Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 16:2

"[O my soul], thou hast said unto Jehovah, Thou art my Lord: I have no good beyond thee." — Psalms 16:2 (ASV)

You have said. —The text of this passage is extremely corrupt. This is apparent from:

1. The actual existence of various readings.
2. The variations in the ancient versions, both from the Hebrew and from each other.

It is best to consider Psalms 16:2-3 together first. The consensus of the ancient versions, favoring the first person “I said” instead of “you have said” (the italicized words O my soul, are a mere gloss from the Chaldee), provides the following clear and understandable rendering for Psalms 16:2:

I said to Jehovah, You are my Lord,
I have no good besides you.

Psalms 16:3 also requires emendation, as it is quite unintelligible as it stands. The simplest approach is to omit the conjunction and recognize one of those changes of person so agreeable to Hebrew. The verse would then run as follows:

“And of the saints who are in the earth,
They are the excellent in whom is all my delight.”

The Authorized Version, by inserting “extendeth,” introduces the fine thought that:

“Merit lives from man to man,
And not from man, O God, to You;”

However, this could not have been the thought of the original, since “my good,” as Psalms 16:5-6 show, means “happiness,” not “conduct.”