Mazmur 53:1

Psalm 53 ¹ 

For the music director; according to the machalath style; ²  a well-written song ³  by David.

53:1 Fools say to themselves, ⁴  “There is no God.” ⁵ 

They sin and commit evil deeds; ⁶ 

none of them does what is right. ⁷ 

Yesaya 11:12

11:12 He will lift a signal flag for the nations;

he will gather Israel’s dispersed people ⁸ 

and assemble Judah’s scattered people

from the four corners of the earth.

Yeremia 30:3

30:3 For I, the Lord, affirm ⁹  that the time will come when I will reverse the plight ¹⁰  of my people, Israel and Judah,’ says the Lord. ‘I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors ¹¹  and they will take possession of it once again.’” ¹² 

[53:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 53. This psalm is very similar to Ps 14. The major difference comes in v. 5, which corresponds to, but differs quite a bit from, Ps 14:5-6, and in the use of the divine name. Ps 14 uses “the Lord” (יְהוָה, yÿhvah, “Yahweh”) in vv. 2a, 4, 6, and 7, while Ps 53 employs “God” (אֱלֹהִים, ’elohim) throughout, as one might expect in Pss 42-83, where the name “Yahweh” is relatively infrequent. The psalmist observes that the human race is morally corrupt. Evildoers oppress God’s people, but the psalmist is confident of God’s protection and anticipates a day when God will vindicate Israel.

[53:1]  ² tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מָחֲלַת (makhalat, “machalath”) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. The term also appears in the heading of Ps 88.

[53:1]  ³ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 52.

[53:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “a fool says in his heart.” The singular is used here in a collective or representative sense; the typical fool is envisioned.

[53:1]  ⁵ sn There is no God. This statement is probably not a philosophical assertion that God does not exist, but rather a confident affirmation that he is unconcerned about how men live morally and ethically (see Ps 10:4, 11).

[53:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “they act corruptly, they do evil [with] injustice.” Ps 14:1 has עֲלִילָה (’alilah, “a deed”) instead of עָוֶל (’aval, “injustice”). The verbs describe the typical behavior of the wicked. The subject of the plural verbs is “sons of man” (v. 2). The entire human race is characterized by sinful behavior. This practical atheism – living as if there is no God who will hold them accountable for their actions – makes them fools, for one of the earmarks of folly is to fail to anticipate the long range consequences of one’s behavior.

[53:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “there is none that does good.”

[11:12]  ⁸ tn Or “the banished of Israel,” i.e., the exiles.

[30:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[30:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “restore the fortune.” For the translation and meaning of this idiom see the note at 29:14.

[30:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “fathers.”

[30:3]  ¹² sn As the nations of Israel and Judah were united in their sin and suffered the same fate – that of exile and dispersion – (cf. Jer 3:8; 5:11; 11:10, 17) so they will ultimately be regathered from the nations and rejoined under one king, a descendant of David, and regain possession of their ancestral lands. The prophets of both the eighth and seventh century looked forward to this ideal (see, e.g., Hos 1:11 (2:2 HT); Isa 11:11-13; Jer 23:5-6; 30:3; 33:7; Ezek 37:15-22). This has already been anticipated in Jer 3:18.