Psalms 58:11
in Psalms 58Then men will say, “There is surely a reward for the righteous! There is surely a God who judges the earth!”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So that men shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: Verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth.
KJV
So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.
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This verse in Psalms 58
Commentary
12 notes on this verseA commentator
Hippolytus of RomeFragments from Commentaries on Various Books of Scripture - On Psalm LVIII. 11 · Written before 235.
But since there is a time when the righteous shall rejoice, and sinners shall meet the end foretold for them, we must with all reason fully acknowledge and declare that God is inspector and overseer of all that is done among men, and judges all who dwell upon earth. It is proper further to inquire whether the prophecy in hand, which quite corresponds and fits in with those preceding it, may describe the end.
This site's exposition
Before your pots can feel the burning thorns
on Psalms 58:9-11
Verse 9 sets the judgment before the pot has even felt the thorns under it. Verse 10 has the righteous rejoicing, their feet washed in the blood of the wicked, the same picture as Psalm 68:23. Verse 11 answers verse 1: God judges the earth.
This site's exposition
There is surely a God who judges the earth!
The last word goes to God as judge. The psalm opened on judges who judged unjustly, and Charles Spurgeon held that every man, however ignorant, will be made to say this line. Hippolytus of Rome drew from it that God oversees all that is done among men.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
A commentator
Augustine of HippoON VARIOUS QUESTIONS TO SIMPLICIAN 2:18 · Written before 430.
proposed
There is no advantage for vessels fitted for destruction that God patiently endures them, to destroy them in due order and to use them as a means of salvation for those on whom he has mercy. But there is advantage for those for whose salvation God uses this means. As it is written, "The just shall wash his hands in the blood of the wicked," that is, he shall be cleansed from evil works by the fear of God when he sees the punishment of sinners. That God shows his wrath in bearing with vessels of wrath avails to set a useful example to others but also to "make known the riches of his glory on vessels of mercy that he prepared for glory." The hardening of the ungodly demonstrates two things—that a person should fear and turn to God in piety and that thanks should be given for his mercy to God who shows by the penalty inflicted on some the greatness of his gift to others. If the penalty he exacts from the former is not just, he makes no gift to those from whom he does not exact it. But because it is just, and there is no unrighteousness with God who punishes, who is sufficient to give thanks to him? For he remits a debt which, if God wanted to exact it, no person could deny was justly due.
And do you wish that I should speak of another instance of God's goodness? It is not only this, but that He does not suffer the good to become bad. For if they were destined to meet with the same things, they would all be bad. But now this also does not a little console the good. For hear the Prophet, saying, "The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance upon the ungodly, he shall wash his hands in the blood of the sinner." Not rejoicing on account of it, God forbid! but fearing lest he should suffer the same things, he will render his own life more pure. This then is a mark of His great care. Yes, you say, but He ought only to threaten, and not to punish also. But if He does punish, and still you say it is a matter of threat, and on that account become more slothful, if it were really but a threat, would you not become more supine? If the Ninevites had known it was a matter of threat, they would not have repented. But because they repented, they cause the threat to stop at words only. Dost thou wish it to be a threat only? Thou hast the disposal of that matter. Become a better man, and it stops only at the threat. But if, which be far from thee! thou despiseth the threat, thou wilt come to the experience of it. The men before the flood, if they had feared the threat, would not have experienced the execution of it. And we, if we fear the threat, shall not expose ourselves to experience the reality. God forbid we should. And may the merciful God grant that we all henceforth, having been brought to sound mind, may obtain those unspeakable blessings.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
He is a God (so we read it), not a weak man, not an angel, not a mere name, not (as the atheists suggest) a creature of men's fear and fancy, not a deified hero, not the sun and moon, as idolaters imagined, but a God, a self-existent perfect Being; he it is that judges the earth; his favour therefore let us seek, from whom every man's judgment proceeds, and to him let all judgment be referred.
So that a man shall say,....
Sin appears here both exceedingly sinful and exceedingly dangerous, and God a just avenger of wrong, with which we should be affected in singing this psalm.
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
So that a man shall say. Every man however ignorant shall be compelled to say, Verily, in very deed, assuredly, there is a reward for the righteous. If nothing else be true this is. The godly are not after all forsaken and given over to their enemies; the wicked are not to have the best of it, truth and goodness are recompensed in the long run. Verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.
So that a man shall say. Every man however ignorant shall be compelled to say, Verily, in very deed, assuredly, there is a reward for the righteous. If nothing else be true this is. The godly are not after all forsaken and given over to their enemies; the wicked are not to have the best of it, truth and goodness are recompensed in the long run. Verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth. All men shall be forced by the sight of the final judgment to see that there is a God, and that he is the righteous ruler of the universe. Two things will come out clearly after all—there is a God and there is a reward for the righteous. Time will remove doubts, solve difficulties, and reveal secrets; meanwhile faith's foreseeing eye discerns the truth even now, and is glad thereat.
