Salmi 14:3 Commento

It does not appear upon what occasion this psalm was penned nor whether upon any particular occasion. Some say David penned it when Saul persecuted him; others, when Absalom rebelled against him. But they are mere conjectures, which have not certainty enough to warrant us to expound the psalm by them. The apostle, in quoting part of this psalm (Rom 3:10, etc.) to prove that Jews and Gentiles are all under sin (Rom 3:9) and that all the world is guilty before God (Rom 3:19), leads us to understand it, in general, as a description of the depravity of human nature, the sinfulness of the sin we are conceived and born in, and the deplorable corruption of a great part of mankind, even of the world that lies in wickedness, Jo1 5:19. But as in those psalms which are designed to discover our remedy in Christ there is commonly an allusion to David himself, yea, and some passages that are to be understood primarily of him (as in Psa 2:1-12, Psa 16:1-11, 22, and others), so in this psalm, which is designed to discover our wound by sin, there is an allusion to David's enemies and persecutors, and other oppressors of good men at that time, to whom some passages have an immediate reference. In all the psalms from the 3rd to this (except the 8th) David had been complaining of those that hated and persecuted him, insulted him and abused him; now here he traces all those bitter streams to the fountain, the general corruption of nature, and sees that not his enemies only, but all the children of men, were thus corrupted. Here is, I. A charge exhibited against a wicked world (Psa 14:1). II. The proof of the charge (Psa 14:2, Psa 14:3). III. A serious expostulation with sinners, especially with persecutors, upon it (Psa 14:4-6). IV. A believing prayer for the salvation of Israel and a joyful expectation of it (Psa 14:7). To the chief musician. A psalm of David.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 14 To the chief Musician, a Psalm of David. The argument of this psalm, according to Theodoret, is Sennacherib's invasion of Judea, when he sent Rabshakeh to Hezekiah, with menaces and curses; upon which Hezekiah implored divine help, and obtained it, and the Assyrian army was destroyed by an angel; of all which he thinks this psalm was prophetic.

They are all gone aside,.... As bankrupts, having run out their whole stock, and into debt, and have nothing to pay, nor make composition with, and are obliged to abscond, as Adam, Gen 3:8. The words in Psa 53:3 are, "everyone of them is gone back"; from God; have revolted from him, and turned their backs upon him, and have gone back from his commandment, despised his law, and cast away his word. The Apostle Paul interprets it, "they are all gone out of the way"; out of God's way, into their own way; out of the path of truth, righteousness, and holiness, into the way of sin, error, darkness, and death; and with this agrees the interpretation of Aben Ezra, who adds, "out of the right way"; and of Kimchi and Ben Melech, whose gloss is, "out of the good way"; which is God's way, or the way of his commandments; they are all together become filthy, or "stinking" (a), like putrid and corrupt flesh; see Psa 38:5; and so "unprofitable", useless, and good for nothing, as the apostle renders it, Rom 3:12. Mankind are universally filthy and unclean; they are all of them defiled with sin, both in soul and body, in all the faculties of their souls and members of their bodies; and they are originally and naturally so; nor can anything cleanse them from their pollution but the blood of Christ; there is none that doeth good, no, not one: this is repeated partly to asseverate more strongly the depravity of mankind, and partly to express the universality of it; that there is no exception to it in any that descend from Adam by ordinary generation. Here follows in the Septuagint version, according to the Vatican copy, all those passages quoted by the apostle, Rom 3:13; which have been generally supposed to have been taken from different parts of Scripture; so the Syriac scholiast says, in some ancient Greek copies are found eight more verses, and these are they, "Their throat", &c. (a) "faetnerunt, putruerunt", Pagninus; "aut putruerunt", Vatabulus; "putidi vel foetidi", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Gejerus, Michaelis.

What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes. [Psalms 14:1-3] Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

It was right to show openly the magnitude of the disease that lingered with sinister purpose for all people before the advent of the Savior: as it was manifested to all, his sojourn on earth became straightforwardly necessary. As all have sinned, all lacked the glory of God, and now they are all justified by his grace.

Everywhere they all have turned to tyranny. They no longer cling to the prophets. Come, King, appear, and they will fear your authority. All have turned from the ways of the prophets. Come, O Way, and lead back those who have wandered away.… Humankind was created right by God, … but they have turned away by choice to evil.… They have turned away from their right nature.… “There is no one who does good, no, not one.” From head to foot, from rich to poor, the whole world grows sick.

