37:38 Sinful rebels are totally destroyed; 1
evil men have no future. 2
83:10 They were destroyed at Endor; 3
their corpses were like manure 4 on the ground.
106:34 They did not destroy the nations, 5
as the Lord had commanded them to do.
92:7 When the wicked sprout up like grass,
and all the evildoers glisten, 6
it is so that they may be annihilated. 7
106:23 He threatened 8 to destroy them,
but 9 Moses, his chosen one, interceded with him 10
and turned back his destructive anger. 11
145:20 The Lord protects those who love him,
but he destroys all the wicked.
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.
3 sn Endor is not mentioned in the accounts of Gideon’s or Barak’s victories, but both battles took place in the general vicinity of the town. (See Y. Aharoni and M. Avi-Yonah, The Macmillan Bible Atlas, 46, 54.) Because Sisera and Jabin are mentioned in v. 9b, many understand them to be the subject of the verbs in v. 10, though they relate v. 10 to Gideon’s victory, which is referred to in v. 9a, 11. (See, for example, Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible, 263.)
4 tn Heb “they were manure.” In addition to this passage, corpses are compared to manure in 2 Kgs 9:37; Jer 8:2; 9:21; 16:4; 25:33.
5 tn That is, the nations of Canaan.
7 tn Or “flourish.”
8 tn Heb “in order that they might be destroyed permanently.”
9 tn Heb “and he said.”
10 tn Heb “if not,” that is, “[and would have] if [Moses] had not.”
11 tn Heb “stood in the gap before him.”
12 tn Heb “to turn back his anger from destroying.”