gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
down
הִשְׁקִ֪יףhish.Kif
H8259
properly · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
heaven
מִשָּׁמַיִם֮mi.sha.ma.Yim
H8064
the sky (as aloft · preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
children
בְּנֵ֫יbe.Nei
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
men
אָדָ֥ם'a.Dam
H120
ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · noun, common masculine singular absolute
see
לִ֭רְאוֹתLir.'ot
H7200
to see · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
were
הֲיֵ֣שׁha.Yesh
H3426
there is or are (or any other form of the verb to be · interrogative particle + cardinal number, both genders singular absolute
understand
מַשְׂכִּ֑ילmas.Kil
H7919
to be (causatively · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular absolute
seek
דֹּ֝רֵ֗שׁdo.Resh
H1875
properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
God
אֱלֹהִֽים'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine 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
Isaiah 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
2 Chronicles 15:2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and…
Psalms 27:8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.
Jeremiah 16:17 For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.
Psalms 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.
Jeremiah 23:24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
2 Chronicles 19:3 Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to…
Psalms 33:13-14 The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 53:1–end
This psalm was opened before, and therefore we shall here only observe, in short, some things concerning sin, in order to the increasing of our sorrow for it and hatred of it. 1. The fact of sin. Is that proved? Can the charge be made out? Yes, God is a witness to it, an unexceptionable witness: from the place of his holiness he looks on the children of men, and sees how little good there is among them, Psa 53:2. All the sinfulness of their hearts and lives in naked and open before him. 2. The fault of sin. Is there any harm in it? Yes, it is iniquity (Psa 53:1, Psa 53:4); it is an unrighteous thing; it is that which there is no good in (Psa 53:1, Psa 53:3); it is an evil thing; it is the wo…
God looked down from heaven upon the children of men,.... In Psalm 14:2, it is read, "the Lord" or "Jehovah"; in everything else there is an agreement in this verse; See Gill on Psalm 14:2;
to see if there were any that did understand; the Targum is, "that were understanding" in the law; it doubtless means understanding in divine and spiritual things;
that did seek God; the above paraphrase is, "seeking doctrine from before the Lord".
John Calvin on Psalms 53:1–end
Psalm 53:1-6
1. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God: they have become corrupt, they have done abominable works: there is none that doeth good. 2. God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. 3. Every one of them has gone back; they have together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 4. Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? eating my people as they eat bread: [286] they have not called upon God. 5. There were they in great fear where no fear was; for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them. 6. Who…
Let us advert also to that sense, which concerning Christ our Lord Himself, our Head Himself, doth present itself. For when Himself in form of a servant appeared on earth, they that crucified Him said, "He is not God." Because Son of God He was, truly God He was. But they that are corrupted and have become abominable said what? "He is not God:" let us slay Him, "He is not God." Thou hast the voice of these very men in the book of Wisdom. For after there had gone before the verse, "The unwise man hath said in his heart, There is no God ;" as if reasons were required why the unwise man could say this, he hath subjoined, "Corrupted they are, and abominable have become in their iniquities" (ver. 2). Hear ye those corrupted men. "For they have said with themselves, not rightly thinking:" corruption beginneth with evil belief, thence it proceedeth to depraved morals, thence to the most flagrant iniquities, these are the grades. But what with themselves said they, thinking not rightly? "A small thing and with tediousness is our life." From this evil belief followeth that which also the Apostle hath spoken of, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die." But in the former passage more diffusely luxury itself is described: "Let us crown us with roses, before they be withered; in every place let us leave the tokens of our gladness." After the more diffuse description of that luxury, what followeth? "Let us slay the poor just man:" this is therefore saying, "He is not God." Soft words they seemed but now to say: "Let us crown us with roses, before they be withered." What more delicate, what more soft? Wouldest thou expect, out of this softness, Crosses, swords? Wonder not, soft are even the roots of brambles; if any one handle them, he is not pricked: but that wherewith thou shall be pricked from thence hath birth. "Corrupted," therefore, are those men, "and abominable have become in their iniquities." They say, "If Son of God He is, let Him come down from the Cross." Behold them openly saying, "He is not God." ...
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
Mahalath Maschil — In the title of Ps. 53, denoting that this was a didactic psalm, to be sung to the accompaniment of the lute or guitar. Others regard this word “mahalath” as the name simply of an old air to which…
Music, Instrumental — Among instruments of music used by the Hebrews a principal place is given to stringed instruments. These were, (1.) The kinnor, the “harp.” (2.) The nebel, “a skin bottle,” rendered “psaltery.” (3.)…
Depravity Of Man · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Godlessness · 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).
In both recensions of the Psalm the name of God occurs seven times. In Psa 14:1-7 it reads three times Elohim and four times Jahve; in the Psalm before us it is all seven times Elohim, which in this instance is a proper name of equal dignity with the name Jahve. Since the mingling of the two names in Psa 14:1-7 is perfectly intentional, inasmuch as Elohim in Psa 53:1, Psa 53:2 describes God as a Being most highly exalted and to be reverentially acknowledged, and in Psa 52:5 as the Being who is present among men in the righteous generation and who is mighty in their weakness, it becomes clear that David himself cannot be the author of this levelling change, which is carried out more rigidly t…
Ps 53 This psalm parallels Ps 14, differing only in verse 5.
53:1-3 Paul uses the Greek translation of this passage in his description of the depravity of all people (Rom 3:10-12).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 53:2
God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.
God looked down from heaven upon the children of men. He did so in ages past, and he has continued his steadfast gaze from his all surveying observatory. To see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Had there been one understanding man, one true lover of his God, the divine eye would have discovered him. Those pure heathens and admirable savages that men talk so much of, do not appear to have been visible to the eye of Omniscience, the fact being that they live nowhere but in the realm of fiction. The Lord did not look for great grace, but only for since…
