Psalms 14:3

Old Testament Poetry/Hymns ASV (1901)

What does Psalms 14:3 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “They are all gone aside; they are together become filthy; There is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

They are all gone aside; they are together become filthy; There is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Psalms 14:3 — American Standard Version

Context — Psalms 14

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
3They are all gone aside; they are together become filthy; There is none that doeth good, no, not one.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“They are all gone aside, etc.] 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, (<010308>Genesis 3:8,24). The words in (<195303>Psalm 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…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“filthy--literally, "spoiled," or, "soured," "corrupted" (Job 15:16; Rom 3:12).”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“They are all gone aside - This verse states the result of the divine investigation referred to in the previous verse. The result, as seen by God himself, was, that “all” were seen to have gone aside, and to have become filthy. The word rendered “gone aside” means properly to go off, to turn aside or away, to depart; as, for example, to turn out of the right way or path, Exodus 32:8. Then it means to turn away from God; to fall away from his worship; to apostatize, 1 Samuel 12:20; 2Ki 18:6; 2 Chronicles 25:27. This is the idea here - that they had all apostatized from the living God. The word “all” in the circumstances makes the statement as universal as it can be made; and no term could be…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“Gone - From God, and from the rule which he hath given them. Filthy - Loathsome and abominable to God. Psalms 14:4”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“all gone: Psa 119:176; Ecc 7:29; Isa 53:6, Isa 59:7, Isa 59:8, Isa 59:13-15; Jer 2:13; Rom 3:10-12, Rom 3:23; Eph 2:3; Pe2 2:13-15 filthy: Heb. stinking, Psa 38:5; Job 15:16; Isa 64:6; Eze 36:25; Co2 7:1 there: Psa 14:1; Exo 8:31, Exo 12:30; Deu 1:35; Job 14:4; Rom 3:10; Co1 6:5 Psalms 14:4”
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Keil & Delitzsch
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · Commentary on the Old Testament · 19th-century historical commentary
“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…”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification