Psalms 49:3

My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.

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

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
mouth	פִּ֭י pi	H6310	the mouth (as the means of blowing) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
speak	יְדַבֵּ֣ר ye.da.Ber	H1696	perhaps properly · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
wisdom	חׇכְמוֹת chokmôwth	H2454	wisdom
meditation	וְהָג֖וּת ve.ha.Gut	H1900	musing · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct
heart	לִבִּ֣י li.Bi	H3820	the heart · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
understanding	תְבוּנֽוֹת te.vu.Not	H8394	intelligence · noun, common feminine plural 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 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
Matthew 12:35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil th…
Proverbs 22:20-21 Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge,
Proverbs 22:17 Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.
Deuteronomy 32:2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the g…
Job 33:3 My words shall be of the uprightness of my heart: and my lips shall utter knowledge clearly.
Job 33:33 If not, hearken unto me: hold thy peace, and I shall teach thee wisdom.
Psalms 119:130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 49:1-5

This is the psalmist's preface to his discourse concerning the vanity of the world and its insufficiency to make us happy; and we seldom meet with an introduction more solemn than this is; for there is no truth of more undoubted certainty, nor of greater weight and importance, and the consideration of which will be of more advantage to us. I. He demands the attention of others to that which he was about to say (Psa 49:1, Psa 49:2): Hear this, all you people; hear it and heed it, hear it and consider it; what is spoken once, hear twice. Hear and give ear, Psa 62:9, Psa 62:11. Not only, "Hear, all you Israelites, and give ear all the inhabitants of Canaan," but, Hear, all you people, and give…

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John Gill on Psalms 49:3

My mouth shall speak of wisdom,.... Or "wisdoms" (m); of Christ, who is so called, Proverbs 1:20. He being as a divine Person the wisdom of God, and the only wise God; and having all the treasures of wisdom in him, as man and Mediator: of him the prophet spake, and of him the apostles and all Gospel ministers speak; of the glories of his Person, of the fulness of his grace, and of his wonderful works; especially of that of redemption and salvation by him, in which there is an abounding of wisdom and prudence. Or the Gospel may be meant, and all the truths of it, in which there is a glorious display of divine wisdom; it is the wisdom of God in a mystery; hidden and ancient wisdom; and which,…

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John Calvin on Psalms 49:1-4

Psalm 49:1-4 1. Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world: 2. Both ye sons of Adam, [208] and ye sons of men, [209] rich and poor, together. 3. My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding. 4. I will incline my ear to a parable: [210] I will open my enigma [211] upon the harp. 1. Hear this, all ye people. Whoever may have been the penman of this psalm, it discusses one of the most important principles in divine philosophy, and there is a propriety in the elevated terms designed to awaken and secure attention, with which the Psalmist announces his purpose to discourse of things of a deep and momentous nature. To a superfi…

The Church Fathers

If the meditation is wisdom, what will the message be? When the meditation of the heart is wisdom, wicked thoughts will not come within it, nor is a place given to the devil or those things that defile people.
— Origen of Alexandria, SELECTIONS FROM THE PSALMS 49:4-5

All wisdom comes to be known by reflection and dissemination. So his meaning is, I deliberate on some wise ideas, and with the intention of disseminating them I want you all to be hearers of what is said by me. Hence his reference to "pondering," for each person to realize that far from coming to instruction by accident, they are brought to learn by deep pondering and much practical experience.
— Diodorus of Tarsus, COMMENTARY ON PSALM 49

And what is it they are now to hear? "My mouth shall speak of wisdom, and the meditation of my heart understanding" (ver. 3). And this repetition is perhaps made, lest perchance if he had said only "my mouth," thou shouldest suppose that one spake to thee who had understanding but in his lips. For many have understanding in their lips, but have not in their heart, of whom the Scripture saith, "This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." What saith he then who speaketh to thee? when he hath said, "My mouth shall speak of wisdom," in order that thou mayest know that what is poured forth from the mouth floweth from the bottom of the heart, he hath added, "And the meditation of my heart of understanding."
— Augustine of Hippo, ON THE PSALMS - Psalm 49

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

Meditation · 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 49:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 49:1-5

John Gill on Psalms 49:3

John Calvin on Psalms 49:1-4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 49:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 49:1-5

John Gill on Psalms 49:3

John Calvin on Psalms 49:1-4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 49:1-4

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 49:1-3

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 49:3