What do they know? That God is an avenger. He is coming as judge of the living and the dead. They know that he is going to return to each one according to his works.… And what do they not know? That God looks down from heaven. What do they not know? That those who do evil displease him. What do they not know? They do not wish to know the ways of God.… And now there are wars, pestilence and volcanoes [earthquakes]. Many never come to their senses concerning their sins, and they are punished with threatening evils. What do they not know? The will of God, his good and celestial promises, his treasures, the delights of paradise, eternal life.

"All have gone out of the way, they have together become useless:" that is, the Jews have become as the Gentiles, who were spoken of above. "There is none that does good, no not up to one" [Psalm 14:3], must be interpreted as above. "Their throat is an open sepulchre." Either the voracity of the ever open palate is signified: or allegorically those who slay, and as it were devour those they have slain, into whom they instil the disorder of their own conversation. Like to which with the contrary meaning is that which was said to Peter, "Kill and eat;" [Acts 10:13] that he should convert the Gentiles to his own faith and good conversation. "With their tongues they have dealt craftily." Flattery is the companion of the greedy and of all bad men. "The poison of asps is under their lips." By "poison," he means deceit; and "of asps," because they will not hear the precepts of the law, as asps "will not hear the voice of the charmer;" which is said more clearly in another Psalm. "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:" this is, "the poison of asps." "Their feet are swift to shed blood." He here shows forth the habit of ill doing. "Destruction and unhappiness" are "in their ways." For all the ways of evil men are full of toil and misery. Hence the Lord cries out, "Come unto Me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. For My yoke is easy and My burden light." [Matthew 11:28-30] "And the way of peace have they not known:" that way, namely, which the Lord, as I said, mentions, in the easy yoke and light burden. "There is no fear of God before their eyes." These do not say, "There is no God;" but yet they do not fear God.

What will he find when he has searched here? The contrary: because "all have turned aside"; and he sets forth three things: namely, a turning away from God, useless action, and cessation from good. He says, therefore, "All have turned aside," namely from God: Deut. 31: "I know that after my death you will act wickedly, and will turn aside from the way which I have commanded you": Hos. 4: "There is no truth, no knowledge, no mercy of God in the land": Jer. 8: "No one speaks what is good; there is none who does penance for his sin." Likewise, from the fact that one turns away from God, he becomes useless: because that is useless which does not attain that for which it was made. But man was made to enjoy God: Wis. 4: "The manifold brood of the wicked shall be of no use." Hence he says, "Together they have become useless." Likewise, they cease from good, because "there is none who does good," etc. This has already been expounded.

"Their throat." Jerome says that the Apostle makes use of the testimony of these verses, "their throat is an open sepulchre," etc. And it is found elsewhere in sacred Scripture, at Rom. 3, where he says that he took part from Is. 59, and another part from other parts of the Psalter, and not from this Psalm alone, since he himself was a Hebrew and knew that this is not found in the Hebrew; it is nevertheless found in the common edition, which the common people use, or which is not attributed to any particular person. From an open sepulchre a stench exhales; and therefore above the Psalmist certified the malice or fault of his enemies; here, however, he expounds it: and concerning this he does two things. First he shows how they are sinners harmful to others. Second, how to themselves, at "Destruction and unhappiness." Concerning the first, he proposes two things. First, how they harm others by word. Second, how by deed, at "Their feet are swift," etc. Concerning the first, he does two things. First he sets forth the readiness of their mouth to harm. Second, the mode of harming, at "With their tongues they acted deceitfully." He says, therefore: "Their throat is an open sepulchre." Such a thing is prepared for nothing else but to receive corpses: so the mouth of one who is always prepared to kill through detraction is an open sepulchre. Rev. 9: "From their mouths proceeded fire, and smoke, and brimstone." Or note their voracity, because the throat also serves for eating. But sometimes one harms by guile, sometimes by malice, and sometimes by injury. And first he sets forth the guile they have in their tongue. "With their tongues," speaking blandly on the outside: Jer. 9: "A wounding arrow is their tongue; it has spoken deceit." Second, guile in the heart: "The venom of asps is under their lips." Concealed venom is deadly, but the venom of asps is incurable and cannot be charmed: Ps. 57: "Like the deaf asp that stops its ears," etc. Its venom kills while one sleeps: Jer. 5: "Among my people are found wicked men lying in wait, as those who set snares to catch men." Ibid.: "As a decoy full of birds, so their houses are full of guile"; who attract birds to the snare by a sweet sound. In this is designated cruelty, obstinacy, and malice: cruelty, because they strive to kill; obstinacy, because hatred is always in their heart; and therefore he says, "the venom," etc.

