Grammar, Participants, and Meaning of Psalm 14:4

Back to Psalm 14

Introduction

There are 3 main issues in this verse that may render understanding and translation difficult:

1. The verse appears to contain a rhetorical question ("Do they not know..."?). Is the rhetorical question meant to have yes or no as an answer? If yes, the question might mean something like, "Do they not know? Of course they do"!; and if no, it would mean, "Do they not know? It's surprising that they don't"! This has big implications for the meaning of the verb of the question, יָדְעוּ֮--does it mean "to know", "to understand", or even, "to be made to know" (as suggested by Kirkpatrick 1906)? Or, one of the many other senses of יָדְעוּ֮ (BDB, NIDOTTE, LTW)?
2. Who is the speaker of lines A and B ("Do all these evildoers know nothing? They devour my people as though eating bread"¹)--the psalmist or YHWH? The confusion arises in the "my"--this is the only instance of first person in the Psalm.
3. The clause אֹכְלֵי עַמִּי, אָכְלוּ לֶחֶם. The grammar of this phrase (literally, eating my people they ate bread) is difficult, and translations vary on how they render it within the verse. Various translations and commentaries offer the following interpretations:

• [A means to an end]: by devouring my people, they've made their bread (living/wealth)²

• [Implied metaphor]: they eat my people (as easily/flippantly as, or with the same attitude as) eating bread³

• [Subject and predicate of its own clause]: those consuming my people have eaten bread ⁴

• [Omit the bread entirely]: gobble down the Lord's people⁵; live by robbing my people⁶

• [Separate clauses]: they eat my people; it's bread that they eat⁷

• ["my" bread: referring to YHWH's bread in the temple--equating the evildoers with priests]: they eat my people and they eat my bread⁸

Looking past the formal differences and focusing on the meaning of the phrase, we can see that all these options really boil down to two different meanings:

• Option 1: the implied metaphor (they've destroyed my people as easily/flippantly as though they were eating daily food)
• Option 2: the bread is a reference to priests, and the Psalm is meant, in part, to chastise Israel's leadership for abusing and neglecting lowlier Israelites.

And, what does "eat my people" really mean?

Argument Maps

The rhetorical question: yes or no?

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[Yes--they DO know (on an intellectual level)] 
 + <Context of v. 5>: The fact that the wicked is overwhelmed with terror in v.5 indicates that he _does_ recognize that YHWH is on the side of the righteous (Kirkpatrick 1906 :C:) 
 + <הֲלֹא probably emphatic>: In addition to expressing a rhetorical question ("Is it not...?"), הֲלֹא usually serves as a particle of emphasis ("_Surely_ the wicked know!") (Joüon and Muraoka 1991:§161c :G:; BDB :L:; Nahum 2018 :G:) 
 + הֲלֹא invites an affirmative answer to a (rhetorical) question (BDB :L:; BHRG §43.2.1.2.b :G:)
  <_ "hălōʾ must expect the answer yes, but there are other examples with yādaʿ where the answer should be yes but is effectively no (e.g., Gen. 44:15; Judg. 15:11; Isa. 40:28) (Irvine 1995 :A:)
  <_ Several OT examples use הֲלֹא to convey epistemic value of a statement rather than actual truth value: hoping for confirmation without guaranteeing the truth of the matter (which can be understood as "Surely...."! or "Shouldn't..."?)
   + [Gen 27:36; Num. 12:2; Judg. 5:30; Judg. 15:11]
 - "The evildoers’ behavior shows their lack of knowledge." (Barry et al. 2016 :C:) #dispreferred
 - <Meaning of יָדְעוּ֮ as _embodiment_>: "The psalm knows, in fact, that the evil-doers do not know...To know (Hebrew yāḏaʿ) is not merely to grant intellectual assent to an idea, but to embody that idea in one’s being. To know God’s will, for example, is to do God’s will (cf. Hos. 4:1–2, 6). The very fact that the wicked do evil deeds shows that they do not know any better. It shows that they do not know the Lord." (Jacobson and Tanner 2014 :C:) #dispreferred
 + <Meaning of יָדְעוּ֮ as _were made to know_>: If, as some suggest, שָׁם in v.5 is acting as a poetic interjection pointing to a new scene that is localized vividly in the imagination (BDB :L:; VanGemeren 2008 :C:), then the understanding of יָדְעוּ֮ as a past event in which the wicked came to realize that YHWH was on the side of the righteous is likely. Then "were made to know" makes good sense as the intended meaning of יָדְעוּ֮. Thus, the answer to the question would be _yes_. (Kirkpatrick 1906) 
  + This theory explains well the difficult context of שָׁם in v.5, as well as how v.5 relates to v.4 (the wicked did not know before, but something happened that made them come to know and thus to be terrified) (Kirkpatrick 1906 :C:)
 + <Ancient translations>: LXX and Vulgate: "they shall know...", meaning they are sure to find out (in the future) (Ellicott 2018 :C:)
  <_ Requires a future understanding of a qatal verb #dispreferred
  <_ Peshitta: "No workers of evil have awareness" #dispreferred

