Psalms 37:35

37:35 I have seen ruthless evil men ¹ 

growing in influence, like a green tree grows in its native soil. ² 

Psalms 52:7

52:7 “Look, here is the man who would not make ³  God his protector!

He trusted in his great wealth

and was confident about his plans to destroy others.” ⁴ 

Jeremiah 12:1-2

12:1 Lord, you have always been fair

whenever I have complained to you. ⁵ 

However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. ⁶ 

Why are wicked people successful? ⁷ 

Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?

12:2 You plant them like trees and they put down their roots. ⁸ 

They grow prosperous and are very fruitful. ⁹ 

They always talk about you,

but they really care nothing about you. ¹⁰ 

Luke 16:19

The Rich Man and Lazarus

16:19 “There was a rich man who dressed in purple ¹¹  and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously ¹²  every day.

James 5:1-3

Warning to the Rich

5:1 Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud ¹³  over the miseries that are coming on you. 5:2 Your riches have rotted and your clothing has become moth-eaten. 5:3 Your gold and silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you. It will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have hoarded treasure! ¹⁴ 

[37:35]  ¹ tn The Hebrew uses the representative singular again here.

[37:35]  ² tn Heb “being exposed [?] like a native, luxuriant.” The Hebrew form מִתְעָרֶה (mit’areh) appears to be a Hitpael participle from עָרָה (’arah, “be exposed”), but this makes no sense in this context. Perhaps the form is a dialectal variant of מִתְעָלָה (“giving oneself an air of importance”; see Jer 51:3), from עָלָה (’alah, “go up”; see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 296). The noun אֶזְרָח (’ezrakh, “native, full citizen”) refers elsewhere to people, but here, where it is collocated with “luxuriant, green,” it probably refers to a tree growing in native soil.

[52:7]  ³ tn The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to the ongoing nature of the action. The evildoer customarily rejected God and trusted in his own abilities. Another option is to take the imperfect as generalizing, “[here is the man who] does not make.”

[52:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “he was strong in his destruction.” “Destruction” must refer back to the destructive plans mentioned in v. 2. The verb (derived from the root עָזַז, ’azaz, “be strong”) as it stands is either an imperfect (if so, probably used in a customary sense) or a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive). However the form should probably be emended to וַיָּעָז (vayya’az), a Qal preterite (with vav [ו] consecutive) from עָזַז. Note the preterite form without vav (ו) consecutive in the preceding line (וַיִּבְטַח, vayyivtakh, “and he trusted”). The prefixed vav (ו) was likely omitted by haplography (note the suffixed vav [ו] on the preceding עָשְׁרוֹ, ’oshro, “his wealth”).

[12:1]  ⁵ tn Or “Lord, you are fair when I present my case before you.”

[12:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “judgments” or “matters of justice.” For the nuance of “complain to,” “fair,” “disposition of justice” assumed here, see BDB 936 s.v. רִיב Qal.4 (cf. Judg 21:22); BDB 843 s.v. צַדִּיק 1.d (cf. Ps 7:12; 11:7); BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f (cf. Isa 26:8; Ps 10:5; Ezek 7:27).

[12:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “Why does the way [= course of life] of the wicked prosper?”

[12:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “You planted them and they took root.”

[12:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “they grow and produce fruit.” For the nuance “grow” for the verb which normally means “go, walk,” see BDB 232 s.v. חָלַךְ Qal.I.3 and compare Hos 14:7.

[12:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “You are near in their mouths, but far from their kidneys.” The figure of substitution is being used here, “mouth” for “words” and “kidneys” for passions and affections. A contemporary equivalent might be, “your name is always on their lips, but their hearts are far from you.”

[16:19]  ¹¹ sn Purple describes a fine, expensive dye used on luxurious clothing, and by metonymy, refers to clothing colored with that dye. It pictures someone of great wealth.

[16:19]  ¹² tn Or “celebrated with ostentation” (L&N 88.255), that is, with showing off. Here was the original conspicuous consumer.

[5:1]  ¹³ tn Or “wail”; Grk “crying aloud.”

[5:3]  ¹⁴ tn Or “hoarded up treasure for the last days”; Grk “in the last days.”