"Whose mouth is full of cursing." Here he shows how they harm openly, because through detractory words: "and bitterness," that is, bitter words: Lev. 19: "You shall not curse the deaf." Or when one speaks words against God that provoke injury or wrath: Is. 5: "Their roaring is like that of a lion." "Their feet are swift." Here he shows how they harm by deed. "To shed blood": Prov. 1: "Their feet run to evil, and they hasten to shed blood."

"Destruction." Here he shows how they are harmful to themselves. A person harms himself in two ways: by losing the good that he has, and by failing to reach the good he hopes for. He says, therefore: "In their ways is destruction," because the good they have is crushed: "and unhappiness," because they do not arrive at the hoped-for good, namely happiness: Is. 59: "Devastation and destruction are in their ways, and they have not known the way of peace; there is no judgment in their steps." Or "destruction" in this world, "unhappiness" after death, which is opposed to happiness: Job 21: "The wicked man is reserved for the day of destruction, and he shall be led to the day of wrath." This comes from one thing that is against the love of neighbor, because "they have not known the way of peace," namely what it is. Or "they have not known the way of peace," namely Christ, because his ways are ways of peace: Prov. 3: "Her ways are beautiful ways, and all her paths are peaceful." They have not known, because by sinning they killed Christ himself. The other is against the love of God; hence he says, "There is no fear of God before their eyes": and from this they sin, because, as it is said in Prov. 16, "Through the fear of the Lord, everyone turns away from evil." Because, therefore, they do not have this, they are an open sepulchre.

The practical atheism and total and universal depravity of the wicked, with their hatred to the good, are set forth. Yet, as they dread God's judgments when He vindicates His people, the Psalmist prays for His delivering power. (Psa 14:1-7) Sinners are termed "fools," because they think and act contrary to right reason (Gen 34:7; Jos 7:15; Psa 39:8; Psa 74:18, Psa 74:22). in his heart--to himself (Gen 6:12).

filthy--literally, "spoiled," or, "soured," "corrupted" (Job 15:16; Rom 3:12).

The third tristich bewails the condition in which He finds humanity. The universality of corruption is expressed in as strong terms as possible. הכּל they all (lit., the totality); יחדּו with one another (lit., in its or their unions, i.e., universi); אין גּם־אחד not a single one who might form an exception. סר (probably not 3 praet. but partic., which passes at once into the finite verb) signifies to depart, viz., from the ways of God, therefore to fall away (ἀποστάτης). נאלח, as in Job 15:16, denotes the moral corruptness as a becoming sour, putrefaction, and suppuration. Instead of אין גּם־אחד, the lxx translates οὐκ ἔστιν ἕως ἑνός (as though it were עד־אחד, which is the more familiar form of expression). Paul quotes the first three verses of this Psalm (Rom 3:10-12) in order to show how the assertion, that Jews and heathen all are included under sin, is in accordance with the teaching of Scripture. What the psalmist says, applies primarily to Israel, his immediate neighbours, but at the same time to the heathen, as is self-evident. What is lamented is neither the pseudo-Israelitish corruption in particular, nor that of the heathen, but the universal corruption of man which prevails not less in Israel than in the heathen world. The citations of the apostle which follow his quotation of the Psalm, from τάφος ἀνεῳγμένος to ἀπέναντι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν were early incorporated in the Psalm in the Κοινή of the lxx. They appear as an integral part of it in the Cod. Alex., in the Greco-Latin Psalterium Vernonense, and in the Syriac Psalterium Mediolanense. They are also found in Apollinaris' paraphrase of the Psalms as a later interpolation; the Cod. Vat. has them in the margin; and the words σύντπιμμα καὶ ταλαιπωρία ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν have found admittance in the translation, which is more Rabbinical than Old Hebrew, מזּל רע וּפגע רע בּדרכיהם even in a Hebrew codex (Kennicott 649). Origen rightly excluded this apostolic Mosaic work of Old Testament testimonies from his text of the Psalm; and the true representation of the matter is to be found in Jerome, in the preface to the xvi. book of his commentary on Isaiah. (Note: Cf. Plschke's Monograph on the Milanese Psalterium Syriacum, 1835, p. 28-39.)