Psalms 37:12

37:12 Evil men plot against the godly ¹ 

and viciously attack them. ² 

Psalms 37:16

37:16 The little bit that a godly man owns is better than

the wealth of many evil men, ³ 

Psalms 37:32

37:32 Evil men set an ambush for the godly

and try to kill them. ⁴ 

Psalms 97:11

97:11 The godly bask in the light;

the morally upright experience joy. ⁵ 

Psalms 55:22

55:22 Throw your burden ⁶  upon the Lord,

and he will sustain you. ⁷ 

He will never allow the godly to be upended. ⁸ 

Psalms 58:11

58:11 Then ⁹  observers ¹⁰  will say,

“Yes indeed, the godly are rewarded! ¹¹ 

Yes indeed, there is a God who judges ¹²  in the earth!”

[37:12]  ¹ tn Or “innocent.” The singular is used here in a representative sense; the typical evildoer and the typical godly individual are in view.

[37:12]  ² tn Heb “and gnashes at him with his teeth” (see Ps 35:16). The language may picture the evil men as wild animals. The active participles in v. 12 are used for purposes of dramatic description.

[37:16]  ³ tn Heb “Better [is] a little to the godly one than the wealth of many evil ones.” The following verses explain why this is true. Though a godly individual may seem to have only meager possessions, he always has what he needs and will eventually possess the land. The wicked may prosper for a brief time, but will eventually be destroyed by divine judgment and lose everything.

[37:32]  ⁵ tn Heb “an evil [one] watches the godly [one] and seeks to kill him.” The singular forms are used in a representative sense; the typical evildoer and godly individual are in view. The active participles describe characteristic behavior.

[97:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “Light is planted for the godly, and for the upright of heart joy.” The translation assumes an emendation of זָרַע (zara’, “planted”) to זָרַח (zara’, “shines”) which collocates more naturally with “light.” “Light” here symbolizes the joy (note the following line) that accompanies deliverance and the outpouring of divine favor.

[55:22]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew noun occurs only here.

[55:22]  ¹⁰ tn The pronoun is singular; the psalmist addresses each member of his audience individually.

[55:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he will never allow swaying for the righteous.”

[58:11]  ¹¹ tn Following the imperfects of v. 10, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive probably indicates a result or consequence of what precedes.

[58:11]  ¹² tn Heb “man.” The singular is representative here.

[58:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “surely [there] is fruit for the godly.”

[58:11]  ¹⁴ tn The plural participle is unusual here if the preceding אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is here a plural of majesty, referring to the one true God. Occasionally the plural of majesty does take a plural attributive (see GKC 428-29 §132.h). It is possible that the final mem (ם) on the participle is enclitic, and that it was later misunderstood as a plural ending. Another option is to translate, “Yes indeed, there are gods who judge in the earth.” In this case, the statement reflects the polytheistic mindset of pagan observers who, despite their theological ignorance, nevertheless recognize divine retribution when they see it.