20 But the wicked shall perish. The enemies of Yahweh shall be like the beauty of the fields. They will vanish- vanish like smoke.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
For the wicked shall perish. The causal particle ky, ki, which is here translated for, might also be rendered as if used adversatively by but or although, unless, perhaps, some would prefer to expound the sentence as of much higher import. But the preferable interpretation is, that there is here a contrast between the subjects spoken of, namely, that the righteous are satisfied in the time of famine, whereas the ungodly shall perish in the midst of their affluence; for, while they trust in their abundance, God brings them to nought by the use of means that are secret and hidden. In calling them the enemies of Jehovah, he teaches us, that they are justly overwhelmed by his vengeance, which they bring upon themselves by their own wickedness. When he says, that they shall be consumed as the excellency of lambs, this is understood by some to refer to the fat of them. But as ykr, yakar, signifies excellency, as I have said elsewhere, I have no doubt that this expression denotes the very best of lambs, and such as are of extraordinary fatness: and this is very suitable to the contrast here stated. We learn from this what another prophet likewise teaches, that the ungodly are fattened for the day of slaughter; so that the more sumptuously they shall have lived, the more suddenly shall their destruction come upon them. To be consumed into smoke is of the same import as to vanish away quickly; as if it had been said, There is no stability or substance in them. Those who understand the term yqr, yakar, to mean fat, explain this latter clause in this sense: that the wicked are consumed into smoke as fat melts or wastes away. [1] But the reader will see that the first interpretation is better.
1 - It is generally supposed that there is here an allusion to the sacrificial services of the former dispensation. Lambs were then offered in large numbers as burnt-offerings; and if the allusion is to these sacrifices, as is highly probable, the doctrine taught is, that as the fat of them melted away, and was wholly and rapidly consumed by the fire of the altar of burnt-offering, so the wicked shall melt away and be quickly consumed in the fire of Jehovah's wrath. The Chaldee paraphrases the last clause thus: -- "They shall be consumed in the smoke of Gehenna," or of hell.
But the wicked shall perish - The general sentiment here is the same as in Psalm 1:1-6, that the righteous shall be prospered and saved, and that the wicked shall perish. See the notes at Psalm 1:4-5. The word "perish" here would be applicable to any form of destruction - death here, or death hereafter - for it is equivalent to the idea that they shall be "destroyed." Whether the psalmist means here to refer to the fact that they will be cut off from the earth, or will be punished hereafter in the world of woe, cannot be determined from the word itself. It is most probable, as appears from other parts of the psalm, that he refers particularly to the fact that they will be cut down in their sins; that their lives will be shortened by their crimes; that they will by their conduct expose themselves to the displeasure of God, and thus be cut off. The "word" used, however, would also express the idea of destruction in the future world in any form, and may have a significance beyond anything that can befall men in this life. Compare 2-Thessalonians 1:8; Matthew 25:46.
And the enemies of the Lord - All the enemies of God; all who can properly be regarded as his foes.
Shall be as the fat of lambs - Margin, "the preciousness of lambs." Gesenius renders this, "like the beauty of the pastures." Prof. Alexander, "like the precious" (part) "of lambs;" that is, the sacrificial parts, or the parts that were consumed in sacrifice. De Wette, "as the splendor of the pasture." The Vulgate and the Septuagint render it: "the enemies of the Lord, as soon as they are honored and exalted, shall fail as if they were smoke." Rosenmuller renders it as it is in our common version. It is not easy to determine the meaning. The word rendered "fat" - יקר yâqâr - means properly that which is precious, costly, weighty, as precious gems; then, anything dear, beloved, or valuable; then, that which is honored, splendid, beautiful, rare. It is in no other instance rendered "fat;" and it cannot be so rendered here, except as "fat" was considered valuable or precious. But this is a forced idea. The word כר kar, properly and commonly means a "lamb;" but it also may the "pasture" or "meadow" where lambs feed. Psalm 65:13 : "the "pastures" - כרים kariym - are clothed with flocks." Isaiah 30:23, "in that day shall thy cattle feed in large "pastures" - where the same word occurs. It seems to me, therefore, that the interpretation of Gesenius, DeWette, and others, is the correct interpretation, and that the idea is, that the wicked in their pride, beauty, and wealth, shall be like the meadow covered with grass and flowers, soon to be cut down by the scythe of the mower, or by the frosts of winter. This image often occurs: Matthew 6:30; Psalm 90:5-6; Isaiah 40:6-8; James 1:10; 1-Peter 1:24.