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[No--they DO NOT understand/embody] #dispreferred
 + Peshitta: "No workers of evil have awareness" #dispreferred
 - <הֲלֹ֥א probably emphatic>: In addition to expressing a rhetorical question ("Is it not...?"), הֲלֹ֥א usually serves as a particle of emphasis ("_Surely_ the wicked know!") (Joüon and Muraoka 1991:§161c :G:; BDB :L:; Nahum 2018 :G:) 
 - <Context of v. 5>: The fact that the wicked is overwhelmed with terror in v.5 indicates that he _does_ understand YHWH is on the side of the righteous (Kirkpatrick 1906 :C:)
 - הֲלֹ֥א invites an affirmative answer (BDB :L:)
  <_ "hălōʾ must expect the answer yes, but there are other examples with yādaʿ where the answer should be yes but is effectively no (e.g., Gen. 44:15; Judg. 15:11; Isa. 40:28) (Irvine 1995 :A:) 
 + "The evildoers’ behavior shows their lack of knowledge." (Barry et al. 2016 :C:) #dispreferred
 + <Meaning of יָדְעוּ֮ as _embodiment_>: "The psalm knows, in fact, that the evil-doers do not know...To know (Hebrew yāḏaʿ) is not merely to grant intellectual assent to an idea, but to embody that idea in one’s being. To know God’s will, for example, is to do God’s will (cf. Hos. 4:1–2, 6). The very fact that the wicked do evil deeds shows that they do not know any better. It shows that they do not know the Lord." (Jacobson and Tanner 2014 :C:) #dispreferred
 + <Context of יָדְעוּ֮>: With so many varied meanings of the word ידע, context is king in determining the meaning of ידע in each instance (NIDOTTE :L:); in this Psalm, the context is the fool/the wicked, and how he does NOT have understanding/wisdom (see vv. 1-3) #dispreferred
 + <Use of ידע in Ex. 6:7 and Ezek. 6:7>: In these passages, "knowing" God means to believe, to recognize his authority (LTW :L:). The fool in this Psalm clearly does not believe or recognize God's authority, as evidenced in v. 1. #dispreferred
  <_This understanding of ידע could still be valid, however, with a "yes" as the answer to the question, if the שָׁם in v. 5 describes a change of state from disbelief to belief

Who is the speaker of lines A and B ("Do all these evildoers know nothing? They devour my people as though eating bread"¹)?

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[The speaker is the PSALMIST] 
 + <Possible ambiguity in Hebrew suffix>: Rather than ("my people"), the original word could have been ("his people"), based on a comparison with the Phonecian _-y_ suffix: "...just as the Phoenician dialects possessed third-person singular suffixes -ō, -h, and -y, so Hebrew used all three; the possible ambiguity was resolved by context." (Dahood 2008 :C:) Thus, the original Hebrew might have been misjudged in context, and could be interpreted as "his people" rather than "my people".
  + "His people" appears in v. 7
  + This is the only instance of first person in this Psalm
 + <Modern and ancient translations>: Most do not indicate that YHWH is the speaker of lines A and B; the assumption is thus made by the reader that the psalmist is continuing to speak, or that the speaker is ambiguous (could be YHWH OR the psalmist). 
  <_ GNB: “Don’t they know?” asks the LORD. “Are all these evildoers ignorant? They live by robbing my people, and they never pray to me.” #dispreferred
 + <YHWH in third person in line C>: Since YHWH is clearly not the speaker of line C, it would be unexpected for him to be the speaker of lines A and B, without any explicit indication of change of speaker. 
 + <Ties to Exodus 3-10>: There are a number of features linking this Psalm with Ex. 3-10, one of which is the constant repetition of "my people". In the Exodus context, Moses is the actual speaker, but he is speaking _on behalf of_ YHWH; the psalmist could likely be acting similarly in this verse. This could explain the appearance of "my people" but keeping the psalmist as the speaker (Kirkpatrick 1906 :C:)  

