Psalms 37:34

37:34 Rely ¹  on the Lord! Obey his commands! ² 

Then he will permit you ³  to possess the land;

you will see the demise of evil men. ⁴ 

Psalms 37:36

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

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

[37:34]  ¹ tn Or “wait.”

[37:34]  ² tn Heb “keep his way.” The Lord’s “way” refers here to the “conduct required” by the Lord. In Ps 25 the Lord’s “ways” are associated with his covenantal demands (see vv. 4, 9-10). See also Ps 119:3 (cf. vv. 1, 4), as well as Deut 8:6; 10:12; 11:22; 19:9; 26:17; 28:9; 30:16.

[37:34]  ³ tn Heb “and he will lift you up.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) is best taken here as a result clause following the imperatives in the preceding lines.

[37:34]  ⁴ tn Heb “when evil men are cut off you will see.”

[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).