Psalms 49:7

None [of them] can by any means redeem his brother,.... That is, "with their substance", or "riches", as the Targum and Jarchi supply.

None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: -The godly has no cause for overwhelming fear because of the power of the ungodly; nor has the ungodly reason to

Redeem, to wit, from death, as appears from ,10 &c.; neither from the first death, nor from the second, which he points at ,19. His brother; whom he would do his utmost to preserve in life; and consequently not himself. But he seems to mention his brother rather than himself, because when his brother is sick, he being in health hath the full command and free use of all his wealth, and strength, and wit, and all other means of redeeming his brother; which he hath not, when he himself is dangerously or desperately sick. Nor give to God; the only Lord of life. and the Judge who hath passed upon him the sentence of death.

Psalms 49:7 None [of them] can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:Ver. 7. None of them can by any means redeem his brother] And therefore all money that hath been given for masses, dirges, trentals, &c., hath been cast away; seeing Christ is the only Redeemer, and in the other world money beareth no mastery. Neither can a man buy off death, though he would give never so much. Death will not regard any ransom, neither will he rest content though thou givest many gifts, as Solomon saith in another case, Proverbs 6:35. Fie, quoth that great Cardinal Beaufort, will not death be hired? Will money do nothing? Why should I die, being so rich? If the whole realm would save my life, I am able either by policy to get it or by riches to buy it (Acts and Mon. in H. 6). Lewis XI would not hear of death all the time of his last sickness, but when he saw there was no remedy, he sent for holy water from Rheims, together with Aaron’ s rod, as they called it, and other holy relics, thinking therewith to stop death’ s mouth, and to stave him off; but it would not be (Epit. Hist. Gall.). O Miser (saith one thereupon) hoc assidue times quod semel faciendum est? Hoc times quod in tua manu est ne timeas? Pietatem assume, superstitionem omitte; mors tua vita erit, et quidem beata atque aeterna (Val. Max. Christ., p. 391).

(7) None of them can.—Brother is here used in the wide sense of Lev 19:17, Genesis 13:11 (where rendered “the one”). The sense is the same whether we make it nominative or accusative. Death is the debt which all owe, and which each must pay for himself. No wealth can buy a man off. God, in whose hand are the issues of life and death, is not to be bribed; nor, as the next verse says, even if the arrangement were possible, would any wealth be sufficient.

Verse 7. None of them can by any means redeem his brother] Wealth cannot save from death; brother, however rich, cannot save his brother; nor will God accept riches as a ransom for the life or soul of any transgressor. To procure health of body, peace of mind, redemption from death, and eternal glory, riches are sought for and applied in vain.

7. The first answer to the question, ‘Wherefore should I fear’? These men make a god of their wealth. They trust in it and glory in it, as the godly man trusts in Jehovah and glories in Him (Psalms 32:10; Psalms 34:2). But how powerless it is! It cannot deliver anyone from death. If the rich man’s friends have so little to hope, his victims have little to fear. The language of this verse and the next is borrowed from the ancient law in Exodus 21:30, where the words ransom and redemption of life (or soul) occur together, the latter phrase being found nowhere else. If a man’s neglect to keep a dangerous ox under proper control had been the cause of another man’s death, his life was forfeit. But he might redeem his life by paying a ransom to the relatives of the deceased person. Probably he would always be allowed to do so, and the penalty of death would never be exacted. Another law prohibited the pardon of a murderer upon the mere payment of a fine (Numbers 35:31), lest rich men should regard the taking of life as a matter of indifference. Thus the idea of the payment of money as the equivalent of a life was familiar. There were cases in which wealth could deliver from death, when man was dealing with man. But when God claims the life, riches are of no avail. his brother] Lit. a brother: his most intimate relative or friend. Possibly there may be an allusion to the use of the word in dirges. See Jeremiah 22:18. But the position of the word at the beginning of the sentence is peculiar, and an adversative particle seems to be needed. It has therefore been plausibly conjectured that we should read ǎ ?k, ‘surely’ or ‘but’ (as in Psalms 49:15), in place of âch, ‘brother,’ and, with a slight alteration of the vowels, render thus: But no one can by any means redeem himself,Nor give to God the ransom He requires.The reading of the Massoretic Text however is attested by the LXX and other Ancient Versions.

None of them can bid any means redeem his brother - None of those who are rich.

6-9. His first argument is grounded on the insufficiency of wealth and worldly power to save life, or to bring back from the grave.