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[The speaker is YHWH] #dispreferred
 - <No explicit indication of change of speaker>
 + GNB: “Don’t they know?” asks the LORD. “Are all these evildoers ignorant? They live by robbing my people, and they never pray to me.” #dispreferred
 - <YHWH in third person in line C>: Since YHWH is clearly not the speaker of line C, it would be unexpected for him to be the speaker of lines A and B, without any explicit indication of change of speaker. 
 + <Ties to Micah 3>: There are numerous ties to Micah 3 in this Psalm, and Micah 3 uses "my people" to mean the remnant of the people of Israel, the few who were faithful to YHWH. So, though the Psalmist could also refer to the people of Israel as his people, the connection to Micah 3 would suggest that it's YHWH's people, not the psalmist's. #dispreferred

The clause אֹכְלֵי עַמִּי, אָכְלוּ לֶחֶם

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[The clause is a metaphor to describe the wicked's oppression of the righteous] 
 <_ <Ties to Micah 3>: This Psalm's connections to Micah 3--whose purpose is to chastise Israel's leadership for abusing their own subjects--means that the Psalm could have a similar purpose. #dispreferred
 + <Ties to Micah 3, part 2>: On the other hand, the eating of people is used metaphorically in Micah 3 to mean the oppression or destruction of YHWH's people, which could support the metaphorical meaning in this instance. 
 + <Same basic meaning>: Though modern translations vary in the syntax in which they render this clause (two separate clauses, one subordinate relative clause, etc.) , understanding this clause as metaphor wherein _eating bread_ equates to _oppressing people_ captures the semantic meaning of most all renderings. 

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[The clause includes the literal meaning of "bread", intended as a subtle address to the priesthood of Israel as the "wicked" in this Psalm] #dispreferred
 + <Ties to Micah 3>:This Psalm's connections to Micah 3--whose purpose is to chastise Israel's leadership for abusing their own subjects--means that the Psalm could have a similar purpose. #dispreferred
 - <Context of verse 2>: In v. 2, the addressees/subjects of YHWH's examining is _bne' adam_, meaning the whole human race--not just one group such as the priests/leaders
 - <Limited evidence>: Given the uncertainty surrounding this Psalm's date and situation of authorship, it's difficult to determine if the psalmist is addressing foreign enemies or Israel's own leadership as "the wicked"
  + [Very few translations or commentaries explicitly agree with this understanding of the clause]

Conclusion

1. From the point of view of grammar, the most likely answer to the rhetorical question presented in this verse is YES--the wicked do intellectually know (who YHWH is and that he has authority to punish them for the wickedness). Thus, if reformulated as a statement instead of a rhetorical question, it might be "Surely the wicked [the ones who do evil....] know/were made to know..." However, though they might have the cerebral knowledge of YHWH and his power (one major sense of ידע), they don't truly understand and embody (live by--another major sense of ידע) this idea, which is demonstrated by their evil behavior (oppressing others). Thus, this verse is probably a case of הֲלוֹא ידע much like that found in Gen. 44:15; Judg. 15:11; Isa. 40:28--the answer to the question SHOULD be yes, but it is effectively no. We see other examples of הֲלוֹא being used in this way--conveying an idea of "Surely"! or "Shouldn't"?-- in Gen 27:36; Num. 12:2; Judg. 5:30; Judg. 15:11. In this Psalm, the wicked are haughtily defiant to the fact that YHWH is watching and examining them from heaven (vv. 1-2), and that he will ensure that they receive their due punishment. So, in this verse, the psalmist is marveling at the fact that the wicked must be aware of what awaits them, and yet continue in their wickedness, which is folly!

2. The speaker of lines A and B could be said to be, in a way, BOTH YHWH and the psalmist. Given the lack of indication that a change of speaker takes place for just these two lines, we can deduce that the psalmist is continuing as the speaker, but it's likely that he's speaking on behalf of YHWH--that is, YHWH's words to the people. This Psalm's ties with Exodus 3-10, where Moses spoke on behalf of YHWH and repeated the quote "my people" to mean YHWH's people; as well as ties to Micah 3 wherein "my people" is repeated to mean YHWH's faithful remnant, also suggest that "my people" in this Psalm might refer to YHWH's people more than the psalmist's.

