Psalms 49:11

Their grave becomes their permanent residence, their eternal dwelling place. ¹  They name their lands after themselves, ² 

Their tombs will remain their houses for ever, their dwellings for endless generations, though they had named lands after themselves.

Their inner thought is that their houses are forever And their dwelling places to all generations; They have called their lands after their own names.

The grave is their eternal home, where they will stay forever. They may name their estates after themselves, but they leave their wealth to others.

They leave all their prowess behind, move into their new home, The Coffin, The cemetery their permanent address. And to think they named counties after themselves!

The place of the dead is their house for ever, and their resting-place through all generations; those who come after them give their names to their lands.

Their graves are their homes forever, their dwelling places to all generations, though they named lands their own.

Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever, Their dwelling places to all generations; They call their lands after their own names.

Their grave becomes their permanent residence, their eternal dwelling place. ¹  They name their lands after themselves, ² 

¹ tc Heb “their inward part [is] their houses [are] permanent, their dwelling places for a generation and a generation.” If one follows the MT, then קֶרֶב (qerev, “inward part”) must refer to the seat of these people’s thoughts (for other examples of this use of the term, see BDB 899 s.v., though BDB prefers an emendation in this passage). In this case all three lines of v. 11 expose these people’s arrogant assumption that they will last forever, which then stands in sharp contrast to reality as summarized in v. 12. In this case one might translate the first two lines, “they think that their houses are permanent and that their dwelling places will last forever” (cf. NASB). Following the lead of several ancient versions, the present translation assumes an emendation of קִרְבָּם (qirbam, “their inward part”) to קְבָרִים (qÿvarim, “graves”). This assumes that the letters bet (ב) and resh (ר) were accidentally transposed in the MT. In this case the first two lines support the point made in v. 10, while the third line of v. 11 stands in contrast to v. 12. The phrase בֵּית עוֹלָם (bet ’olam, “permanent house”) is used of a tomb in Eccl 12:5 (as well as in Phoenician tomb inscriptions, see DNWSI 1:160 for a list of texts) and מִשְׁכָּן (mishkan, “dwelling place”) refers to a tomb in Isa 22:16. Cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV.

² sn Naming their lands after themselves is a claim of possession.