Psalm 49:20

Footnotes

1. 44 Heb “mankind in honor does not understand.” The Hebrew term יְקָר (yéqar, “honor”) probably refers here to the wealth mentioned in the preceding context. The imperfect verbal form draws attention to what is characteristically true. Some emend יָבִין (yavin, “understands”) to יָלִין (yalin, “remains”), but this is an unnecessary accommodation to the wording of v. 12.
2. 45 Or “cattle.”
3. 46 The Hebrew verb is derived from דָּמָה (damah, “cease, destroy”; 198 ). Another option is to derive the verb from דָּמָה (damah, “be silent”; see II דמה, which sees two homonymic roots [I דָּמַה, “be silent,” and II דָּמַה, “destroy”] rather than a single root) and translate, “they are like dumb beasts.” This makes particularly good sense here, where the preceding line focuses on mankind’s lack of understanding.