Psalms 73:7
in Psalms 73From their prosperity proceeds iniquity; the imaginations of their hearts run wild.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Their eyes stand out with fatness: They have more than heart could wish.
KJV
Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.
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This verse in Psalms 73
Commentary
11 notes on this verseTheir eyes stand out with fatness. In cases of obesity the eyes usually appear to be enclosed in fat, but sometimes they protrude; in either case the countenance is changed, loses its human form, and is assimilated to that of fatted swine. The face is here the index of the man: the man has more than suffices him; he is glutted and surfeited with wealth, and yet is one of the wicked whom God abhorreth. They have more than heart could wish.
This site's exposition
From their prosperity proceeds iniquity
on Psalms 73:7-9
Prosperity is what the iniquity comes out of, and their hearts imagine whatever they please. They mock, speak with malice, and threaten oppression, their mouths set against the heavens and their tongues strutting across the earth. The contempt is aimed up and aimed out.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
At first these men are being described. "There shall go forth as if out of fat their iniquity" (ver. 7). ...A poor beggar committeth a theft; out of leanness hath gone forth the iniquity: but when a rich man aboundeth in so many things, why doth he plunder the things of others? Of the former the iniquity out of leanness, of the other out of fatness, hath gone forth. Therefore to the lean man when thou sayest, Why hast thou done this? Humbly afflicted and abject he replieth, Need hath compelled me. Why hast thou not feared God? Want was urgent. Say to a rich man, Why doest thou these things, and fearest not God?-supposing thee to be great enough to be able to say it-see if he even deigneth to hear; see if even against thyself there will not go forth iniquity out of his fatness. For now they declare war with their teachers and reprovers, and become enemies of them that speak the truth, having been long accustomed to be coaxed with the words of flatterers, being of tender ear, of unsound heart. Who would say to a rich man, Thou hast ill done in robbing other men's goods? Or perchance if any man shall have dared to speak, and he is such a man as he could not withstand, what doth he reply? All that he saith is in contempt of God. Why? Because he is proud. Why? Because he is fat. Why? Because he is devoted for a victim. "They have passed over unto purpose of heart." Here within they have passed over. What is, "they have passed over"? They have crossed over the way. What is, "they have passed over"? They have exceeded the bounds of mankind, men like the rest they think not themselves. They have passed over, I say, the bounds of mankind. […]
Perhaps someone may say, Why did God cause Pharaoh to be hardened by sparing him, and why did he remove his scourges? At this point I reply with assurance: God removed his scourges so often because by the immense number of his sins Pharaoh did …
"Therefore their pride has gripped them; they are covered with their iniquity and their wickedness." Iniquity affords a bad covering, and if anyone wishes to hold it over us, we ought to remove it; else he may begin to come into judgment with us. And if anyone tries to carry off our spiritual tunic that we have received, remove the cloak of iniquity and take up the covering of faith and of patience, with which David covered himself in fasting, so that he would not lose the garment of virtue. Fasting is itself a covering.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Or their face, the eyes being put for the whole face; so the Targum, "their face is changed, because of fatness;'' see Job 15:27, otherwise through fatness the eyes are almost enclosed: or "it goes forth out of the fatness of their eyes" (i); that is, either "pride", which shows itself in haughty looks and scornful airs, through the abundance possessed; or "violence", seen in the fierceness of the eyes, and fury of the countenance; or "their eyes go out through fatness" (k) that is, through the plenty they enjoy, their eyes go out in lust after lawful objects: they have more than heart could wish; that they themselves could have wished for heretofore, though not now; for what is it that a worldly covetous heart cannot and does not wish for? if it had all the world, it would not satisfy it: or "the imaginations of the heart go on" (l); that is, after more, not being content with such things as they have; or "they", i.e. their pride and violence, exceed the imaginations of the heart (m); they are more than can be conceived of, they overpass the deeds of the wicked, Jer 5:28 or "they transgress by the imaginations of the heart" (n); which are evil, and that continually. (i) יצא מחלב עינמו "prodit vel exit e pinguedine oculorum eorum", Michaelis. (k) "Exivit prae adipe oculus eorum", Montanus; "egreditur prae pinguedine", Gejerus. (l) עברו משכיות לבב "pergunt cogitationes cordis eorum", Piscator. (m) "Excesserunt imaginationes cordis", Cocceius; "excedunt", Michaelis. (n) "Transgrediuntur cogitationibus cordis", Gejerus.
