Psalms 37:9
in Psalms 37For the evildoers will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For evil-doers shall be cut off; But those that wait for Jehovah, they shall inherit the land.
KJV
For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.
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This verse in Psalms 37
Commentary
19 notes on this verse(Verse 9.) Therefore, do not listen to him, so that you do not act wickedly. For those who act wickedly will be exterminated. Those who do not have roots will be exterminated, like vegetables or hay. Let the weak eat vegetables, but you must plant a vine in your field, establish a vineyard. And if Ahab comes to you and says, 'Give me your vineyard so that I can plant vegetables', do not agree with him, so that he does not sow perishable things by your consent and cut off eternal things.
This site's exposition
Be still before the LORD
on Psalms 37:7-9
The command to be still before the LORD carries the waiting with it. Anger and wrath are to be dropped, and the fretting forbidden a third time yields only harm to the man who frets. Evildoers are cut off, and those who hope inherit the land.
This site's exposition
those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land
Adam Clarke held that the Hebrew word here means the land of Judea, with a promise of return to it. Augustine read the land as the heavenly Jerusalem. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown took inheriting the land as the whole covenant blessing, as at Psalm 25:13.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
Instead of considering their prosperity, await their end, and you will see their ruin.
"For evil-doers shall be cut off" [Psalm 37:9]. "But I see their prosperity." Believe Him who says, "they shall be cut off;" Him who sees better than thou, since His eye anger cannot cloud. "For evil-doers shall be cut off. But those that wait upon the Lord,"— not upon any one that can deceive them; but verily on Him who is the Truth itself—"But those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the land." What "land," but that Jerusalem, with the love of which whosoever is inflamed, shall come to peace at the last.
Do not consider blessed those people for being in a position even to do whatever they wish, nor with your eyes on their suffering no harsh fate decide to attempt at any time in your own case to do some wrong. "Because the evildoers will …
Therefore it is right and proper, brothers, that we should be obedient to God rather than follow those who in arrogance and unruliness have set themselves up as leaders in abominable jealousy. For we shall bring on us no common harm, but rather great peril, if we surrender ourselves recklessly to the purposes of people who launch out into strife and seditions, so as to estrange us from that which is right. Let us be good one toward another according to the compassion and sweetness of him that made us.
Nothing else is destroyed but that which is cut off from God.
11 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
Then when he says, "Cease," he assigns the reason for the aforementioned admonition, and this is twofold. One on the part of the one to whom the admonition is given; another on the part of sinners, at "Yet a little while." Regarding the first, he …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
17 ), how dear their ill-got gain will cost them, and you will be far from envying them or from being willing to espouse their lot, for better, for worse. Their ruin is sure, and it is very near (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number
, 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 evildoers shall be cut off,....
Those that wait upon the Lord, as dependents on him, expectants from him, and suppliants to him, shall inherit the earth, as a token of his present favour to them and an earnest of better things intended for them in the other world. God is a good Master, that provides plentifully and well, not only for his working servants, but for his waiting servants.
The Nineteenth Century6 voices
For evil doers shall be cut off. Their death shall be a penal judgment; not a gentle removal to a better state, but an execution in which the axe of justice will be used. But those that wait upon the Lord —those who in patient faith expect their portion in another life— they shall inherit the earth. Even in this life they have the most of real enjoyment, and in the ages to come theirs shall be the glory and the triumph.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Two reasons: The prosperity of the wicked is short; and the pious, by humble trust, will secure all covenant blessing, denoted here by "inherit the earth" (compare Ps 25:13). 10, 11. shall not be--literally, "is not"--is not to be found.
For evil doers shall be cut off. Their death shall be a penal judgment; not a gentle removal to a better state, but an execution in which the axe of justice will be used. But those that wait upon the Lord —those who in patient faith expect their portion in another life— they shall inherit the earth. Even in this life they have the most of real enjoyment, and in the ages to come theirs shall be the glory and the triumph.
For evil doers shall be cut off. Their death shall be a penal judgment; not a gentle removal to a better state, but an execution in which the axe of justice will be used. But those that wait upon the Lord —those who in patient faith expect their portion in another life— they shall inherit the earth. Even in this life they have the most of real enjoyment, and in the ages to come theirs shall be the glory and the triumph. Passion, according to Bunyan's parable, has his good things first, and they are soon over; Patience has his good things last, and they last for ever.
