Abstract
Psalm 49's chiastic form guides and focusses its sentiments about wisdom, wealth, death and endurance. Hearing and silence are wisdom's mode of reception. Dangers exist for those who fail to hear through wisdom. One need not fear another's accumulation of wealth, for death negates wealth. Before death, human action is useless; only divine action brings protection, as also reflected in Hosea 13-14 and Psalm 18. The rich fail to grasp their destiny in a grave which reverses wealth and wisdom's apparent value. Wealth does not endure, only one's reputation for folly or one's redemption by wisdom endure.
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