The Meaning of Psalms 50:12 Explained

Psalms 50:12

KJV: If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.

YLT: If I am hungry I tell not to thee, For Mine is the world and its fulness.

Darby: If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.

ASV: If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

If I were hungry,  I would not tell  thee: for the world  [is] mine, and the fulness  thereof. 

What does Psalms 50:12 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 50:1-15 - Sacrifices Which God Desires
This is one of the most majestic compositions of this book. For literary power it cannot be excelled. The psalmist hears God calling the whole world from east to west. His presence is compared to the dawn and to a tropical storm. When He is seated on His throne, the heavens and the earth bear witness while He judges His people. Then up the crowded aisles His saints advance and stand before Him.
There is no need to enlarge upon the spiritual insight of the psalmist, who realizes that God cannot be enriched by anything that we can bring; but insists on the sacrifice of thanksgiving, vows of consecration, and the loud call for help in the day of trouble. These are characteristic of those whose God is the Lord, and of the people whom He has taken for His own inheritance. Let us specially ponder these three conditions of the happy life, Psalms 50:14-15. What comfort is contained in the blessed promise of Psalms 50:15! It is so absolute in its certainty and assurance. God has here bound Himself to deliver the soul that calls on Him in its trouble and give it reason to glorify Him. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 50

1  The majesty of God in the church
5  His order to gather his saints
7  The pleasure of God is not in ceremonies
14  but in sincerity of obedience

What do the individual words in Psalms 50:12 mean?

If I were hungry not I would tell you for [is] Mine the world and all its fullness
אִם־ אֶ֭רְעַב לֹא־ אֹ֣מַר לָ֑ךְ כִּי־ לִ֥י תֵ֝בֵ֗ל וּמְלֹאָֽהּ

אֶ֭רְעַב  I  were  hungry 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: רָעֵב 
Sense: to be hungry, be voracious.
אֹ֣מַר  I  would  tell 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
לִ֥י  [is]  Mine 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
תֵ֝בֵ֗ל  the  world 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: תֵּבֵל  
Sense: world.
וּמְלֹאָֽהּ  and  all  its  fullness 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person feminine singular
Root: מְלֹא  
Sense: fullness, that which fills.