3. Option 1 is most likely. Though the Hebrew grammar of this phrase within this verse is troublesome, the various ways in which it has been rendered across most modern and ancient translations have the same basic meaning: The wicked "eat" (destroy, oppress, afflict) YHWH's people just as easily/flippantly as, or in the same manner as, they eat their daily food. Ties to Micah 3, which describes the wicked oppressing the poor by "eating" them, also hint that the literal eating of bread is not to be included here--it's a metaphor. On the other hand, ties to Micah 3 could also mean that the psalm is aimed at Israel's wicked leadership. The psalmist could have intended a double meaning with a reference to the priesthood of Israel acting wickedly--but there is just not enough evidence to support this idea, given the unknown date and circumstances of this Psalm's writing. Also, even despite different meaning within the clause itself, the vast majority of translations understand the clause to be functioning as an appositive, describing the "evildoers".

Research

Translations

Ancient

• LXX: ὃς οὐκ ἐδόλωσεν ἐν γλώσσῃ αὐτοῦ οὐδὲ ἐποίησεν τῷ πλησίον αὐτοῦ κακὸν καὶ ὀνειδισμὸν οὐκ ἔλαβεν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἔγγιστα αὐτοῦ, Will they not understand, all the ones who are working injustice, who devour my people like the eating of bread? They cannot call upon the Lord.
• Vulgate: nonne cognoscent omnes qui operantur iniquitatem qui devorant plebem meam sicut escam panis. Dominum non invocaverunt illic trepidaverunt timore ubi non erat timor; Shall not all they know that work iniquity, who devour my people as they eat bread? They have not called upon the Lord: there have they trembled for fear, where there was no fear.
• Peshitta: ܘܠܐ ܢܟܘܠܬܢ ܒܠܫܢܗ ܘܠܐ ܥܒܕ ܠܚܒܪܗ ܒܝܫܬܐ. ܘܫܘܚܕܐ ܥܠ ܩܪܝܒܗ ܠܐ ܡܩܒܠ No workers of evil have awareness; they consume my people as eating bread, and they have not called upon LORD JEHOVAH.
• Targum: הלא יידעו כל עבדי שקר סעודי עמי סעדו לחמא שמא דיהוה לא בריכו׃ Do they not know, all doers of falsehood? Those among my people who dine have dined on bread [and] not blessed the name of the Lord.

Modern

English

• ESV: Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the LORD?
• NASB95: Do all the workers of wickedness not know, Who eat up my people as they eat bread, And do not call upon the Lord?
• NIV: Do all these evildoers know nothing? They devour my people as though eating bread; they never call on the LORD.
• NLT: Will those who do evil never learn? They eat up my people like bread and wouldn’t think of praying to the LORD.
• GNB: “Don’t they know?” asks the LORD. “Are all these evildoers ignorant? They live by robbing my people, and they never pray to me.”
• LES [13:4]: Will they not understand, all the ones who are working injustice, who devour my people like the eating of bread? They cannot call upon the Lord.
• NRSV: Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon the LORD?
• RSV: Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon the LORD?
• CSB: Will evildoers never understand? They consume my people as they consume bread; they do not call on the LORD.
• ASV: Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, Who eat up my people as they eat bread, And call not upon Jehovah?
• CEV: Won’t you evil people learn? You refuse to pray, and you gobble down the LORD’s people.
• NET: All those who behave wickedly do not understand— those who devour my people as if they were eating bread, and do not call out to the LORD.
• NCV: Don’t the wicked understand? They destroy my people as if they were eating bread. They do not ask the LORD for help.
• NIV84: Will evildoers never learn— those who devour my people as men eat bread and who do not call on the LORD?
  
• NLT1: Will those who do evil never learn? They eat up my people like bread; they wouldn’t think of praying to the LORD.
• REB: Have they no understanding, all those evildoers who devour my people as if eating bread, and never call to the LORD?
• YLT: Have all working iniquity not known? Those consuming my people have eaten bread, Jehovah they have not called.

