Psalms 37:2
in Psalms 37For they wither quickly like grass and wilt like tender plants.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb.
KJV
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
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This verse in Psalms 37
Commentary
14 notes on this verseFor they shall soon be cut down like the grass. The scythe of death is sharpening. Green grows the grass, but quick comes the scythe. The destruction of the ungodly will be speedy, sudden, sure, overwhelming, irretrievable. The grass cannot resist or escape the mower. And wither as the green herb. The beauty of the herb dries up at once in the heat of the sun, and so all the glory of the wicked shall disappear at the hour of death. Death kills the ungodly man like grass, and wrath withers him like hay; he dies, and his name rots.
This site's exposition
Do not fret over
on Psalms 37:1-2
Fretting and envy are both forbidden. The Hebrew behind fret means to glow or grow warm, the heat that blazes up into anger. Verse 2 answers with grass and tender plants that wither quickly, the whole span of the wicked man's flourishing.
This site's exposition
they wither quickly like grass
Albert Barnes read the Hebrew word behind quickly as haste. It marks how fast the end comes once it begins, as grass falls before the mower's scythe. John Gill set the image beside Psalm 90:5, grass green in the morning and cut down by evening.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
A commentator
Ambrose of MilanCommentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms · Written before 397.
proposed
(Verse 1) He says, 'Do not envy among the envious, nor have you imitated those who do evil.' First, let us learn what it means to imitate; the power of this word is less in Latin than in Greek. For we read both good imitation and bad imitation. Finally, the Apostle says, 'It is good to imitate good always' (Galatians 4:18). And he himself said above, 'They envy you not well, but they want to exclude you so that you may imitate them' (Ibid., 17). And again, he says: Covet earnestly the best gifts (I Cor. XII, 31). And to the Romans, you have. Therefore I say, have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid; but their fall is the salvation of the Gentiles, that they may be provoked to emulation (Rom. XI, 11). And further: For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office, if by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them (Ibid., 13); that is, I may provoke my flesh. Finally, the Greek has jealousy. For even here: do not be jealous of those who do evil; do not envy those who commit lawlessness; that is, do not stir up the wicked to jealousy, because they strive not for good, but for evil. What is it to stir up jealousy? For example, if we are able, let's open it up. There are certain intemperate women who disturb the hearts of other men's wives: when they have subjected them to their custom and shame, not satisfied to keep their own mistake a secret, they strive to publicly flaunt their disgrace before their spouses; so as to stir them up and inflame them with jealousy, seizing a certain triumph from the pain of their proven minds and the agitation. […]
"Be not envious because of evil-doers, neither be envious against the workers of iniquity" (ver. 1). "For they shall soon wither like the grass, and shall fade like the herbs of the meadow" (ver. 2). That which to thee seemeth long, is "soon" in the sight of God. Conform thou thyself to God; and it will be "soon" to thee. That which he here calls "grass," that we understand by the "herbs of the meadow." They are some worthless things, occupying the surface only of the ground, they have no depth of root. In the winter then they are green; but when the summer sun shall begin to scorch, they will wither away. For now it is the season of winter. Thy glory cloth not as yet appear. But if thy love hath but a deep root, like that of many trees during winter, the frost passes away, the summer (that is, the Day of Judgment) will come; then will the greenness of the grass wither away. Then will the glory of the trees appear. "For ye" (saith the Apostle) "are dead." even as trees seem to be in winter, as it were dead, as it were withered. What is our hope then, if we are dead? The root is within; where our root is, there is our life also, for there our love is fixed. "And your life is hid with Christ in God." When shall he wither who is thus rooted? But when will our spring be? When our summer? When will the honour of foliage clothe us around, and the fulness of fruit make us rich? When shall this come to pass? Hear what follows: "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory." And what then shall we do now? "Be not envious because of the evil-doers, neither be envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon wither like the grass, and fade like the herb of the meadow."
The Medieval Church1 voice
Above, the Psalmist sought divine help against sinners and showed their malice; here, however, he teaches that their prosperity is to be despised. The title is not new. The intention of this Psalm is to show that the prosperities of the wicked should not be …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Fretfulness and envy are sins that are their own punishments; they are the uneasiness of the spirit and the rottenness of the bones; it is therefore in kindness to ourselves that we are warned against them.
(1.) They will soon wither of themselves. Outward prosperity is a fading thing, and so is the life itself to which it is confined. (2.) They will sooner be cut down by the judgments of God.
6 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
, 10, 20, 35, 36, 38 ) and the salvation and protection which the righteous are sure of from all the malicious designs of the wicked,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Which in the morning looks green, pretty, and flourishing, and in the evening is cut down, and then fades away; see Psa 90:5; and so the wicked prosper and flourish for a while, and then they perish with all their honour, riches, and wealth; so that their happiness is a very short lived one, and therefore need not be envied and fretted at.
