Job 27:8

27:8 For what hope does the godless have when he is cut off, ¹ 

when God takes away his life? ² 

Psalms 37:35-36

37:35 I have seen ruthless evil men ³ 

growing in influence, like a green tree grows in its native soil. ⁴ 

37:36 But then one passes by, and suddenly they have disappeared! ⁵ 

I looked for them, but they could not be found.

Psalms 73:3-9

73:3 For I envied those who are proud,

as I observed ⁶  the prosperity ⁷  of the wicked.

73:4 For they suffer no pain; ⁸ 

their bodies ⁹  are strong and well-fed. ¹⁰ 

73:5 They are immune to the trouble common to men;

they do not suffer as other men do. ¹¹ 

73:6 Arrogance is their necklace, ¹² 

and violence their clothing. ¹³ 

73:7 Their prosperity causes them to do wrong; ¹⁴ 

their thoughts are sinful. ¹⁵ 

73:8 They mock ¹⁶  and say evil things; ¹⁷ 

they proudly threaten violence. ¹⁸ 

73:9 They speak as if they rule in heaven,

and lay claim to the earth. ¹⁹ 

Psalms 73:18-20

73:18 Surely ²⁰  you put them in slippery places;

you bring them down ²¹  to ruin.

73:19 How desolate they become in a mere moment!

Terrifying judgments make their demise complete! ²² 

73:20 They are like a dream after one wakes up. ²³ 

O Lord, when you awake ²⁴  you will despise them. ²⁵ 

Psalms 92:7

92:7 When the wicked sprout up like grass,

and all the evildoers glisten, ²⁶ 

it is so that they may be annihilated. ²⁷ 

Jeremiah 12:1-3

12:1 Lord, you have always been fair

whenever I have complained to you. ²⁸ 

However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. ²⁹ 

Why are wicked people successful? ³⁰ 

Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?

12:2 You plant them like trees and they put down their roots. ³¹ 

They grow prosperous and are very fruitful. ³² 

They always talk about you,

but they really care nothing about you. ³³ 

12:3 But you, Lord, know all about me.

You watch me and test my devotion to you. ³⁴ 

Drag these wicked men away like sheep to be slaughtered!

Appoint a time when they will be killed! ³⁵ 

[27:8]  ¹ tn The verb יִבְצָע (yivtsa’) means “to cut off.” It could be translated transitively or intransitively – the latter is better here (“when he is cut off”). Since the next line speaks of prayer, some have thought this verse should be about prayer. Mandelkern, in his concordance (p. 228b), suggested the verb should be “when he prays” (reading יִפְגַּע [yifga’] in place of יִבְצָע [yivtsa’]).

[27:8]  ² tn The verb יֵשֶׁל (yeshel) is found only here. It has been related spoils [or sheaves]”); שָׁאַל (sha’al, “to ask”); נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to lift up” [i.e., pray]); and a host of others.

[37:35]  ³ tn The Hebrew uses the representative singular again here.

[37:35]  ⁴ tn Heb “being exposed [?] like a native, luxuriant.” The Hebrew form מִתְעָרֶה (mit’areh) appears to be a Hitpael participle from עָרָה (’arah, “be exposed”), but this makes no sense in this context. Perhaps the form is a dialectal variant of מִתְעָלָה (“giving oneself an air of importance”; see Jer 51:3), from עָלָה (’alah, “go up”; see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 296). The noun אֶזְרָח (’ezrakh, “native, full citizen”) refers elsewhere to people, but here, where it is collocated with “luxuriant, green,” it probably refers to a tree growing in native soil.

[37:36]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he passes by and, look, he is not [there].” The subject of the verb “passes by” is probably indefinite, referring to any passerby. Some prefer to change the form to first person, “and I passed by” (cf. NEB; note the first person verbal forms in preceding verse and in the following line).

[73:3]  ⁶ tn The imperfect verbal form here depicts the action as continuing in a past time frame.

[73:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “peace” (שָׁלוֹם, shalom).

[73:4]  ⁸ tn In Isa 58:6, the only other occurrence of this word in the OT, the term refers to “bonds” or “ropes.” In Ps 73:4 it is used metaphorically of pain and suffering that restricts one’s enjoyment of life.

[73:4]  ⁹ tn Or “bellies.”

[73:4]  ¹⁰ tc Or “fat.” The MT of v. 4 reads as follows: “for there are no pains at their death, and fat [is] their body.” Since a reference to the death of the wicked seems incongruous in the immediate context (note v. 5) and premature in the argument of the psalm (see vv. 18-20, 27), some prefer to emend the text by redividing it. The term לְמוֹתָם (lÿmotam,“at their death”) is changed to לָמוֹ תָּם (lamo tam, “[there are no pains] to them, strong [and fat are their bodies]”). The term תָּם (tam, “complete; sound”) is used of physical beauty in Song 5:2; 6:9. This emendation is the basis for the present translation. However, in defense of the MT (the traditional Hebrew text), one may point to an Aramaic inscription from Nerab which views a painful death as a curse and a nonpainful death in one’s old age as a sign of divine favor. See ANET 661.