French

• LBS: Tous ces gens qui font le mal, | n’ont-ils rien compris ? Car ils dévorent mon peuple, | c’est le pain qu’ils mangent ! Jamais ils n’invoquent l’Eternel ! »
• BFC: ‹Ils ne comprennent vraiment rien, dit le Seigneur, tous ces gens qui font le malheur des autres, qui se nourrissent en exploitant mon peuple et ne s’adressent jamais à moi.›
• LSG: Tous ceux qui commettent l’iniquité ont-ils perdu le sens? Ils dévorent mon peuple, ils le prennent pour nourriture; Ils n’invoquent point l’Éternel.
• PDV: Le SEIGNEUR dit : « Est-ce qu’ils ne comprennent pas, tous ces gens qui font du mal ? Ils dévorent mon peuple comme ils mangent leur nourriture, et ils ne font pas appel à moi. »

Spanish

• LBLA: ¿No tienen conocimiento todos los que hacen iniquidad, que devoran a mi pueblo como si comieran pan, y no invocan al SEÑOR?
• LPDPT: ¿Acaso son tan ignorantes los perversos, esos que devoran a mi pueblo como si fuera pan? ¡Nunca buscan al S!
• NVI: ¿Acaso no entienden todos los que hacen lo malo, los que devoran a mi pueblo como si fuera pan? ¡Jamás invocan al SEÑOR!
• RVR95BTO: ¿No tienen discernimiento todos los que cometen maldad, que devoran a mi pueblo como si comieran pan y no invocan a Jehová?

Portuguese

• NVI: Será que nenhum dos malfeitores aprende? Eles devoram o meu povo como quem come pão, e não clamam pelo SENHOR.

Secondary Literature

1. The rhetorical question

BDB
הֲלֹא nonne? Gn 4:7 + often Inviting, as it does, an affirmative answer, it is often used, (a) especially in conversation, for pointing to a fact in such a way as to arouse the interest of the person addressed, or to win his assent: Gn 13:9 Is not the whole land before thee? 19:20; 20:5; 27:36; 29:25 Ex 4:11 Who maketh dumb or deaf, etc.? Do not I? 33:16 Ju 4:6, 14; 8:2; 9:28, 38 1 S 9:20, 21; 15:17 etc.; with a vb. in 1 ps., Jos 1:9 הלא צויתיך, Ju 6:14 הלא שׁלחתיך, 1 S 20:30; 2 S 19:23 Ru 2:9: similarly in a poet. or rhet. style, Ju 5:30 הלא ימצאו יחלקו שׁלל, Is 8:19; 10:8, 9, 11; 28:25; 29:17; 40:21, 23; 42:24; 43:19 etc., Jb 4:6, 21; 7:1; 10:10, 20, etc. (β) it has a tendency to become little more than an affirm. particle, declaring with some rhetor. emph. what is, or might be, well known: Dt 3:11

LTW
יָדַע (yādaʿ). vb. to know; realize. Indicates cognizance or mental awareness of something usually by means of personal experience. The verb יָדַע (yādaʿ) occurs over 900 times and has a wide range of meanings including “to understand,” “to experience,” “to notice,” and “to learn.” The verb is also used euphemistically for engaging in sexual intercourse. Occasionally, the word conveys belief in terms of knowledge gained through experience and proof. In two passages, yādaʿ is used in conjunction with אָמַן (ʾāman). In Isaiah 43:10, belief (ʾāman) in Yahweh is equated with knowledge (yādaʿ) and understanding of him. In Jeremiah 40:14, Gedaliah did not believe (ʾāman) the report of the messengers who asked him if he knew (yādaʿ) that his life was in danger. In other contexts, yādaʿ by itself carries a sense of belief, especially in passages where the aim of God’s actions is that people “will know that I am God” (e.g., Exod 6:7; Ezek 6:7).

NIDOTTE
The meanings of יָדַע are difficult to relate to one another. They range from sensory perception to intellectual process to practical skill to careful attention to close relationship to physical intimacy. The relation to other vbs. in this semantic field is difficult (cf. the vbs. in Isa 6:9; 32:3–4; 41:20; 44:18). It is probable that precision in nuancing is not to be sought in such words in isolation; only the context enables some distinctions to emerge. In the broadest sense, יָדַע means to take various aspects of the world of one’s experience into the self, including the resultant relationship with that which is known.

NET Bible First Edition Notes 2006
“Do they not understand?” The rhetorical question (rendered in the translation as a positive affirmation) expresses the psalmist’s amazement at their apparent lack of understanding. This may refer to their lack of moral understanding, but it more likely refers to their failure to anticipate God’s defense of his people (see vv. 5–7).