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass. The scythe of death is sharpening. Green grows the grass, but quick comes the scythe. The destruction of the ungodly will be speedy, sudden, sure, overwhelming, irretrievable. The grass cannot resist or escape the mower. And wither as the green herb. The beauty of the herb dries up at once in the heat of the sun, and so all the glory of the wicked shall disappear at the hour of death. Death kills the ungodly man like grass, and wrath withers him like hay; he dies, and his name rots. How complete an end is made of the man whose boasts had no end! Is it worth while to waste ourselves in fretting about the insect of an hour, an ephemeral which in the same day is born and dies? Within believers there is a living and incorruptible seed which liveth and abideth for ever; why should they envy mere flesh, and the glory of it, which are but as grass, and the flower thereof?
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass. The scythe of death is sharpening. Green grows the grass, but quick comes the scythe. The destruction of the ungodly will be speedy, sudden, sure, overwhelming, irretrievable. The grass cannot resist or escape the mower. And wither as the green herb. The beauty of the herb dries up at once in the heat of the sun, and so all the glory of the wicked shall disappear at the hour of death. Death kills the ungodly man like grass, and wrath withers him like hay; he dies, and his name rots.
For they shall soon be cut down - They have their portion in this life; and their enjoyment of it cannot be long, for their breath is but a vapor that speedily vanishes away. They fall before death, as the greensward does before the scythe of the mower.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass - As the grass in the field is cut down by the mower; that is, however prosperous they may seem to be now, they are like the grass in the meadow which is so green and luxuriant, but which is soon to fall under the scythe of the mower. Their prosperity is only temporary, for they will soon pass away. The idea in the word rendered “soon” - מהרה mehêrâh - is that of “haste” or “speed:” Psa 147:15; Num 16:46; Deu 11:17. The thought is not that it will be done immediately, but that “when” it occurs it will be a quick and rapid operation - as the grass falls rapidly before the mower. And wither as the green herb - When it is cut down. That is, not as the dry and stinted shrub that grows in the desert of sand, but like the herb that grows in a garden, or in a marsh, or by the river, that is full of juices, and that needs abundant water to sustain it - like the flag or rush (compare Job 8:11) - and that withers almost instantly when it is cut down. The rapidity with which things “wilt” is in proportion to the rapidity of their growth, so the prosperity of a sinner is suddenly blasted, and he passes away. Compare Psa 90:5-6.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Do not compete with the evildoers He reproves Israel that they should not compete with the success of the evildoers to do as their deeds, as (in Jer.:5): “how will you compete (תתחרה) with horses,” to run as they run, a atir in Old French, to compete.
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. 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כֶ֭חָצִיר | khechatzir | like <the> grass | H2682 → | 21 times |
| מְהֵרָ֣ה | meherah | quickly | H4120 → | 20 times |
| יִמָּ֑לוּ | yimalu | they will wither | H5243 → | |
| וּכְיֶ֥רֶק | ukheyerek | and like [the] greenery of | H3418 → | |
| דֶּ֝֗שֶׁא | deshe' | vegetation | H1877 → | |
| יִבּוֹלֽוּן׃ | yibolun | they will fade ! | H5034 → | 25 times |
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
כֶ֭חָצִירlike <the> grass
khechatzirH2682 →21 times
מְהֵרָ֣הquickly
meherahH4120 →20 times
יִמָּ֑לוּthey will wither
yimaluH5243 →
וּכְיֶ֥רֶקand like [the] greenery of
ukheyerekH3418 →
דֶּ֝֗שֶׁאvegetation
deshe'H1877 →
יִבּוֹלֽוּן׃they will fade !
yibolunH5034 →25 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
Job 14:2Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 1:24
For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 40:6–8
A voice says, “Cry out!” And I asked, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field.
- Job 8:9
For we were born yesterday and know nothing; our days on earth are but a shadow.
- Psalms 103:15–16
As for man, his days are like grass— he blooms like a flower of the field;
- 1 Chronicles 29:15
For we are foreigners and strangers in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.
- 1 Peter 1:24
Through
Psalms 92:7that though the wicked sprout like grass, and all evildoers flourish, they will be forever destroyed.
it leads to
- Psalms 37:38
But the transgressors will all be destroyed; the future of the wicked will be cut off.
- Psalms 73:18–20
Surely You set them on slick ground; You cast them down into ruin.
- Psalms 37:1–2
Do not fret over those who do evil; do not envy those who do wrong.
- Psalms 37:38
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms
This page draws on 12 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; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, Commentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms; Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 37; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.