There are many who have a great deal of this life in their hands, but nothing of the other life in their hearts. They are ungodly, live without the fear and worship of God, and yet they prosper and get on in the world, and not only are rich, but increase in riches,
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
The prosperous wicked are insolently proud (compare Ps 5:5). They die, as well as live, free from perplexities: pride adorns them, and violence is their clothing; indeed they are inflated with unexpected success.
Their eyes stand out with fatness. In cases of obesity the eyes usually appear to be enclosed in fat, but sometimes they protrude; in either case the countenance is changed, loses its human form, and is assimilated to that of fatted swine. The face is here the index of the man: the man has more than suffices him; he is glutted and surfeited with wealth, and yet is one of the wicked whom God abhorreth. They have more than heart could wish. Their wishes are gratified, and more; their very greediness is exceeded; they call for water, and the world gives them milk; they ask for hundreds, and thousands are lavished at their feet. The heart is beyond measure gluttonous, and yet in the case of certain ungodly millionaires, who have rivalled Sardanapalus both in lust and luxury, it has seemed as if their wishes were exceeded, and their meat surpassed their appetite.
Their eyes stand out with fatness - “Their countenance is changed because of fatness.” - Chaldee. By fatness, or corpulency, the natural lines of the face are changed, or rather obliterated. The characteristic distinctions are gone; and we see little remaining besides the human hog. They have more than heart could wish - I doubt this translation. Whose heart ever said, I have enough, which had not its portion with God? It would be more literal to say, “They surpass the thoughts of their heart.” They have more than they expected, though not more than they wish.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Their eyes stand out with fatness - As the fruit of their high living. They are not weakened and emaciated by toil and want, as other men often are. Compare the notes at Psa 17:10. They have more than heart could wish - Margin, “they pass the thoughts of the heart.” Literally, “the imaginations or thoughts of the heart pass;” pass along; pass forth. The meaning seems to be, not that they have more than heart could desire, as in our translation - for that would not probably be true; nor, that the thoughts of the heart are “disclosed,” as Prof. Alexander supposes - for that idea does not seem to be in the language; but that their thoughts, their plans, their purposes, pass freely along without any obstruction; their wishes are all gratified; their purposes are accomplished; they have all that they wish. Whatever comes into the mind as an object of desire is obtained without hindrance or trouble. They seem only to wish for a thing, or to think of a thing, and they have it.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יָ֭צָא | yatza' | it comes out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| מֵחֵ֣לֶב | mechelev | from fat | H2459 → | 92 times |
| עֵינֵ֑מוֹ | ʾeinemov | eye their | H5869 → | 887 times |
| עָ֝בְר֗וּ | ʾaveru | they pass over | H5674 → | 556 times |
| מַשְׂכִּיּ֥וֹת | maskiyot | [the] imaginations of | H4906 → | |
| לֵבָֽב׃ | levav | heart | H3824 → | 252 times |
יָ֭צָאit comes out
yatza'H3318 →1067 times
מֵחֵ֣לֶבfrom fat
mechelevH2459 →92 times
עֵינֵ֑מוֹeye their
ʾeinemovH5869 →887 times
עָ֝בְר֗וּthey pass over
ʾaveruH5674 →556 times
מַשְׂכִּיּ֥וֹת[the] imaginations of
maskiyotH4906 →
לֵבָֽב׃heart
levavH3824 →252 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
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
- Deuteronomy 32:15
But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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.
- Deuteronomy 32:15
Through
Job 15:27Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh,
it leads to
- Jeremiah 5:28
They 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…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 17:10
They have closed their callous hearts; their mouths speak with arrogance.
- Jeremiah 5:28
Through
Psalms 17:10They have closed their callous hearts; their mouths speak with arrogance.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 2:3
Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogance come from your mouth, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him actions are weighed.
- Psalms 123:4
We have endured much scorn from the arrogant, much contempt from the proud.
- Psalms 31:18
May lying lips be silenced— lips that speak with arrogance against the righteous, full of pride and contempt.
- 1 Samuel 2:3
Through
1 Samuel 25:36When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 13:28
Now Absalom had ordered his young men, “Watch Amnon until his heart is merry with wine, and when I order you to strike Amnon down, you are to kill him. Do not be afraid.…
- 2 Samuel 13:28
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
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, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, The Prayer of Job and David 4.4.10-11; Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 73; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 101:3; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.