Bratcher and Reyburn 1991
The questions are rhetorical, implying amazement that people who know better do not act properly. Yahweh condemns the evildoers as deliberately disregarding the divine punishment which they will receive for their sins. Of course they know what they are doing and what are the consequences of their evil deeds. SPCL translates as a statement of fact.

Kirkpatrick 1906
Jehovah Himself speaks. The first clause may be taken as in A.V., ‘Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge?’ Are they so ignorant that they cannot distinguish between right and wrong? Cp. Psalm 14:2 and Psalm 82:5. But a much better connexion with Psalm 14:5 is gained by rendering, Were not all the workers of iniquity made to know? (or, following the ancient versions in a change of the vocalisation, shall not … be made to know?) i.e. taught by sharp experience to know their error. Then Psalm 14:5 follows as the answer to the question. ‘Yes, indeed! there &c.’ For this pregnant sense of know, cp. Hosea 9:7; Jdg 8:16 (taught, lit. made to know).

Nahum 2018
This common rhetorical particle, formally composed of the he interrogativum and לא, always comes at the beginning of the phrase, presenting and emphasizing a fact (similar to הִנֵּה) but often as answering back or refuting the one immediately preceding it. Note that although containing both the interrogative and negative elements (הֲ and לֹא respectively), this particle should be understood as affirmative in sense, e.g., מַה־זֹּאת עָשִׂיתָ לִּי? הֲלֹא בְרָחֵל עָבַדְתִּי עִמָּךְ וְלָמָּה! רִמִּיתָנִי? (“What have you done to me? I have worked at your place for the sake of Rachel! Why have you deceived me?”).

Futato 2009
The Heb. halo’ [1886.2/3808, 2022/4202] “is sometimes used with a certain exclamatory nuance” (see Joüon and Muraoka 1991:§161c). The Heb. yada‘ [3045, 3359] can mean “consider/reason” (see Isa 9:9 [8]; 44:19 and BDB 394, which cites Deut 4:39; 8:5; Judg 18:14; 2 Sam 24:13; 1 Kgs 20:7, 22). The verb yada‘ is also used as a parallel term with the Piel of khashab [2803, 3108] (think) in 144:3. So the first statement can be rendered, “All those who do evil really think …”
If, as suggested by Irvine (1995:404), the verb is from qara’ II [7122, 7925] (encounter), the sense is “they do not encounter the LORD.” “Encounter” would have judgment in view, as in Amos 4:12. Verse 4 would then be translated, “Do all those who do evil, who consume my people as one consumes bread, really think they do not encounter the LORD?” Yes, they do, in keeping with their assertion that, “There is no God”!

Ellicott 2018
Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge?—i.e., are they so senseless as not to perceive the consequences of their wrong-doing? or if we point the verb as the LXX. and Vulg., “shall they not know?” i.e., they are sure to find out to what their wickedness is leading them.

Barry et al, 2016
The evildoers’ behavior shows their lack of knowledge.

Jacobson and Tanner 2014
The second stanza begins with the rhetorical question, Do all those who do evil not know? The psalm knows, in fact, that the evil-doers do not know. What do they not know? That the LORD looks down from heaven … to see if there is anyone who has insight. Once again, the unity of thought and action is presupposed in the Old Testament mind. To know (Hebrew yāḏaʿ) is not merely to grant intellectual assent to an idea, but to embody that idea in one’s being. To know God’s will, for example, is to do God’s will (cf. Hos. 4:1–2, 6). The very fact that the wicked do evil deeds shows that they do not know any better. It shows that they do not know the Lord.

Keil and Delitzsch 1996
That which is here clothed in the form of a question, הֲלֹא יָדְעוּ, is reversed into an assertion in v. 5 of that Psalm. It is not to be translated: will they not have to feel (which ought to be יֵדְעוּ); but also not as Hupfeld renders it: have they not experienced. “Not to know” is intended to be used as absolutely in the signification non sapere, and consequently insipientem esse, as it is in 82:5; 73:22; 92:7, Isa. 44:18, cf. 9, 45:20, and frequently. The perfect is to be judged after the analogy of novisse (Ges. § 126, 3), therefore it is to be rendered: have they attained to no knowledge, are they devoid of all knowledge, and therefore like the brutes, yea, according to Isa. 1:2, 3 even worse than the brutes, all the workers of iniquity?