They shall inherit the earth - The word ארץ arets, throughout this Psalm, should be translated land, not earth; for it is most probable that it refers to the land of Judea; and in this verse there is a promise of their return thither.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For evil-doers shall be cut off - See Psa 37:2. This will be the termination of their course. They shall not ultimately prosper. God will order all things in equity, and though such men now seem to be prosperous, and to be the objects of the divine favor, yet all this is temporary. The day of retribution will certainly come, and they will be dealt with as they deserve. The reference here probably is to judgment in this life, or to the fact that God will, as a general law, show his disapprobation of the course of the wicked by judgments inflicted on them in this world. See Psa 55:23, “Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days.” Pro 10:27, “the years of the wicked shall be shortened.” Compare Job 15:32. The idea here is that wicked men will be cut down before they reach the ordinary term of human life, or before they would be cut off if they were not wicked. Compare Psa 37:35-36. This is not indeed universally true, but there are instances enough of this kind to establish it as a general rule. Intemperance, voluptuousness, the indulgence of violent passions, and the crimes proceeding therefrom, shorten the lives of multitudes who, but for these, might have lived long on the earth. As it is a general rule that virtue, piety, the fear of God, temperance, honesty, and the calmness of spirit which results from these, tend to lengthen out life, so it is certain that the opposites of these tend to abridge it. Neither virtue nor piety indeed make it absolutely certain that a man will live to be old; but vice and crime make it morally certain that he will not. At all events, it is true that the wicked are to live but a little while upon the earth; that they soon will, like other men, be cut down and removed; and therefore we should not fret and complain in regard to those who are so soon to pass away. Compare Ps. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
A short while longer When you wait a little longer, you will see that the wicked man is not here.
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
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| מְ֭רֵעִים | mereim | evil-doers | H7489 → | 107 times |
| יִכָּרֵת֑וּן | yikaretun | they will be cut off ! | H3772 → | 288 times |
| וְקֹוֵ֥י | vekovei | and [those who] wait for | H6960 → | 49 times |
| יְ֝הוָ֗ה | yahweh | <of> Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הֵ֣מָּה | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| יִֽירְשׁוּ־ | yireshu- | they will possess | H3423 → | 231 times |
| אָֽרֶץ׃ | ʾaretz | [the] land | H776 → | 2504 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
מְ֭רֵעִיםevil-doers
mereimH7489 →107 times
יִכָּרֵת֑וּןthey will be cut off !
yikaretunH3772 →288 times
וְקֹוֵ֥יand [those who] wait for
vekoveiH6960 →49 times
יְ֝הוָ֗ה<of> Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הֵ֣מָּהthey
hemahH1992 →553 times
יִֽירְשׁוּ־they will possess
yireshu-H3423 →231 times
אָֽרֶץ׃[the] land
ʾaretzH776 →2504 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 25:13His soul will dwell in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land.
it leads to
- Psalms 37:11
But the meek will inherit the land and delight in abundant prosperity.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 19:23
The fear of the LORD leads to life, that one may rest content, without visitation from harm.
- Proverbs 1:33
But whoever listens to me will dwell in safety, secure from the fear of evil.”
- Zephaniah 3:17
The LORD your God is among you; He is mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing.”
- Acts 2:39
This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
- Psalms 37:11
Through
Psalms 37:29The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever.
it leads to
- Proverbs 2:21
For the upright will inhabit the land, and the blameless will remain in it;
- Proverbs 2:21
Through
Isaiah 60:21Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever; they are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, so that I may be glorified.
it leads to
- Matthew 15:13
But Jesus replied, “Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by its roots.
- Psalms 37:22
Surely those He blesses will inherit the land, but the cursed will be destroyed.
- Matthew 15:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies6
About Psalms
This page draws on 15 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, Commentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms; Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 37; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Clement of Rome, 1 CLEMENT 14; Evagrius Ponticus, NOTES ON THE PSALMS 36[37].9; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodore of Mopsuestia, COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 37:8B-9A; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 37:3 and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.