Psalms

Psalms 15

5 verses · Wisdom · Old Testament

1Yahweh, who shall dwell in your sanctuary? Who shall live on your holy hill? 2He who walks blamelessly and does what is right, and speaks truth in his heart; 3he who doesn’t slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his friend, nor casts slurs against his fellow man; 4in whose eyes a vile man is despised, but who honors those who fear Yahweh; he who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and doesn’t change; 5he who doesn’t lend out his money for usury, nor take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be shaken.

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What others are saying

4 commentators · 12 notes on this chapter

Matthew HenryEnglish Puritan / Nonconformist · 1708–17141

Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.

Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.

v. 1–5

Here is, I. A very serious and weighty question concerning the characters of a citizen of Zion (Psa 15:1): "Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Let me know who shall go to heaven." Not, who by name (in this way the Lord only knows those that are his)…

John GillParticular Baptist / High Calvinist · 1746–17635

The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.

Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.

v. 1

Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle?.... This question, with the following, is put by the psalmist in a view of the sad corruption and degeneracy of mankind described in the preceding psalm, which renders the sons of men unfit for the presence of God, and…

v. 2

He that walketh uprightly,.... Or "perfectly" (e); see Genesis 17:1; not so as to be without sin entirely, but as not to be chargeable with any notorious crime, and living in it; moreover, perfection and uprightness often signify sincerity, and the phrase…

v. 3

He that backbiteth not with his tongue,.... Is not a slanderer, a defamer, a tale bearer; a backbiter is one who privately, secretly, behind a man's back speaks evil of him, devours and destroys his credit and reputation: the word here used comes from which…

Keil & DelitzschGerman Lutheran, conservative-critical · 1861–18752

The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.

Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.

v. 1–2

That which is expanded in the tristichic portion of the Psalm, is all contained in this distichic portion in nuce. The address to God is not merely a favourite form (Hupfeld), but the question is really, as its words imply, directed to God. The answer…

v. 3–5

The distich which contains the question and that containing the general answer are now followed by three tristichs, which work the answer out in detail. The description is continued in independent clauses, which, however, have logically the value of relative…

Jamieson, Fausset & BrownScottish Presbyterian / Reformed · 18714

The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.

Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.

v. 2

walketh--(Compare Psa 1:1). uprightly--in a complete manner, as to all parts of conduct (Gen 17:1), not as to degree. worketh--or, "does." righteousness--what is right. in his heart--sincerely (Pro 23:7).

v. 3

He neither slanders nor spreads slander.

v. 4

Love and hate are regulated by a regard to God. sweareth . . . hurt--or what so results (compare Lev 5:4).

World English Bible — Public domain