Mazmur 37:1-2

Psalm 37 ¹ 

By David.

37:1 Do not fret ²  when wicked men seem to succeed! ³ 

Do not envy evildoers!

37:2 For they will quickly dry up like grass,

and wither away like plants. ⁴ 

Mazmur 112:10

112:10 When the wicked ⁵  see this, they will worry;

they will grind their teeth in frustration ⁶  and melt away;

the desire of the wicked will perish. ⁷ 

[37:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 37. The psalmist urges his audience not to envy the wicked, but to trust in and obey the Lord, for he will destroy sinners and preserve the godly. When the smoke of judgment clears, the wicked will be gone, but the godly will remain and inherit God’s promised blessings. The psalm is an acrostic; every other verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[37:1]  ² tn The verb form is singular (see vv. 3-10 as well, where the second person verbs and pronouns are also singular). The psalmist’s exhortation has a wisdom flavor to it; it is personalized for each member of his audience.

[37:1]  ³ tn Heb “over sinners.” The context indicates that the psalmist has in mind the apparent power and success of sinners. See v. 7b.

[37:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “like green vegetation.”

[112:10]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text uses the singular; the representative wicked individual is in view as typifying the group (note the use of the plural form in v. 10).

[112:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “his teeth he will gnash.” In Pss 35:16 and 37:12 this action is associated with a vicious attack.

[112:10]  ⁷ tn This could mean that the desires of the wicked will go unfulfilled. Another possibility is that “desire” refers by metonymy to the object desired and acquired. In this case the point is that the wicked will lose what they desired so badly and acquired by evil means (see Ps 10:3).