Psalms 53: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

This psalm says that people who tell themselves there is no God act corruptly, and that when God looks down from heaven he finds no one who does good. It describes those who do evil devouring God's people and never calling on him, and then says they were seized with terror where there was nothing to fear, because God scattered and rejected them. It closes with a wish that rescue for Israel would come from Zion, and says that when God brings his captive people back, Jacob and Israel will be glad.

Claim by Claim

1. 53:1
   • A fool says within himself that there is no God.
   • They are corrupt.
   • They have committed abominable wrongdoing.
   • There is no one who does good.
2. 53:2
   • God looked down from heaven on human beings.
   • God looked in order to see whether anyone had understanding.
   • God looked in order to see whether anyone was seeking God.
3. 53:3
   • Every one of them has turned away.
   • All of them together have become tainted.
   • There is no one who does good.
   • There is not even one who does good.
4. 53:4
   • It is asked whether the workers of wrongdoing have no knowledge.
   • They devour my people the way they eat bread.
   • They have not called on God.
5. 53:5
   • There they were seized with great dread.
   • There was no cause for dread there.
   • God scattered the bones of the one encamped against you.
   • You put them to shame.
   • God rejected them.
6. 53:6
   • A wish is expressed that Israel's deliverance would come out of Zion.
   • God will restore the fortunes of his people.
   • When that happens, Jacob will rejoice.
   • When that happens, Israel will be glad.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

53:1

"Fool" here translates a Hebrew word (nabal) for someone morally bankrupt rather than unintelligent, a person whose judgment is corrupt, not one who is slow to learn. This psalm is almost word for word Psalm 14, with "God" where that one has "the LORD". "Says to himself" is literally "says in his heart"; in Hebrew the heart is the seat of thought and will, not feeling, so this is what the person actually believes and acts on, not necessarily what he says out loud. This psalm is a near-duplicate of Psalm 14, with small differences in wording.

53:2

"The children of men" is a Hebrew way of saying human beings in general, the whole human race, not children specifically. The picture is of God leaning over the edge of heaven to survey the earth, the same image used in the story of Babel.

53:3

The King James "become filthy" translates a Hebrew word used for food that has gone off, milk soured or fruit turned rotten. The point is not dirt on the outside but spoilage all the way through.

53:4

"Eat up my people the way a person eats bread" is a stock Hebrew image for consuming someone completely and casually, devouring the poor as a matter of ordinary daily business. The speaker shifts here: "my people" is God speaking.

53:5

Leaving a body unburied, its bones scattered on open ground, was among the worst disgraces imaginable in this culture, the fate of an army destroyed in the field with no one left to bury it. "Those who set up camp against you" means a besieging army encircling a city.

53:6

Zion was the hill in Jerusalem on which the temple stood; the name stands for Jerusalem itself and for God's presence there. Deliverance "coming out of Zion" pictures help issuing from that place. The Hebrew behind "brings his captured people home" is a set phrase (shuv shevut) that can mean either returning prisoners or exiles, or more broadly reversing someone's fortunes; translators are divided, and the line carries both senses.