So that a man shall say - That is, people, seeing these just judgments of God, shall say, There is a reward (פרי peri, fruit) to the righteous man. He has not sown his seed in vain; he has not planted and watered in vain: he has the fruit of his labors, he eats the fruit of his doings. But wo to the wicked, it is ill with him; for the reward of his hands has been given him. He is a God that judgeth in the earth - There is a God who does not entirely defer judgment till the judgment-day; but executes judgment now, even in this earth; and thus continues to give such a proof of his hatred to sin and love to his followers that every considerate mind is convinced of it. And hence arise the indisputable maxims: “There is, even here, a reward for the righteous;” “There is a God who, even now, judgeth in the earth.” I have seen Indian priests who professed to charm, not only serpents, but the most ferocious wild beasts; even the enraged elephant, and the royal tiger! Two priests of Budhoo, educated under my own care, repeated the Sanscrit incantations to me, and solemnly asserted that they had seen the power of them repeatedly and successfully put to the test. I have mislaid these incantations, else I should insert them as a curiosity; for to charms of the same nature the psalmist most undoubtedly alludes. The term חובר chober, which we translate charmer, comes from חבד to join, or put together; i.e., certain unintelligible words or sentences, which formed the spell. I once met with a man who professed to remove diseases by pronouncing an unintelligible jingling jargon of words oddly tacked together. I met with him one morning proceeding to the cure of a horse affected with the farcin. […]
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
So that a man shall say - That is, every man shall say, or people everywhere shall see this. This expresses the result of a close observation of the divine dealings among people. The conclusion from those dealings is, (a) that there is, on the whole, a reward for the righteous on earth, or that righteousness tends to secure the favor of God and to promote human happiness; and (b) that there is a God - a just Being presiding over human affairs. A reward for the righteous - Margin, as in Hebrew, “fruit for the righteous.” That is, righteousness will produce its appropriate “fruits,” as trees that are cultivated will reward the cultivator. The idea is, that there is a course of things on earth, even with all there is that is mixed and mysterious, which is favorable to virtue; which shows that there is an “advantage” in being righteous; which demonstrates that there is a moral government; which makes it certain that God is the friend of virtue and the enemy of vice; that he is the friend of holiness and an enemy of sin. Compare the notes at 1Ti 4:8. Verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth - Or, Truly there is a God that judges in the earth. In other words, the course of things demonstrates that the affairs of the world are not left to chance, to fate, or to mere physical laws. There are results of human conduct which show that there is a “Mind” that presides over all; that there is One who has a purpose and plan of his own; that there is One who “administers” government, rewarding the good, and punishing the wicked. The argument is, that there is a course of things which cannot be explained on the supposition that the affairs of earth are left to chance; that they are controlled by fate; that they are regulated by mere physical laws; that they take care of themselves. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Before your tender briars develop into hardened thorns lit. before your tender briars know hardened thorns. That before your tender briars know to be hardened thorns, i.e., before the children of the wicked grow up.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
And man will say, “Truly, the righteous man has reward” Then people will say, “Surely there is reward and recompense in the deeds of the righteous, since the Holy One, blessed be He, avenged their wrongs.”
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
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְיֹאמַ֣ר | veyomar | so he may say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אָ֭דָם | ʾadom | anyone | H120 → | 551 times |
| אַךְ־ | ʾakh- | surely | H389 → | 161 times |
| פְּרִ֣י | peri | fruit | H6529 → | 119 times |
| לַצַּדִּ֑יק | latzadik | [belongs] to the righteous | H6662 → | 206 times |
| אַ֥ךְ | ʾakh | surely | H389 → | 161 times |
| יֵשׁ־ | yesh- | there | H3426 → | 140 times |
| אֱ֝לֹהִ֗ים | ʾelohim | [is] a God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| שֹׁפְטִ֥ים | shofetim | [who] judges | H8199 → | 202 times |
| בָּאָֽרֶץ׃ | baaretz | on the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
וְיֹאמַ֣רso he may say
veyomarH559 →5305 times
אָ֭דָםanyone
ʾadomH120 →551 times
אַךְ־surely
ʾakh-H389 →161 times
פְּרִ֣יfruit
periH6529 →119 times
לַצַּדִּ֑יק[belongs] to the righteous
latzadikH6662 →206 times
אַ֥ךְsurely
ʾakhH389 →161 times
יֵשׁ־there
yesh-H3426 →140 times
אֱ֝לֹהִ֗ים[is] a God
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
שֹׁפְטִ֥ים[who] judges
shofetimH8199 →202 times
בָּאָֽרֶץ׃on the earth
baaretzH776 →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
Isaiah 3:10Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their labor.
it leads to
- Psalms 128:1–2
Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in His ways!
- Hebrews 6:10
For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.
- Galatians 6:7–8
Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.
- Ecclesiastes 8:12
Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence.
- Ezekiel 18:9–19
He follows My statutes and faithfully keeps My ordinances. That man is righteous; surely he will live, declares the Lord GOD.
- Psalms 128:1–2
Through
Psalms 33:18Surely the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His loving devotion
it leads to
- 1 Peter 3:12
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
- Psalms 147:11
The LORD is pleased with those who fear Him, who hope in His loving devotion.
- Job 36:7
He does not take His eyes off the righteous, but He enthrones them with kings and exalts them forever.
- 1 Peter 3:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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 (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, ON VARIOUS QUESTIONS TO SIMPLICIAN 2:18; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Hippolytus of Rome, Fragments from Commentaries on Various Books of Scripture - On Psalm LVIII. 11; Hippolytus of Rome, Fragments from Commentaries, On Psalm 58; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON PHILEMON 3; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.