Text -- Psalms 37:37-40 (NET)

37:37 Take note of the one who has integrity! Observe the godly! For the one who promotes peace has a future. 37:38 Sinful rebels are totally destroyed; evil men have no future. 37:39 But the Lord delivers the godly; he protects them in times of trouble. 37:40 The Lord helps them and rescues them; he rescues them from evil men and delivers them, for they seek his protection.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 37:37

¹ tn Or “upright.”

² tn Heb “for [there is] an end for a man of peace.” Some interpret אַחֲרִית (’akharit, “end”) as referring to offspring (see the next verse and Ps 109:13; cf. NEB, NRSV).

NET Notes: Psa 37:38

¹ tn Or “destroyed together.” In this case the psalmist pictures judgment sweeping them away as a group.

² tn Heb “the end of evil men is cut off.” As in v. 37, some interpret אַחֲרִית (’akharit, “end”) as referring to offspring (see Ps 109:13). The perfect verbal forms in v. 38 probably express general truths. Another option is that they are used emphatically to state with certitude that the demise of the wicked is as good as done.

NET Notes: Psa 37:39

¹ tn Heb “and the deliverance of the godly [ones] [is] from the Lord.”

² tn Heb “[he is] their place of refuge in a time of trouble.”

NET Notes: Psa 37:40

¹ tn The prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive carry on the generalizing tone of the preceding verse.