[73:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in the trouble of man they are not, and with mankind they are not afflicted.”

[73:6]  ¹² sn Arrogance is their necklace. The metaphor suggests that their arrogance is something the wicked “wear” proudly. It draws attention to them, just as a beautiful necklace does to its owner.

[73:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “a garment of violence covers them.” The metaphor suggests that violence is habitual for the wicked. They “wear” it like clothing; when one looks at them, violence is what one sees.

[73:7]  ¹⁴ tc The MT reads “it goes out from fatness their eye,” which might be paraphrased, “their eye protrudes [or “bulges”] because of fatness.” This in turn might refer to their greed; their eyes “bug out” when they see rich food or produce (the noun חֵלֶב [khelev, “fatness”] sometimes refers to such food or produce). However, when used with the verb יָצָא (yatsa’, “go out”) the preposition מִן (“from”) more naturally indicates source. For this reason it is preferable to emend עֵינֵמוֹ (’enemo, “their eye”) to עֲוֹנָמוֹ, (’avonamo, “their sin”) and read, “and their sin proceeds forth from fatness,” that is, their prosperity gives rise to their sinful attitudes. If one follows this textual reading, another interpretive option is to take חֵלֶב (“fatness”) in the sense of “unreceptive, insensitive” (see its use in Ps 17:10). In this case, the sin of the wicked proceeds forth from their spiritual insensitivity.

[73:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the thoughts of [their] heart [i.e., mind] cross over” (i.e., violate God’s moral boundary, see Ps 17:3).

[73:8]  ¹⁶ tn The verb מוּק (muq, “mock”) occurs only here in the OT.

[73:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and speak with evil.”

[73:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “oppression from an elevated place they speak.” The traditional accentuation of the MT places “oppression” with the preceding line. In this case, one might translate, “they mock and speak with evil [of] oppression, from an elevated place [i.e., “proudly”] they speak.” By placing “oppression” with what follows, one achieves better poetic balance in the parallelism.

[73:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “they set in heaven their mouth, and their tongue walks through the earth.” The meaning of the text is uncertain. Perhaps the idea is that they lay claim to heaven (i.e., speak as if they were ruling in heaven) and move through the earth declaring their superiority and exerting their influence. Some take the preposition -בְּ (bet) the first line as adversative and translate, “they set their mouth against heaven,” that is, they defy God.

[73:18]  ²⁰ tn The use of the Hebrew term אַךְ (’akh, “surely”) here literarily counteracts its use in v. 13. The repetition draws attention to the contrast between the two statements, the first of which expresses the psalmist’s earlier despair and the second his newly discovered confidence.

[73:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “cause them to fall.”

[73:19]  ²² tn Heb “they come to an end, they are finished, from terrors.”

[73:20]  ²³ tn Heb “like a dream from awakening.” They lack any real substance; their prosperity will last for only a brief time.

[73:20]  ²⁴ sn When you awake. The psalmist compares God’s inactivity to sleep and the time of God’s judgment to his awakening from sleep.

[73:20]  ²⁵ tn Heb “you will despise their form.” The Hebrew term צֶלֶם (tselem, “form; image”) also suggests their short-lived nature. Rather than having real substance, they are like the mere images that populate one’s dreams. Note the similar use of the term in Ps 39:6.

[92:7]  ²⁶ tn Or “flourish.”

[92:7]  ²⁷ tn Heb “in order that they might be destroyed permanently.”

[12:1]  ²⁸ tn Or “Lord, you are fair when I present my case before you.”

[12:1]  ²⁹ tn Heb “judgments” or “matters of justice.” For the nuance of “complain to,” “fair,” “disposition of justice” assumed here, see BDB 936 s.v. רִיב Qal.4 (cf. Judg 21:22); BDB 843 s.v. צַדִּיק 1.d (cf. Ps 7:12; 11:7); BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f (cf. Isa 26:8; Ps 10:5; Ezek 7:27).

[12:1]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Why does the way [= course of life] of the wicked prosper?”

[12:2]  ³¹ tn Heb “You planted them and they took root.”

[12:2]  ³² tn Heb “they grow and produce fruit.” For the nuance “grow” for the verb which normally means “go, walk,” see BDB 232 s.v. חָלַךְ Qal.I.3 and compare Hos 14:7.

[12:2]  ³³ tn Heb “You are near in their mouths, but far from their kidneys.” The figure of substitution is being used here, “mouth” for “words” and “kidneys” for passions and affections. A contemporary equivalent might be, “your name is always on their lips, but their hearts are far from you.”

[12:3]  ³⁴ tn Heb “You, Lord, know me. You watch me and you test my heart toward you.”

[12:3]  ³⁵ tn Heb “set aside for them a day of killing.”