2. The speaker of lines A and B

Kirkpatrick 1906
But who are meant by my people and the workers of iniquity? Possibly the godly few who alone deserve the name of Jehovah’s people (Micah 2:9; Micah 3:3; Micah 3:5; and often in the prophets), and the nobles who oppress them. But it is more natural to explain ‘my people’ of the nation of Israel; and in this case ‘the workers of iniquity’ must be foreign oppressors, or, if we assume a reference to past history as in Psalm 14:1-3, the Egyptians. In favour of this view it should be noted that Israel is constantly called ‘my people’ in Exodus 3-10; and the last clause of the verse is illustrated by Exodus 5:2. Cp. also Jeremiah 2:3.

Dahood 2008
Apparently identical in meaning with vs. 7, ʿammō, “his people,” ʿammī may be parsed as bearing the third-person suffix -y. [In Ps. 2:6], the suffix of malkī and qodšī is the third-person singular masculine, equivalent to Phoen. -y, “his, her.” This suffix is also found in Ugaritic, though specialists have not recognized it; good examples include UT, 51:VIII:12–13 = 67:II:15–16; 1001:10 = rev:8.20. Though the existence of Phoen. -y is undoubted, its pronunciation and origin remain a matter of dispute; cf. F. M. Cross, Jr., and D. N. Freedman, “The Pronominal Suffixes of the Third Person Singular in Phoenician,” JNES 10 (1951), 228–30. The remarks concerning the pronunciation of -y in Johannes Friedrich, Phönizisch-Punische Grammatik (abbr. PPG) (Roma, 1951), §§ 23, 112, have been retracted in his article “Punische Studien,” ZDMG 107 (1957), 282–98, especially pp. 287, 290. To judge from MT, the pronunciation coincided with that of the first-person singular suffix; see Hans Bauer in ZDMG 68 (1914), 599.One may also voice the objection that in these passages there is the usual orthographic confusion between yod and waw, but this difficulty founders on the paleographic fact that in the Qumran Scrolls these letters can hardly be confused except during a limited period when they were difficult to distinguish.
In brief, just as the Phoenician dialects possessed third-person singular suffixes -ō, -h, and -y, so Hebrew used all three; the possible ambiguity was resolved by context

Bratcher and Reyburn 1991
It seems that my people in this verse indicates that Yahweh is the speaker; TEV, FRCL, and GECL make this explicit. However, commentators are not agreed. The third person reference to the Lord in the last line may indicate that the psalmist is the speaker.

Adeyemo 2006
Where there is a lack of understanding, people fail to learn from their mistakes and from their history. God sighs, Will evildoers never learn? (14:4). These foolish evildoers are oppressing God’s people (my people), and doing it as casually as they would eat bread with a meal.
We have heard the psalmist’s assessment of his community, and now we hear the Lord’s assessment of what he sees as he looks down from heaven, where he is enthroned as the heavenly king (14:2). From his position he can scan the society to see if there are any who understand, that is, any who are not fools, for lack of the understanding is what makes a person a fool. The parallel between those ‘who understand’ and those who seek God makes it clear what counts as intelligence in God’s eyes. It has nothing to do with health, wealth and success, and everything to do with one’s attitude to the Lord. God’s summary of what he sees is alarming: all have turned aside. The whole society is depraved, for they have together become corrupt … there is no one who does good (14:3). God’s words confirm the truth of the psalmist’s observation in 14:1. Where there is a lack of understanding, people fail to learn from their mistakes and from their history. God sighs, Will evildoers never learn? (14:4). These foolish evildoers are oppressing God’s people (my people), and doing it as casually as they would eat bread with a meal.

ESV Study Bible 2008
The person speaking here may be God, or it may simply be the pious Israelite; either could talk about “my people.”

Steveson 2007
v.4: The Lord Himself speaks through David.

3. The clause אֹכְלֵי עַמִּי, אָכְלוּ לֶחֶם

Dahood 2008
The grain of Yahweh. Well attested in Hebrew (BDB, p. 537a), leḥem, “grain,” likewise bears this connotation in Ugaritic, though the glossaries of Gordon, Driver, and Aistleitner are not cognizant of this meaning. See Ginsberg, LKK, p. 47, on UT, 126:III:14, where lḥm is parallellel to yn, “wine,” and šmn, “oil,” precisely as in Ps 104:15. For the imagery, see Num 14:9, “Have no fear then of the people of the land, for they are grain for us (laḥmēnū),” and St. Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Romans, 4, I, “Grain of God am I, ground by the teeth of wild beasts.”

