Psalms 24:1-2

Psalm 24 ¹ 

A psalm of David.

24:1 The Lord owns the earth and all it contains,

the world and all who live in it.

24:2 For he set its foundation upon the seas,

and established ²  it upon the ocean currents. ³ 

Psalms 37:20

37:20 But ⁴  evil men will die;

the Lord’s enemies will be incinerated ⁵  –

they will go up in smoke. ⁶ 

Proverbs 10:27

10:27 Fearing the Lord ⁷  prolongs life, ⁸ 

but the life span ⁹  of the wicked will be shortened. ¹⁰ 

Proverbs 16:4

16:4 The Lord works ¹¹  everything for its own ends ¹²  –

even the wicked for the day of disaster. ¹³ 

[24:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 24. The psalmist affirms the universal kingship of the sovereign creator, reminds his people that only the morally pure are qualified to worship him, and celebrates his splendor as a mighty warrior king.

[24:2]  ² tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a preterite, referring to the creation of the world.

[24:2]  ³ sn He…established it upon the ocean currents. The description reflects ancient Israelite prescientific cosmology, which is based on outward appearances. The language also suggests that God’s creative work involved the subjugation of chaos, symbolized by the sea.

[37:20]  ⁴ tn Or “for,” but Hebrew כי in this case would have to extend all the way back to v. 17a. Another option is to understand the particle as asseverative, “surely” (see v. 22).

[37:20]  ⁵ tc The meaning of the MT (כִּיקַר כָּרִים [kiqar karim], “like what is precious among the pastures/rams”) is uncertain. One possibility is to take the noun כָּרִים as “pastures” and interpret “what is precious” as referring to flowers that blossom but then quickly disappear (see v. 2 and BDB 430 s.v. יָקָר 3). If כָּרִים is taken as “rams,” then “what is precious” might refer to the choicest portions of rams. The present translation follows a reading in the Dead Sea Scrolls (4QpPs37), כיקוד כורם (“like the burning of an oven”). The next line, which pictures the Lord’s enemies being consumed in smoke, supports this reading, which assumes confusion of the Hebrew letters resh (ר) and dalet (ד) at the end of the first word in the sequence.

[37:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “they perish in smoke, they perish.” In addition to repeating the verb for emphasis, the psalmist uses the perfect form of the verb to picture the enemies’ demise as if it had already taken place. In this way he draws attention to the certitude of their judgment.

[10:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “the fear of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) functions as an objective genitive.

[10:27]  ⁸ tn Heb “days” (so KJV, ASV).

[10:27]  ⁹ tn Heb “years.” The term “years” functions as a synecdoche of part (= years) for the whole (= lifespan).

[10:27]  ¹⁰ sn This general saying has to be qualified with the problem of the righteous suffering and dying young, a problem that perplexed the sages of the entire ancient world. But this is the general principle: The righteous live longer because their life is the natural one and because God blesses them.

[16:4]  ¹¹ sn The Hebrew verb translated “works” (פָּעַל, pa’al) means “to work out; to bring about; to accomplish.” It is used of God’s sovereign control of life (e.g., Num 23:23; Isa 26:12).

[16:4]  ¹² tn Heb “for its answer.” The term לַמַּעֲנֵהוּ (lamma’anehu) has been taken to mean either “for his purpose” or “for its answer.” The Hebrew word is מַעֲנֶה (ma’aneh, “answer”) and not לְמַעַן (lÿma’an, “purpose”). So the suffix likely refers to “everything” (כֹּל, kol). God ensures that everyone’s actions and the consequences of those actions correspond – certainly the wicked for the day of calamity. In God’s order there is just retribution for every act.

[16:4]  ¹³ sn This is an example of synthetic parallelism (“A, what’s more B”). The A-line affirms a truth, and the B-line expands on it with a specific application about the wicked – whatever disaster comes their way is an appropriate correspondent for their life.