on account of his wealth. The argument is, that whatever there is in wealth that seems to give power, and to afford the means of doing injury, must soon be separated from him. In respect to wealth, and to all the power derived from wealth, he will be like the most poor and penniless of mortals. All that he possesses will pass into other hands, and whether for good or for evil, it will no longer be in his power to use it. As this “must” occur soon - as it “may” occur in a moment - there is no reason to “fear” such a man, or to suppose that he can do permanent injury by any power derived from wealth. Compare the notes at Isa 14:6-7, notes at Isa 14:10-11.

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

For as he will shortly die, so all his wealth, and power, and glory will die with him, and thou wilt have no cause either to envy or fear him.

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

Ver. 17. For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away. He has but a leasehold of his acres, and death ends his tenure. Through the river of death man must pass naked. Not a rag of all his raiment, not a coin of all his treasure, not a joy of all his honour, can the dying worldling carry with him. Why then fret ourselves about so fleeting a prosperity? His glory shall not descend after him. As he goes down, down, down for ever, none of his honours or possessions will follow him. Patents of nobility are invalid in the sepulchre. His worship, his honour, his lordship, and his grace, will alike find their titles ridiculous in the tomb. Hell knows no aristocracy. Your dainty and delicate sinners shall find that eternal burnings have no respect for their affectations and refinements.

Ver. 17. For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away. The form of money agrees well with the condition of it; it is stamped round, because it is so apt to run away. Could we be rich so long as we live, yet that were uncertain enough for life itself is but a dream, a shadow, but a dream of a shadow. (Augustine.) Rich men are but like hailstones; they make a noise in the world, as the other rattle on the tiles of a house; down they fall, lie still, and melt away. So that if riches could stay by a man, yet he cannot stay by them. Spite of his teeth, he shall carry away nothing when he dies. Life and goods are both is a vessel, both cast away at once; yea, of the two, life hath the more likelihood of continuance. Let it fly never so fast away, riches have eagles' wings, and will outfly it. There be thieves in the highways, that will take our moneys and spare our lives. In our penal laws, there be not so many ways to forfeit our lives as our goods. Rich Job lived to see himself poor to a proverb. How many in this city reputed rich, yet have broken for thousands! There are innumerable ways to be poor; a fire, a thief, a false servant, suretyship, trusting of bad customers, an unfaithful factor, a pirate, an unskilful pilot, hath brought rich men to poverty. One gale of wind is able to make merchants rich or beggars. Man's life is like the banks of a river, his temporal estate is the stream: time will moulder away the banks, but the stream stays not for that, it glides away continually. Life is the tree, riches are the fruit, or rather the leaves; the leaves will fall, the fruit is plucked, and yet the tree stands. Some write of the pine tree, that if the bark be pulled off, it lasts long; being on it rots. If the worldling's bark were stripped off, he might perhaps live the longer, there is great hope he would live the better. Thomas Adams.

Ver. 17. He shall carry nothing away. It is with us in this world, as it was in the Jewish fields and vineyards: pluck and eat they might what they would while they were there; but they might not pocket or put up ought to carry with them. De 23:24. Thomas Gataker.

Ver. 17. He shall carry nothing away. "He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly." Job 20:15.

Ver. 17. Descend. Death takes the sinner by the throat, and "hauls him down stairs to the grave." The indulgence in any sinful propensity has this downward, deathly tendency. Every lust, whether for riches or honours, for gambling, wine or women, leads the deluded wretched votary step by step to the chambers of death. There is no hope in the dread prospect; trouble and anguish possess the spirit. Hast thou escaped, O my soul, from the net of the infernal fowler? Never forget that it is as a brand snatched from the burning. Oh, to grace how great a debtor! George Offor's note in "The Works of John Bunyan."

Ver. 17.

You will carry none of your riches, fool, to the waters of Acheron. You will be ferried over quite naked in the infernal boat.

Propertius.

Ver. 17. The loaded and unloaded sinner.

Psalms 49:18*

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

For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away. Nothing in the way of earthly possessions nothing but the qualities which he has imprinted on his soul, and made part and parcel of himself. The heathen nations, foolishly, were accustomed to bury clothes, and arms, and vessels, and stores of gold with the departed, as though they could take these with them into the other world (see the author"s "Herodotus," vol. 3. pp. 59-62, end notes 9, 1, 2). The writer of the psalm, and those whom he addressed, were equally aware of the foolishness of such customs. His glory shall not descend after him. Whatever "glory" his wealth has secured to him in this life shall be left behind. He shall be imprisoned in Sheol, with death to shepherd him (ver. 14), and with no hope of returning to the "light" (ver. 19).

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