Psalms 37:20

37:20 But ¹  evil men will die;

the Lord’s enemies will be incinerated ²  –

they will go up in smoke. ³ 

Psalms 49:10

49:10 Surely ⁴  one sees ⁵  that even wise people die; ⁶ 

fools and spiritually insensitive people all pass away ⁷ 

and leave their wealth to others. ⁸ 

Psalms 68:2

68:2 As smoke is driven away by the wind, so you drive them away. ⁹ 

As wax melts before fire,

so the wicked are destroyed before God.

Psalms 102:26

102:26 They will perish,

but you will endure. ¹⁰ 

They will wear out like a garment;

like clothes you will remove them and they will disappear. ¹¹ 

[37:20]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ 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.

[49:10]  ⁴ tn The particle כִּי (ki) is understood here as asseverative (emphatic).

[49:10]  ⁵ tn The subject of the verb is probably the typical “man” mentioned in v. 7. The imperfect can be taken here as generalizing or as indicating potential (“surely he/one can see”).

[49:10]  ⁶ tn The imperfect verbal forms here and in the next line draw attention to what is characteristically true. The vav (ו) consecutive with perfect in the third line carries the same force.

[49:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “together a fool and a brutish [man] perish.” The adjective בַּעַר (ba’ar, “brutish”) refers to spiritual insensitivity, not mere lack of intelligence or reasoning ability (see Pss 73:22; 92:6; Prov 12:1; 30:2, as well as the use of the related verb in Ps 94:8).

[49:10]  ⁸ sn Death shows no respect for anyone. No matter how wise or foolish an individual happens to be, all pass away.

[68:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “as smoke is scattered, you scatter [them].”

[102:26]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “stand.”

[102:26]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew verb חָלַף (khalaf) occurs twice in this line, once in the Hiphil (“you will remove them”) and once in the Qal (“they will disappear”). The repetition draws attention to the statement.