Mazmur 37:30-33

37:30 The godly speak wise words

and promote justice. ¹ 

37:31 The law of their God controls their thinking; ² 

their ³  feet do not slip.

37:32 Evil men set an ambush for the godly

and try to kill them. ⁴ 

37:33 But the Lord does not surrender the godly,

or allow them to be condemned in a court of law. ⁵ 

[37:30]  ¹ tn Heb “The mouth of the godly [one] utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice.” The singular form is used in a representative sense; the typical godly individual is in view. The imperfect verbal forms draw attention to the characteristic behavior of the godly.

[37:31]  ² tn Heb “the law of his God [is] in his heart.” The “heart” is here the seat of one’s thoughts and motives.

[37:31]  ³ tn Heb “his.” The pronoun has been translated as plural to agree with the representative or typical “godly” in v. 30.

[37:32]  ⁴ tn Heb “an evil [one] watches the godly [one] and seeks to kill him.” The singular forms are used in a representative sense; the typical evildoer and godly individual are in view. The active participles describe characteristic behavior.

[37:33]  ⁵ tn Heb “the Lord does not abandon him into his hand or condemn him when he is judged.” The imperfects draw attention to the Lord’s characteristic behavior in this regard.