Psalm 49:20
New International Version
People who have wealth but lack understanding are like the beasts that perish.

New Living Translation
People who boast of their wealth don’t understand; they will die, just like animals.

English Standard Version
Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

Berean Standard Bible
A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

King James Bible
Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.

New King James Version
A man who is in honor, yet does not understand, Is like the beasts that perish.

New American Standard Bible
Mankind in its splendor, yet without understanding, Is like the animals that perish.

NASB 1995
Man in his pomp, yet without understanding, Is like the beasts that perish.

NASB 1977
Man in his pomp, yet without understanding, Is like the beasts that perish.

Legacy Standard Bible
Man in his honor, but who does not understand, Is like the animals that perish.

Amplified Bible
A man [who is held] in honor, Yet who lacks [spiritual] understanding and a teachable heart, is like the beasts that perish.

Christian Standard Bible
Mankind, with his assets but without understanding, is like the animals that perish.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
A man with valuable possessions but without understanding is like the animals that perish.

American Standard Version
Man that is in honor, and understandeth not, Is like the beasts that perish.

Contemporary English Version
Our human glory disappears, and, like animals, we die.

English Revised Version
Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Mortals, with what they treasure, still don't have understanding. They are like animals that die.

Good News Translation
Our greatness cannot keep us from death; we will still die like the animals.

International Standard Version
Humanity, despite its conceit, does not understand that it will perish, just like the animals.

Majority Standard Bible
A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

NET Bible
Wealthy people do not understand; they are like animals that perish.

New Heart English Bible
A man who has riches without understanding, is like the animals that perish.

Webster's Bible Translation
Man that is in honor, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.

World English Bible
A man who has riches without understanding, is like the animals that perish.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Man in honor, who does not understand, "" Has been like the beasts, they have been cut off!

Young's Literal Translation
Man in honour, who understandest not, Hath been like the beasts, they have been cut off!

Smith's Literal Translation
Man in honor shall not understand; being like as the beasts, they perished.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Man when he was in honour did not understand: he hath been compared to senseless beasts, and made like to them.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Man, when he was in honor, did not understand. He has been compared to the senseless beasts, and he has become like them.

New American Bible
In his prime, man does not understand. He is like the beasts—they perish.

New Revised Standard Version
Mortals cannot abide in their pomp; they are like the animals that perish.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Man cannot depend upon his honor for consolation, for if he does, he resembles the wild beasts.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
A man who is in his honor is not sustained, but ends up an animal and resembles one.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Man that is in honour understandeth not; He is like the beasts that perish.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Man that is in honour, understands not: he is compared to the senseless cattle, and is like them.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Evanescence of Wealth
19he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light of day. 20A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

Cross References
Ecclesiastes 3:18-21
I said to myself, “As for the sons of men, God tests them so that they may see for themselves that they are but beasts.” / For the fates of both men and beasts are the same: As one dies, so dies the other—they all have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animals, since everything is futile. / All go to one place; all come from dust, and all return to dust. ...

Ecclesiastes 9:3
This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.

Proverbs 21:16
The man who strays from the path of understanding will rest in the assembly of the dead.

Proverbs 30:2-3
Surely I am the most ignorant of men, and I lack the understanding of a man. / I have not learned wisdom, and I have no knowledge of the Holy One.

Jeremiah 10:14
Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.

Isaiah 44:18-20
They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand. / And no one considers in his heart, no one has the knowledge or insight to say, “I burned half of it in the fire, and I baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make something detestable with the rest of it? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?” / He feeds on ashes. His deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”

Job 11:12
But a witless man can no more become wise than the colt of a wild donkey can be born a man!

Job 20:4-7
Do you not know that from antiquity, since man was placed on the earth, / the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary? / Though his arrogance reaches the heavens, and his head touches the clouds, ...

Daniel 4:30-32
the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?” / While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “It is decreed to you, King Nebuchadnezzar, that the kingdom has departed from you. / You will be driven away from mankind to live with the beasts of the field, and you will feed on grass like an ox. And seven times will pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.”

Hosea 4:6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.

Matthew 16:26
What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

Luke 12:20-21
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’ / This is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.”

1 Corinthians 1:18-21
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. / For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” / Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ...

Romans 1:21-22
For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts. / Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,

1 Corinthians 2:14
The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.


Treasury of Scripture

Man that is in honor, and understands not, is like the beasts that perish.

Man

Psalm 49:12
Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.

Esther 5:11-14
And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king…

Esther 7:10
So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified.

understandeth

Job 4:21
Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.

is like

Psalm 73:18,19
Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction…

Ecclesiastes 3:18,19
I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts…

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Psalm 49
1. An earnest persuasion to build the faith of resurrection
16. Worldly prosperity is not to be admired














A man who has riches
The Hebrew word for "riches" here is "עָשִׁיר" (ashir), which denotes wealth or abundance. In the ancient Near Eastern context, wealth was often seen as a sign of God's favor, yet the psalmist challenges this notion by suggesting that material wealth alone is insufficient. The emphasis is on the transient nature of earthly riches, which can lead to a false sense of security. The Bible consistently warns against the dangers of relying on wealth, as seen in Proverbs 11:28, "He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf."

without understanding
The Hebrew term "בִּינָה" (binah) refers to insight, discernment, or wisdom. This phrase underscores the importance of spiritual and moral insight over mere possession of wealth. In the biblical tradition, true understanding is rooted in the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 9:10). The psalmist implies that wealth without the wisdom to use it righteously is ultimately meaningless. This echoes Jesus' teaching in Matthew 6:19-21, where He advises storing up treasures in heaven rather than on earth.

is like the beasts that perish
The comparison to "beasts" (Hebrew: "בְּהֵמוֹת," behemah) highlights the fate of those who live without spiritual insight. Beasts, in biblical literature, often symbolize creatures driven by instinct rather than reason or divine purpose. The psalmist uses this imagery to illustrate the futility of a life focused solely on material gain. The phrase "that perish" emphasizes mortality and the inevitable end that all creatures face. This serves as a sobering reminder of the temporary nature of life and the importance of seeking eternal values. The New Testament echoes this sentiment in James 1:11, where the rich man is likened to a flower that withers away.

Verse 20. - Man that is in honour, and under. standeth not, is like the beasts that perish. In ver. 12 the writer had said of all men, that they are "like the beasts that perish," which is true in one sense; i.e. in reference to this life. Now, having taken a loftier flight, and embraced in his mental vision the whole life of man, he makes an important qualification of what he had said. All men die; but only those who are "without understanding" die without hope - "like the beasts:" for others there remains the hope enunciated in ver. 15.



Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
A man
אָדָ֣ם (’ā·ḏām)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 120: Ruddy, a human being

who has riches
בִּ֭יקָר (bî·qār)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3366: Value, wealth, costliness, dignity

without
וְלֹ֣א (wə·lō)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

understanding
יָבִ֑ין (yā·ḇîn)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 995: To separate mentally, understand

is like
נִמְשַׁ֖ל (nim·šal)
Verb - Nifal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 4911: To liken, to use, language, in, to resemble

the beasts
כַּבְּהֵמ֣וֹת (kab·bə·hê·mō·wṯ)
Preposition-k, Article | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 929: A dumb beast, any large quadruped, animal

that perish.
נִדְמֽוּ׃ (niḏ·mū)
Verb - Nifal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 1820: To be dumb, silent, to fail, perish, trans, to destroy


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OT Poetry: Psalm 49:20 A man who has riches without understanding (Psalm Ps Psa.)
Psalm 49:19
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