Psalms 14:1

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
fool	נָבָ֣ל na.Val	H5036	stupid · adjective, masculine singular absolute
said	אָ֘מַ֤ר 'a.Mar	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
heart	בְּ֭לִבּוֹ be.li.bo	H3820	the heart · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
God	אֱלֹהִ֑ים 'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
corrupt	הִֽשְׁחִ֗יתוּ hish.Chi.tu	H7843	to decay · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person common plural
abominable	הִֽתְעִ֥יבוּ hit.'I.vu	H8581	to loathe · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person common plural
works	עֲלִילָ֗ה 'a.li.Lah	H5949	an exploit (of God) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
doeth	עֹֽשֵׂה 'o.seh-	H6213	to do or make · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular construct
good	טֽוֹב Tov	H2896	good (as an adjective) in the widest sense · adjective, masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Psalms 10:4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.
Psalms 53:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.
Romans 3:10-12 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Romans 1:21-32 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foo…
Psalms 92:6 A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.
Ephesians 2:1-3 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Matthew 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 14:1-3

If we apply our hearts as Solomon did (Ecc 7:25) to search out the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness, these verses will assist us in the search and will show us that sin is exceedingly sinful. Sin is the disease of mankind, and it appears here to be malignant and epidemic. 1. See how malignant it is (Psa 14:1) in two things: - (1.) The contempt it puts upon the honour of God: for there is something of practical atheism at the bottom of all sin. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. We are sometimes tempted to think, "Surely there never was so much atheism and profaneness as there is in our days;" but we see the former days were no better; even in David's time…

Read the whole note in the console

John Gill on Psalms 14:1

The fool hath said in his heart,.... This is to be understood not of a single individual person, as Nabal, which is the word here used; nor of some Gentile king, as Sennacherib, or Rabshakeh his general, as Theodoret; nor of Nebuchadnezzar, nor of Titus, as some Jewish writers (y) interpret it, making one to be here intended, and the other in the fifty third psalm: the same with this; but of a body, a set of men, who justly bear this character; and design not such who are idiots, persons void of common sense and understanding; but such who are fools in their morals, without understanding in spiritual things; wicked profligate wretches, apostates from God, alienated from the life of God; and…

Read the whole note in the console

John Calvin on Psalms 14:1

Psalm 14:1 1. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God; they have corrupted; [278] , They have done abominable work; there is none that doeth good. Many of the Jews are of opinion that in this psalm there is given forth a prediction concerning the future oppression of their nation: as if David, by the revelation of the Holy Spirit, bewailed the afflicted condition of the Church of God under the tyranny of the Gentiles. They therefore refer what is here spoken to the dispersed condition in which we see them at the present day, as if they were that precious heritage of God which the wild beasts devour. But it is very apparent, that in wishing to cover the disgrace of their nation, th…

The Church Fathers

"They are corrupt." By turning away from the sound thinking found in the Scriptures, they show that they have fallen into corrupt patterns of thought. The punishment for sin comes next. Defiled by their despicable unbelief, they become abominable to the Lord by their errors.
— Cassiodorus, EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 14:1

We cannot do good unless we have come to Christ through God's mercy. For when we approach him and do not turn away from him, without a doubt every good is performed. This is the end that was promised in the heading of the psalm.
— Cassiodorus, EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 14:1

[Like the Assyrian army in the days of Hezekiah], all will come to know through experience the one fighting against them; fear will strike them from a source they did not expect. I mean, who would have thought they would be destroyed by an angel? That God cares for the Jews? Those who mocked the counsel of poor and lowly Hezekiah for trusting in God rather than arms will realize that the one who made himself dependent on God enjoyed a hope that was not disappointed.
— Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 14:2

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

God — (A.S. and Dutch God; Dan. Gud; Ger. Gott), the name of the Divine Being. It is the rendering (1) of the Hebrew ’El, from a word meaning to be strong; (2) of ’Eloah_, plural _’Elohim. The singular…
Wise, wisdom — A moral rather than an intellectual quality. To be “foolish” is to be godless (Ps. 14:1; comp. Judg. 19:23; 2 Sam. 13:13). True wisdom is a gift from God to those who ask it (Job 28:12-28; Prov.…
Atheism · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Blindness · 21:14;22:13,14; — 21:14;22:13,14;
Character Of The Wicked · Infidel — Infidel
Depravity Of Man · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Fool · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Fools · Deny God — Deny God
Infidelity · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Psalms 14:1

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 14:1-3

John Gill on Psalms 14:1

John Calvin on Psalms 14:1

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 14:1

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 14:1-3

John Gill on Psalms 14:1

John Calvin on Psalms 14:1

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 14:1

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 14:1

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 14:1