The verse’s logic is moral and relational, not merely intellectual. The question “Have they no knowledge?” functions like an indictment: their conduct shows they are acting without the kind of awareness that should restrain them.

Where interpretation differs (only where needed)

Two main questions shape how readers understand the accusation.

1. Who are “my people”? Some take it as Israel as a whole. Others read it as a narrower group within Israel—those being exploited—spoken of from the standpoint of a representative sufferer.

2. What does “don’t call on God” mean? Some understand it as open godlessness (living as if God does not matter). Others take it more specifically as refusing to seek God for accountability or refusing to worship, even while being religious in other ways.

Why the disagreement exists

The verse is poetic and compressed. “My people” can point either to a whole covenant community or to the afflicted group the speaker identifies with. Likewise, “call on God” can describe prayer and worship in general, or it can highlight a deliberate refusal to acknowledge God’s oversight. The text itself gives the markers (predation + God-exclusion) but not a detailed profile of the offenders.

What this passage clearly contributes

The verse closely connects social evil and God-neglect: predatory treatment of people and practical disregard for God belong together in the psalm’s diagnosis (inference drawn from explicit pairing). It also contributes a moral portrait of oppression as normalized—harm done with the ease of eating bread (explicit image with clear implication). Finally, it frames exploitation of “my people” as a defining feature of “workers of iniquity,” not as a minor flaw (explicit claim).

iniquity (’ā·wen)