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Psalms 37:20

in Psalms 37

But the wicked and enemies of the LORD will perish like the glory of the fields. They will vanish; like smoke they will fade away.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

But the wicked shall perish, And the enemies of Jehovah shall be as the fat of lambs: They shall consume; in smoke shall they consume away.

KJV

But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.

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This verse in Psalms 37

Commentary

4 notes on this verse
(Verse 20.) They are gone like smoke that is gone. The Greek 'ἐξέλιπον' means, they have failed. You see someone suddenly come to power and receive honors; you regard them as lofty. You see another succeed them; don't you say about them: Where is the one who was honored and exalted? They have failed.

This site's exposition

Better is the little

on Psalms 37:16-20

The little of the righteous outweighs the abundance of many wicked men. Verse 17 sets broken arms against the LORD holding the righteous up, and verse 19 carries the promise into famine, where they are satisfied. The wicked fade like the glory of the fields, like smoke.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

The day of God's vengeance on the wicked is represented as a sacrifice of the fat of the kidneys of rams ( Isa. xxxiv. 6 ); for he will be honoured by the ruin of his enemies, as he was by the sacrifices. Damned sinners are sacrifices, Mark ix.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Treasury of David, Vol. 2 (1870)

But the wicked shall perish. Whatever phantom light may mock their present, their future is black with dark, substantial night. Judgment has been given against them, they are but reserved for execution. Let them flaunt their scarlet and fine linen, and fare sumptuously every day; the sword of Damocles is above their heads, and if their wits were a little more awake, their mirth would turn to misery. The enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs.

The words behind it

10 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • כִּ֤יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • רְשָׁעִ֨ים׀wicked [people]

    reshaimH7563 →263 times

  • יֹאבֵ֗דוּthey will perish

    yoveduH6 →184 times

  • וְאֹיְבֵ֣יand [the] enemies of

    veoyeveiH341 →282 times

  • יְ֭הוָהYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • כִּיקַ֣ר[will be] like a splendid [thing] of

    kikarH3368 →36 times

  • כָּרִ֑יםpastures

    karimH3733 →

  • כָּל֖וּthey will come to an end

    kaluH3615 →208 times

  • בֶעָשָׁ֣ןin <the> smoke

    veashanH6227 →25 times

  • כָּֽלוּ׃they will come to an end

    kaluH3615 →208 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Psalms 68:2As smoke is blown away, You will drive them out; as wax melts before the fire, the wicked will perish in the presence of God.9 worksGenesis 6:7So the LORD said, “I will blot out man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—every man and beast and crawling creature and bird of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.”8 worksPsalms 102:3For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers.7 worksPsalms 92:9For surely Your enemies, O LORD, surely Your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered.7 worksLuke 13:3No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.6 worksDeuteronomy 33:14–16with the bountiful harvest from the sun and the abundant yield of the seasons,5 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Judges 5:31So may all Your enemies perish, O LORD! But may those who love You shine like the sun at its brightest.” And the land had rest for forty years.5 works2 Peter 2:12These men are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed. They blaspheme in matters they do not understand, and like such creatures, they too will be destroyed.4 worksGenesis 19:28He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw the smoke rising from the land like smoke from a furnace.4 worksLeviticus 3:3–11From the peace offering he is to bring an offering made by fire to the LORD: the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them,4 worksLuke 13:5No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”3 worksHebrews 12:29“For our God is a consuming fire.”3 worksLeviticus 3:16Then the priest is to burn the food on the altar as an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma. All the fat is the LORD’s.3 worksProverbs 10:29The way of the LORD is a refuge to the upright, but destruction awaits those who do evil.3 worksPsalms 73:18Surely You set them on slick ground; You cast them down into ruin.3 worksDeuteronomy 29:20The LORD will never be willing to forgive him. Instead, His anger and jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse written in this book will fall upon him. The LORD will blot out his name from under heaven2 worksJeremiah 51:40I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats.2 worksIsaiah 9:18For wickedness burns like a fire that consumes the thorns and briers and kindles the forest thickets which roll upward in billows of smoke.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Luke 13:3

    No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.

    it leads to

    • Acts 3:19

      Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,

    • Matthew 3:2

      and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

    • Acts 2:38–40

      Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

    • Revelation 2:21–22

      Even though I have given her time to repent of her immorality, she is unwilling.

    • Luke 13:5

      No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

  • Through

    Judges 5:31

    So may all Your enemies perish, O LORD! But may those who love You shine like the sun at its brightest.” And the land had rest for forty years.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 37:6

      He will bring forth your righteousness like the dawn, your justice like the noonday sun.

  • Through

    Psalms 102:3

    For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers.

    it leads to

    • James 4:14

      You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

  • Through

    Psalms 68:2

    As smoke is blown away, You will drive them out; as wax melts before the fire, the wicked will perish in the presence of God.

    it leads to

    • Micah 1:4

      The mountains will melt beneath Him, and the valleys will split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope.

Where this verse is studied

About Psalms

Saul attempts to kill David (the harpist of Israel) — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Saul attempts to kill David (the harpist of Israel) — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Psalms: the study guide →Read Psalms 37 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Ambrose of Milan, Commentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Psalms 37 →