They shall consume - The word used here means to be completed or finished; to be consumed or spent, as by fire, or in any other manner; to pine away by weeping, Lamentations 2:11; to vanish as a cloud or smoke, Job 7:9.
Into smoke - The meaning here is not that they will vanish as the fat of lambs does in sacrifice, but simply that they will pass away as smoke entirely disappears. All that there was of them - their wealth, their splendor, their power - shall utterly vanish away. This is spoken in contrast with what would be the condition of the righteous.
The enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs - This verse has given the critics some trouble. Several of the Versions read thus: "But the enemies of the Lord, as soon as they are exalted to honor, shall vanish; like smoke they vanish." If we follow the Hebreto, it intimates that they shall consume as the fat of lambs. That is, as the fat is wholly consumed in sacrifices by the fire on the altar, so shall they consume away in the fire of God's wrath.
But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD [shall be] as the (n) fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.
(n) They will vanish away suddenly for they are fed for the day of slaughter.
But the wicked shall perish,.... In a time of famine, in an evil day, and particularly at the day of judgment: for this is to be understood, not merely of being in bodily distress and want; nor of perishing by death, common to the righteous and the wicked; nor of being in a lost perishing condition, as all men by nature are, but of eternal perdition in hell;
and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs, they shall consume; that is, either they shall consume away as the fat of lambs burnt upon the altar, which evaporates, or as lambs fattened on purpose to be killed, and so prepared for the day of slaughter; in like manner the wicked, who have waxed fat and kicked, will be destroyed; they being the enemies of God, yea, enmity to him, to Father, Son, and Spirit, to the Gospel and ordinances of Christ, and to his people, and will be treated as such. Some render the word, "like the excellency of pastures" (s); the grass of the field, which is cut down and withers presently; see Psalm 37:2;
into smoke shall they consume away, or "with" (t) it; that is, as it; see Psalm 68:1; or "in smoke" (u); in the smoke of eternal torments, or hell, as the Targum.
(s) "sicut pretiosum pratorum", Muis; so some in Piscator; "vel gloria", Michaelis. (t) "cum fumo", Gejerus, Tigurine version; so Ainsworth. (u) "In fumo", Montanus, Musculus, Michaelis.
While the wicked, however mighty, are destroyed, and that utterly, as smoke which vanishes and leaves no trace.
With כּי the preceding assertion is confirmed by its opposite (cf. Psalm 130:4). כּיקר בּרים forms a fine play in sound; יקר is a substantivized adjective like גּדל ekil evitcejda, Exodus 15:16. Instead of בעשׁן, it is not to be read כּעשׁן, Hosea 13:3; the ב is secured by Psalm 102:4; Psalm 78:33. The idea is, that they vanish into smoke, i.e., are resolved into it, or also, that they vanish in the manner of smoke, which is first thick, but then becomes thinner and thinner till it disappears (Rosenmller, Hupfeld, Hitzig); both expressions are admissible as to fact and as to the language, and the latter is commended by בּהבל, Psalm 78:33, cf. בּצלם, Psalm 39:7. בעשׁן belongs to the first, regularly accented כּלוּ; for the Munach by בעשׂן is the substitute for Mugrash, which never can be used where at least two syllables do not precede the Silluk tone (vid., Psalter ii. 503). The second כּלוּ has the accent on the penult. for a change (Ew. 194, c), i.e., variation of the rhythm (cf. למה למה, Psalm 42:10; Psalm 43:2; עורי עורי, Judges 5:12, and on Psalm 137:7), and in particular here on account of its pausal position (cf. ערוּ, Psalm 137:7).
Fat - Which in an instant melts before the fire.
*More commentary available at chapter level.