Psalms 34:21

Translations

King James Version (KJV)

Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.

American King James Version (AKJV)

Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.

American Standard Version (ASV)

Evil shall slay the wicked; And they that hate the righteous shall be condemned.

Basic English Translation (BBE)

Evil will put an end to the sinner, and those who are haters of righteousness will come to destruction.

Webster's Revision

Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.

World English Bible

Evil shall kill the wicked. Those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.

English Revised Version (ERV)

Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be condemned.

Clarke's Psalms 34:21 Bible Commentary

Evil shall slay the wicked - The very thing in which they delight shall become their bane and their ruin.

They that hate the righteous - All persecutors of God's people shall be followed by the chilling blast of God's displeasure in this world; and if they repent not, shall perish everlastingly.

Barnes's Psalms 34:21 Bible Commentary

Evil shall slay the wicked - That is, his own wicked conduct will be the cause of his destruction. His ruin is not arbitrary, or the mere result of a divine appointment; it is caused by sin, and is the regular and natural consequence of guilt. In the destruction of the sinner, there will not be any one thing which cannot be explained by the supposition that it is the regular effect of sin, or what sin is, in its own nature, suited to produce. The one will measure the other; guilt will be the measure of all that there is in the punishment.

And they that hate the righteous - Another term for the wicked, or a term designating the character of the wicked in one aspect or view. It is true of all the wicked that they must hate the righteous in their hearts, or that they are so opposed to the character of the righteous that it is proper to designate this feeling as "hatred."

Shall be desolate - Margin, "shall be guilty." Prof. Alexander and Hengstenberg render this, as in the margin, "shall be guilty." DeWette, "shall repent." Rosenmuller, "shall be condemned." The original word - אשׁם 'âsham - means properly to fail in duty, to transgress, to be guilty. The primary idea, says Gesenius (Lexicon), is that of "negligence," especially in going, or in gait, as of a camel that is slow or faltering. Then the word means to be held or treated as faulty or guilty; and then, to bear the consequences of guilt, or to be punished. This seems to be the idea here. The word is sometimes synonymous with another Hebrew word - ישׁם yâsham - meaning to be desolate; to be destroyed; to be laid waste: Ezekiel 6:6; Joel 1:18; Psalm 5:10. But the usual meaning of the word is undoubtedly retained here, as signifying that, in the dealings of Providence, or in the administering of divine government, such men will be held to be guilty, and will be treated accordingly; that is, that they will be punished.

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