Psalms 73:12
in Psalms 73Behold, these are the wicked— always carefree as they increase their wealth.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Behold, these are the wicked; And, being alway at ease, they increase in riches.
KJV
Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.
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This verse in Psalms 73
Commentary
12 notes on this verseBehold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world. Look! See! Consider! Here is the standing enigma! The crux of Providence! The stumblingblock of faith! Here are the unjust rewarded and indulged, and that not for a day or an hour, but in perpetuity. From their youth up these men, who deserve perdition, revel in prosperity. They deserve to be hung in chains, and chains are hung about their necks; they are worthy to be chased from the world, and yet the world becomes all their own. Poor purblind sense cries, Behold this!
This site's exposition
their people return to this place
on Psalms 73:10-12
Verse 10 is the hardest line in the psalm. The people come back to this place and drink their fill, either drawn again to the wicked or arriving as the wicked's own followers. Then the wicked ask how God can know, while they stay carefree and increase their wealth.
This site's exposition
always carefree as they increase their wealth
Behold calls the hearer to look straight at the wicked. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown gave carefree as literally at ease forever, and Spurgeon called that ease the riddle of providence. The wicked increase their wealth and stay carefree.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Why, you have it here in so many words: Look, these are sinners, and prospering always; they have become rich. "Is it to no purpose that I set my heart right or washed my hands among the innocent and was scourged every day?" I worship God; they blaspheme God. For them good fortune, for me misfortune. Where is the justice of it? That is why feet were shaken, that is why steps were almost pulled from under, that is why destruction was looming. Yes, just notice please what a dangerous position he had got into. He adds, "And I said, How did God know? Can there be knowledge in the most High?" Notice what a dangerous position he has got into by looking for earthly good fortune from God as though it were of great value.
"And they said, How has God known, and is there knowledge in the Most High?" [Psalm 73:11]. See through what thought they pass. Behold unjust men are happy, God does not care for things human. Does He indeed know what we do? See what things are being said. We are inquiring, brethren, "How has God known," etc. (no longer let Christians say it). For how does it appear to you that God knows not, and that there is no knowledge in the Most High? He replies, "Lo! Themselves they are sinners, and in the world they have gotten abundant riches" [Psalm 73:12]. Both sinners they are, and in the world they have gotten abundant riches. He confessed that he willed not to be a sinner in order that he might have riches. A carnal soul for things visible and earthly would have sold its justice. What sort of justice is that which is retained for the sake of gold, as if gold were a more precious thing than justice herself, or as if when a man denies the deposit of another man's goods, he to whom he denied them should suffer a greater loss, than he that denies them to him. The former does lose a garment, the latter fidelity. "Lo! They are themselves sinners, and in the world they have gotten abundant riches." On this account therefore God knows not, and on this account there is no knowledge in the Most High.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
), Behold, these are the ungodly. (3.) He observed that while wicked men thus prospered in their impiety, and were made more impious by their prosperity, good people were in great affliction, and he himself in particular, which very much strengthened the temptation he was in to quarrel with Providence. [1.] He looked abroad and saw many of God's people greatly at a loss (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
Behold, these are the ungodly,....
They are looked upon as thriving men; while others have much ado to keep what they have, they are still adding more, more honour, power, pleasure, by increasing in riches. They are the prosperous of the age, so some read it. [3.] Their end seems to be peace.
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
prosper in the word--literally, "secure for ever." 13, 14. The Psalmist, partaking of these troubles, is especially disturbed in view of his own case, that with all his diligent efforts for a holy life, he is still sorely tried.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world. Look! See! Consider! Here is the standing enigma! The crux of Providence! The stumblingblock of faith! Here are the unjust rewarded and indulged, and that not for a day or an hour, but in perpetuity. From their youth up these men, who deserve perdition, revel in prosperity. They deserve to be hung in chains, and chains are hung about their necks; they are worthy to be chased from the world, and yet the world becomes all their own. Poor purblind sense cries, Behold this! Wonder, and be amazed, and make this square with providential justice, if you can. They increase in riches; or, strength. Both wealth and health are their dowry. No bad debts and bankruptcies weigh them down, but robbery and usury pile up their substance. Money runs to money, gold pieces fly in flocks; the rich grow richer, the proud grow prouder. Lord, how is this? Thy poor servants, who become yet poorer, and groan under their burdens, are made to wonder at thy mysterious ways.
These are the ungodly - The people still speak. It is the ungodly that prosper, the irreligious and profane.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world - This is also to be understood as the language of the good man perplexed and embarrassed by the fact that the wicked are prosperous and happy. The meaning is, “Lo, these are wicked people - people of undoubted depravity; they are people who live regardless of God; and yet they are peaceful, tranquil, happy, prospered.” This was one of the facts which so much embarrassed the psalmist. If there had been any doubt about the character of those people, the case would have been different. But there was none. They were people whose character for wickedness was well known, and yet they were permitted to live in peace and prosperity, as if they were the favorites of heaven. The literal meaning of the words rendered “who prosper in the world” is, “tranquil (or secure) for the age;” that is, forever, or constantly. They know no changes; they see no reverses; they are the same through life. They are always tranquil, calm, happy, successful. They increase in riches - literally, “They become great in substance.” They make constant accumulations in wealth, until they become great.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Behold these are wicked They [are wicked] and transgress His Torah; yet they are tranquil in the world and increase power and wealth.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
And they say, “How does God know” How can we say that there is knowledge in the Holy One, blessed be He, and that His Torah is true?
But for nought I cleansed my heart All this refers back to: “And they say, ‘How does God know?’” They also say, “But for nothing and in vain we keep the commandments of the Holy One, blessed be He, for behold, we are plagued all the days.”
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הִנֵּה־ | hineh- | here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| אֵ֥לֶּה | ʾeleh | these | H428 → | 746 times |
| רְשָׁעִ֑ים | reshaim | [are] wicked [people] | H7563 → | 263 times |
| וְשַׁלְוֵ֥י | veshalvei | and [people] at ease of | H7961 → | |
| ע֝וֹלָ֗ם | olam | perpetuity | H5769 → | 438 times |
| הִשְׂגּוּ־ | hisgu- | they increase | H7685 → | |
| חָֽיִל׃ | chayil | wealth | H2428 → | 246 times |
הִנֵּה־here!
hineh-H2009 →843 times
אֵ֥לֶּהthese
ʾelehH428 →746 times
רְשָׁעִ֑ים[are] wicked [people]
reshaimH7563 →263 times
וְשַׁלְוֵ֥יand [people] at ease of
veshalveiH7961 →
ע֝וֹלָ֗םperpetuity
olamH5769 →438 times
הִשְׂגּוּ־they increase
hisgu-H7685 →
חָֽיִל׃wealth
chayilH2428 →246 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Psalms 62:10Place no trust in extortion, or false hope in stolen goods. If your riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.
it leads to
- 1 Timothy 6:17
Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us…
- Psalms 52:7
“Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.”
- Jeremiah 17:11
Like a partridge hatching eggs it did not lay is the man who makes a fortune unjustly. In the middle of his days his riches will desert him, and in the end he will…
- Deuteronomy 6:10–12
And when the LORD your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that He would give you—a land with great and splendid cities that you…
- Job 31:24–25
If I have put my trust in gold or called pure gold my security,
- 1 Timothy 6:17
Through
Psalms 52:7“Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:5
This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes the flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.
- Ecclesiastes 8:8
As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release…
- Jeremiah 17:5
Through
Jeremiah 5:28They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the…
it leads to
- Isaiah 1:23
Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.
- Isaiah 1:23
Where this verse is studied
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About Psalms
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 19:4; Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 73; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.