McNeile 1942
Probably means By devouring my people they have made their bread, i.e. their living, their wealth (cf. Am 7:12).

Keil and Delitzsch 1996
The two clauses which follow are, logically at least, attributive clauses. The subordination of אָכְלוּ לֶחֶם to the participle as a circumstantial clause in the sense of כֶּאֱכֹל לֶחֶם is syntactically inadmissible; neither can אכלו לחם, with Hupfeld, be understood of a brutish and secure passing away of life; for, as Olshausen, rightly observes אָכַל לֶחֶם does not signify to feast and carouse, but simply to eat, take a meal. Hengstenberg correctly translates it “who eating my people, eat bread,” i.e., who think that they are not doing anything more sinful,—indeed rather what is justifiable, irreproachable and lawful to them,—than when they are eating bread; cf. the further carrying out of this thought in Mic. 3:1–3 (especially v. 3 extr.: “just as in the pot and as flesh within the caldron.”).

ESV Study Bible 2008
To eat up my people is to consume their wealth and freedom, and possibly even their lives (cf. Mic. 3:1–3, where it is Israelite rulers who do this).

Bratcher and Reyburn 1991
The second line of the Hebrew text is difficult to understand; it is literally “eating my people they eat bread.” There are various explanations: some change the text to get “they eat my (that is, Yahweh’s) bread,” which implies that these evildoers are corrupt priests. Most, however, take the line in a general sense, as do RSV, TEV, NEB, NAB, and others. MFT has “who devour my people with extortion”; FRCL “who nourish themselves by exploiting my people”; another possibility is “who live in plenty by exploiting my people.” NEB has “who devour my people as they eat bread” (that is, who think no more of “devouring” God’s people than they do of eating food); NJB has two lines: “they are devouring my people, this is the bread they eat.”

Jacobson and Tanner 2014
The poem further illustrates who the wicked are by employing a harrowing metaphor. The wicked eat my people. The prophet Micah also employs the metaphor of devouring God’s people in a judgment speech against the rulers of Israel, “who eat the flesh of my people, flay their skin off them, break their bones in pieces, and chop them up like meat in a kettle, like fish in a caldron” (Mic. 3:3). The broader context of Micah helps define the predatory behavior that Psalm 14 condemns by means of the metaphor. What is condemned is the behavior of political and religious leaders who publish glad tidings even though the poor have nothing to eat (3:5) or who fail to establish justice for the lowly (3:9). Such people may have eaten bread, but the fact that they also devour God’s people shows that they have not learned the lesson of Deut. 8:3: “one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”

Ellicott 2018
Who eat up.—Literally, eating my people, they have eaten bread; on Jehovah they have not called, which is usually explained, as in Authorised Version, “to devour God’s people has been as usual and as regular as the daily meal.” Another rendering is “whilst eating my people they have eaten bread, regardless of Jehovah,” i.e., they have gone on in their security eating and drinking, with no thought of the vengeance preparing for them by the God of the oppressed race. Some, however, prefer to divide the two clauses, “Ah, they shall see—all the workers of iniquity who eat my people—they eat bread (i.e., live) regardless of Jehovah.” This makes a better parallelism. A comparison with Micah 3:3-4, suggests that this verse of the psalm was a proverbial saying. (For the image, comp. Jeremiah 10:25; and Homer’s “people-devouring kings.”)

Miro 2022
The image of eating or devouring people is seen elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible. It refers to taking advantage of others, often in violent ways, to benefit oneself. Prov 30:14 describes people who have swords for teeth to "eat the poor from the earth." Isaiah directs his accusation against the ruling class, who "have devoured the vineyard [=Israel]" and robbed the poor for their own gain (Isa 3:14). Mic 3:3 gives a particularly grotesque description of abusing God's people in terms of eating. See also Jer 10:25; Ps 27:2.

References

1. NIV
2. FRCL, McNeile 1942
3. Ellicott 2018, Bratcher and Reyburn 1991, and the vast majority of modern and ancient translations
4. YLT
5. CEV
6. LSG, GNB (the latter reads, "they live by robbing my people"; one could argue that the idea of the bread is present in "they live by", just stripped of its figurative language)
7. NJB, LBS, Ellicott 2018
8. Jacobson and Tanner 2014 14:4 Approved