Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 49:12
(12) Abideth not.—This verse gives the kernel and the thought of, as it also serves as a refrain to, the poem, thus vindicating the claim of a lyric tone for this didactic psalm. The reading of the LXX. and Vulg. (“without understanding” instead of “abideth not”), which brings Psalms 49:12 into exact correspondence with Psalms 49:20, is unquestionably to be adopted. The present text could not really express permanence, the Hebrew verb meaning to lodge temporarily.The next verse, too, is hardly... read more
John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 49:1-20
There is little to fix the date of this Ps. The writer moralises, in the fashion of the book of Proverbs, on the vanity of wealth and honour apart from understanding. The rich man cannot deliver his friends or himself from death, and his prosperity need cause no dismay to those who are less fortunate in this world. The upright, among whom the Psalmist counts himself, will be received by God, and thus made superior to the power of death. Psalms 49:12, Psalms 49:20 form, by their similarity, a... read more