Psalm 14

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 14

XIV.With some variations (for which see Notes), this psalm appears again as Psalms 53:0. The most striking variation consists in the change of Jehovah into Elohim. For this change, see General Introduction.In this poem the dramatic element blends with the lyric. In the great drama of the world, as unfolding before the psalmist’s eyes, God is seen to look from the windows of His heaven down on the races of men, as He did before the flood, and He finds no vestige of good left, except in the... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 14:1

(1) Fool.—Heb., nabal, from a root meaning “to wither;” hence flat, insipid (insipiens). But this is not therefore speculative atheism, but practical—a denial of the moral government of God—so that fool and wicked become almost synonymous.They have done abominable works.—Literally, they have made to be abhorred their works. The LXX. and Vulg. have caught the sense, “They have become abominable in their practices.” Instead of works, Psalms 53:0 has “iniquity.” read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 14:2

(2) Looked down.—Literally, bent forward to look as from a window. (Comp. Song of Solomon 6:10.)Did understand.—Better, any man of understanding, in contrast with “fool,” in Psalms 14:1, and certainly meaning one who regulates his conduct on the conviction of the existence of a holy and just God. read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 14:3

(3) Filthy.—Better, corrupt or putrid. Comp. the Roman satirist’s description of his age:—“Nothing is left, nothing for future timesTo add to the full catalogue of crimes.The baffled sons must feel the same desiresAnd act the same mad follies as their sires.Vice has attained its zenith.”—JUVENAL: Sat. i.Between Psalms 14:3-4 the Alexandrian MS. of the LXX., followed by the Vulg. and the English Prayer-book version, and the Arabic, insert from Romans 3:13-18, the passage beginning, “Their throat... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 14:4

(4) Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge?—i.e., are they so senseless as not to perceive the consequences of their wrong-doing? or if we point the verb as the LXX. and Vulg., “shall they not know?” i.e., they are sure to find out to what their wickedness is leading them.Who eat up.—Literally, eating my people, they have eaten bread; on Jehovah they have not called, which is usually explained, as in Authorised Version, “to devour God’s people has been as usual and as regular as the... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 14:5

(5) There were they.—Literally, there they feared a fear, i.e., terror overtook them. Psalms 53:0 adds, “which was no fear.” The local “there” brings the scene before us as in a picture. We see them there before us, these wicked men; there in the midst of their intrigues, or their exactions, or their pleasures, the hand of God seizes them, and lo! they are struck with fear. We evidently have not here any indication by which to fasten on a particular event. Whether the addition in Psalms 53:0... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 14:6

(6) Counsel.—This confidence, this piety, this appeal addressed to the supreme Protector, is in this verse called the “counsel,” the “plan” of the sufferer, and the poet asks, “Would ye then make the sufferer blush for such a thought?” “No, for Jehovah is his refuge.” The Authorised Version has here missed the sense by rendering in the past tense. read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 14:7

(7) Oh that.—The thoughts of the exiles turn to the Holy City as the one source of deliverance, as if Jehovah’s power would only manifest itself from His hallowed abode. So Daniel looked towards Jerusalem in his prayer. (Comp. the same feeling in Isaiah 40:9-10.) For the expression “turn the captivity,” or, to keep the Heb. idiom, “turn the turning,” comp. Psalms 85:1; Psalms 126:1; Hosea 6:2; Joel 3:1. It appears, however, besides its literal reference to the exile, to have been applied... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Psalms 14:1-7

The Unbelief of the Fool Psalms 14:1 I. The fool of the Scripture is a man who has fallen away, little by little, degree by degree, until he is a degraded man. A fool is a vile man, morally degenerate. Here then is the full force of my text the man who says with an air of laughing and self-satisfied triumph 'There is no God,' is a vile man; at his heart there is moral rottenness; he is a fool! Why does the vile man say 'there is no God'? Because that is what the vile man wished to believe.... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Psalms 14:1-7

Psalms 14:1-7THIS psalm springs from the same situation as Psalms 10:1-18; Psalms 12:1-8. It has several points of likeness to both. It resembles the former in its attribution to "the fool" of the heart speech, "There is no God," and the latter in its use of the phrases "sons of men" and "generation" as ethical terms and in its thought of a Divine interference as the source of safety for the righteous. We have thus three psalms closely connected, but separated from each other by Psalms 11:1-7;... read more

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 14

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 14:1

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 14:2

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 14:3

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 14:4

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 14:5

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 14:6

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 14:7

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Psalms 14:1-7

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Psalms 14:1-7

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