Mazmur 37:9

37:9 Wicked men ¹  will be wiped out, ² 

but those who rely on the Lord are the ones who will possess the land. ³ 

Mazmur 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 

Mazmur 37:34

37:34 Rely ⁷  on the Lord! Obey his commands! ⁸ 

Then he will permit you ⁹  to possess the land;

you will see the demise of evil men. ¹⁰ 

[37:9]  ¹ tn Heb “for evil men.” The conjunction כִּי (ki, “for”) relates to the exhortations in v. 8; there is no reason to be frustrated, for the evildoers will be punished in due time.

[37:9]  ² tn Or “cut off, removed.”

[37:9]  ³ tn Heb “and those who wait on the Lord, they will possess the land.”

[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.

[37:34]  ⁷ tn Or “wait.”

[37:34]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “when evil men are cut off you will see.”