Proverbs 3:31

3:31 Do not envy a violent man, ¹ 

and do not choose to imitate ²  any of his ways;

Proverbs 24:1

24:1 Do not envy evil people, ³ 

do not desire ⁴  to be with them;

Psalms 37:1-3

Psalm 37 ⁵ 

By David.

37:1 Do not fret ⁶  when wicked men seem to succeed! ⁷ 

Do not envy evildoers!

37:2 For they will quickly dry up like grass,

and wither away like plants. ⁸ 

37:3 Trust in the Lord and do what is right!

Settle in the land and maintain your integrity! ⁹ 

Psalms 73:3-7

73:3 For I envied those who are proud,

as I observed ¹⁰  the prosperity ¹¹  of the wicked.

73:4 For they suffer no pain; ¹² 

their bodies ¹³  are strong and well-fed. ¹⁴ 

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

they do not suffer as other men do. ¹⁵ 

73:6 Arrogance is their necklace, ¹⁶ 

and violence their clothing. ¹⁷ 

73:7 Their prosperity causes them to do wrong; ¹⁸ 

their thoughts are sinful. ¹⁹ 

[3:31]  ¹ tn Heb “a man of violence.” The noun חָמָס (khamas, “violence”) functions as an attributive genitive. The word itself means “violence, wrong” (HALOT 329 s.v.) and refers to physical violence, social injustice, harsh treatment, wild ruthlessness, injurious words, hatred, and general rudeness (BDB 329 s.v.).

[3:31]  ² tn Heb “do not choose.”

[24:1]  ³ tn Heb “evil men,” although the context indicates a generic sense.

[24:1]  ⁴ tn The Hitpael jussive is from the verb that means “to crave; to desire.” This is more of a coveting, an intense desire.

[37:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 37. The psalmist urges his audience not to envy the wicked, but to trust in and obey the Lord, for he will destroy sinners and preserve the godly. When the smoke of judgment clears, the wicked will be gone, but the godly will remain and inherit God’s promised blessings. The psalm is an acrostic; every other verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[37:1]  ⁶ tn The verb form is singular (see vv. 3-10 as well, where the second person verbs and pronouns are also singular). The psalmist’s exhortation has a wisdom flavor to it; it is personalized for each member of his audience.

[37:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “over sinners.” The context indicates that the psalmist has in mind the apparent power and success of sinners. See v. 7b.

[37:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “like green vegetation.”

[37:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “tend integrity.” The verb רָעָה (ra’ah, “tend, shepherd”) is probably used here in the sense of “watch over, guard.” The noun אֱמוּנָה (’emunah, “faithfulness, honesty, integrity”) is understood as the direct object of the verb, though it could be taken as an adverbial accusative, “[feed] securely,” if the audience is likened to a flock of sheep.

[73:3]  ¹⁰ tn The imperfect verbal form here depicts the action as continuing in a past time frame.

[73:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “peace” (שָׁלוֹם, shalom).

[73:4]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Or “bellies.”

[73:4]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in the trouble of man they are not, and with mankind they are not afflicted.”

[73:6]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the thoughts of [their] heart [i.e., mind] cross over” (i.e., violate God’s moral boundary, see Ps 17:3).