King James Version

Psalms 49:4

I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.

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Hebrew

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In the Hebrew text this line is Psalms 49:5.

אַטֶּ֣הatehspreadנָטָהverb, hiphil, imperfect, 1st person, common, singular — “spread”, an unfinished actionH5186to stretch or spread out; by implication, to bend away (including moral deflection); used in a great variety of application[phrase] afternoon, apply, bow (down, -ing), carry aside, decline, deliver, extend, go down, be gone, incline, intend, lay, let down, offer, outstretched, overthrown, pervert, pitch, prolong, put away, shew, spread (out), stretch (forth, o…לְמָשָׁ֣לlemashalto bywordמָשָׁלpreposition, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “to byword”, the ordinary formH4912properly, a pithy maxim, usually of metaphorical nature; hence, a simile (as an adage, poem, discourse)byword, like, parable, proverb.אָזְנִ֑יazeniearאֹזֶןnoun, common, feminine, singular, construct, suffix, pronominal, 1st person, common, singular — “ear”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH241broadness. i.e. (concrete) the ear (from its form in man)[phrase] advertise, audience, [phrase] displease, ear, hearing, [phrase] show.אֶפְתַּ֥חeftachopenפָּתַחverb, qal, imperfect, 1st person, common, singular — “open”, an unfinished actionH6605to open wide (literally or figuratively); specifically, to loosen, begin, plough, carveappear, break forth, draw (out), let go free, (en-) grave(-n), loose (self), (be, be set) open(-ing), put off, ungird, unstop, have vent.בְּ֝כִנּ֗וֹרbekhinorin harpכִּנּוֹרpreposition, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “in harp”, the ordinary formH3658a harpharp.חִידָתִֽיchidatidark sayingחִידָהnoun, common, feminine, singular, construct, suffix, pronominal, 1st person, common, singular — “dark saying”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH2420a puzzle, hence, a trick, conundrum, sententious maximdark saying (sentence, speech), hard question, proverb, riddle.

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

(49-5) I will incline mine ear to a parable; I will open my dark saying upon the harp.

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.

Young’s Literal Translation

I incline to a simile mine ear, I open with a harp my riddle:

World English Bible

I will incline my ear to a proverb. I will solve my riddle on the harp.

Darby Translation

I will incline mine ear to a parable, I will open my riddle upon the harp.

Douay-Rheims

He shall call heaven from above, and the earth, to judge his people.

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

(49-5) I will incline mine ear to a parable; I will open my dark saying upon the harp.

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my riddle on the harp.

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Κλινῶ εἰς παραβολὴν τὸ οὖς μου, ἀνοίξω ἐν ψαλτηρίῳ τὸ πρόβλημά μου.