Psalms 49:19

He shall go There should be a comma at the end of Psalms 49:18, as in R.V., for Psalms 49:19 forms the apodosis to it. The Heb. verb may be either the 3rd person fem., the subject being the soul, or the 2nd person masc.; so either, -Though he blessed his soul … it shall go" &c.: or, -Though men praise thee … thou shalt go." The first alternative is preferable. The second involves an intolerably harsh change of person (- Thoushalt go … hisfathers"). For the phrase cp. Genesis 15:15, "Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace." The more usual expression for dying is, "he was gathered to his people," or, "his fathers." Families are contemplated as reunited in Sheol, where existence is a shadowy reflection of life on earth.

they shall never see light -They" refers to the rich men. The Heb. mind passes from the class to the individual and from the individual to the class with a facility to which we are not accustomed. But it is perhaps better to take the phrase as a relative clause referring to -his fathers"; Who shall never more see the light. He goes to join the ranks of those whose lot is fixed irrevocably, who will never return to life. For the phrase cp. Psalms 58:8; Job 3:16; Ecclesiastes 6:5.