Fathers

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What the Fathers say

Psalms 49:10

Western Saints

Augustine of Hippo

"For he shall not see death, though he shall have seen wise men dying" (ver. 10). The man who laboured for ever and shall live till the end, "shall not see death, though he shall have seen wise men dying." What is this? He shall not comprehend what death is, whenever he shall have seen wise men dying. For he saith to himself, "this fellow, for all he was wise and dwelled with wisdom and worshipped God with piety, is he not dead? …

On the Psalms, Psalm 49 ↗

Ambrose of Milan

A fool has no discernment, and his thoughts are stupid. The unwise person can think, but what he thinks is bad: "The unwise person has said that there is no God." He is culpably wicked because he knows what goodness is. Yet, though he knows it, he commits iniquity in the evil of his own heart. He is also dishonest. Again, not because he does not know what honesty is but because he is so twisted that he would wish to destroy honesty.

Commentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms, On Psalm 49 ↗

Thomas Aquinas

"And they shall leave." Here he sets forth the evils that befall sinners. And first he sets forth the evils that occur in the present. Second, he sets forth the evils that will come in the future, at "Like sheep." Concerning the first he does two things. First, he sets forth the evils that occur in the present with respect to extrinsic goods. Second, with respect to intrinsic goods, at "When he was in honor." And he shows first what the wicked man loses through death. …

Exposition on the Psalms of David ↗