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Psalms 1:4

New American Standard Bible (NASB ©1995) [2]
— The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
King James Version (KJV 1769) [2]
— The ungodly [are] not so: but [are] like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
English Revised Version (ERV 1885)
— The wicked are not so; but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
American Standard Version (ASV 1901) [2]
— The wicked are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Webster's Revision of the KJB (WEB 1833)
— The ungodly [are] not so: but [are] like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Darby's Translation (DBY 1890)
— The wicked are not so; but are as the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Rotherham's Emphasized Bible (EBR 1902)
— Not so, the lawless,—but as chaff which is driven about by the wind:
Young's Literal Translation (YLT 1898)
— Not so the wicked: But—as chaff that wind driveth away!
Douay-Rheims Challoner Revision (DR 1750)
— Not so the wicked, not so: but like the dust, which the wind driveth from the face of the earth.
Geneva Bible (GNV 1560)
— The wicked are not so, but as the chaffe, which the winde driueth away.
Original King James Bible (AV 1611) [2]
— The vngodly [are] not so: but [are] like the chaffe, which the winde driueth away.
Lamsa Bible (1957)
— The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
Brenton Greek Septuagint (LXX, Restored Names)
— Not so the ungodly;-- not so: but rather as the chaff which the wind scatters away from the face of the earth.
Full Hebrew Names / Holy Name KJV (2008) [2] [3]
— The ungodly [are] not so: but [are] like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Strong's Numbers & Hebrew NamesHebrew Old TestamentColor-Code/Key Word Studies
The ungodly 7563
{7563} Prime
רָשָׁע
rasha`
{raw-shaw'}
From H7561; morally wrong; concretely an (actively) bad person.
[are] not x3808
(3808) Complement
לֹא
lo'
{lo}
lo; a primitive particle; not (the simple or abstract negation); by implication no; often used with other particles.
so: x3651
(3651) Complement
כֵּן
ken
{kane}
From H3559; properly set upright; hence (figuratively as adjective) just; but usually (as adverb or conjugation) rightly or so (in various applications to manner, time and relation; often with other particles).
but x3588
(3588) Complement
כִּי
kiy
{kee}
A primitive particle (the full form of the prepositional prefix) indicating causal relations of all kinds, antecedent or consequent; (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjugation or adverb; often largely modified by other particles annexed.
x518
(0518) Complement
אִם
'im
{eem}
A primitive particle; used very widely as demonstrative, lo!; interrogitive, whether?; or conditional, if, although; also Oh that!, when; hence as a negative, not.
[are] like the chaff 4671
{4671} Prime
מוֹץ
mots
{motes}
From H4160; chaff (as pressed out, that is, winnowed or (rather) threshed loose).
which x834
(0834) Complement
אֲשֶׁר
'asher
{ash-er'}
A primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as adverb and conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.
the wind 7307
{7307} Prime
רוּחַ
ruwach
{roo'-akh}
From H7306; wind; by resemblance breath, that is, a sensible (or even violent) exhalation; figuratively life, anger, unsubstantiality; by extension a region of the sky; by resemblance spirit, but only of a rational being (including its expression and functions).
driveth away. 5086
{5086} Prime
נָדַף
nadaph
{naw-daf'}
A primitive root; to shove asunder, that is, disperse.
z8799
<8799> Grammar
Stem - Qal (See H8851)
Mood - Imperfect (See H8811)
Count - 19885
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary

Psalms 1:4

_ _ not so — either as to conduct or happiness.

_ _ like the chaff — which, by Eastern modes of winnowing against the wind, was utterly blown away.

Matthew Henry's Commentary

Psalms 1:4-6

_ _ Here is, I. The description of the ungodly given, Psalms 1:4. 1. In general, they are the reverse of the righteous, both in character and condition: They are not so. The Septuagint emphatically repeats this: Not so the ungodly; they are not so; they are led by the counsel of the wicked, in the way of sinners, to the seat of the scornful; they have no delight in the law of God, nor ever think of it; they bring forth no fruit but grapes of Sodom; they cumber the ground. 2. In particular, whereas the righteous are like valuable, useful, fruitful trees, they are like the chaff which the wind drives away, the very lightest of the chaff, the dust which the owner of the floor desires to have driven away, as not capable of being put to any use. Would you value them? Would you weigh them? They are like chaff, of no worth at all in God's account, how highly soever they may value themselves. Would you know the temper of their minds? They are light and vain; they have no substance in them, no solidity; they are easily driven to and fro by every wind and temptation, and have no stedfastness. Would you know their end? The wrath of God will drive them away in their wickedness, as the wind does the chaff, which is never gathered nor looked after more. The chaff may be, for a while, among the wheat; but he is coming whose fan is in his hand and who will thoroughly purge his floor. Those that by their own sin and folly make themselves as chaff will be found so before the whirlwind and fire of divine wrath (Psalms 35:5), so unable to stand before it or to escape it, Isaiah 17:13.

_ _ II. The doom of the ungodly read, Psalms 1:5. 1. They will be cast, upon their trial, as traitors convicted: They shall not stand in the judgment, that is, they shall be found guilty, shall hang down the head with shame and confusion, and all their pleas and excuses will be overruled as frivolous. There is a judgment to come, in which every man's present character and work, though ever so artfully concealed and disguised, shall be truly and perfectly discovered, and appear in their own colours, and accordingly every man's future state will be, by an irreversible sentence, determined for eternity. The ungodly must appear in that judgment, to receive according to the things done in the body. They may hope to come off, nay, to come off with honour, but their hope will deceive them: They shall not stand in the judgment, so plain will the evidence be against them and so just and impartial will the judgment be upon it. 2. They will be for ever shut out from the society of the blessed. They shall not stand in the congregation of the righteous, that is, in the judgment (so some), that court wherein the saints, as assessors with Christ, shall judge the world, those holy myriads with which he shall come to execute judgment upon all, Jude 1:14; 1 Corinthians 6:2. Or in heaven. There will be seen, shortly, a general assembly of the church of the first-born, a congregation of the righteous, of all the saints, and none but saints, and saints made perfect, such a congregation of them as never was in this world, 2 Thessalonians 2:1. The wicked shall not have a place in that congregation. Into the new Jerusalem none unclean nor unsanctified shall enter; they shall see the righteous enter into the kingdom, and themselves, to their everlasting vexation, thrust out, Luke 13:27. The wicked and profane, in this world, ridiculed the righteous and their congregation, despised them, and cared not for their company; justly therefore will they be for ever separated from them. Hypocrites in this world, under the disguise of a plausible profession, may thrust themselves into the congregation of the righteous and remain undisturbed and undiscovered there; but Christ cannot be imposed upon, though his ministers may; the day is coming when he will separate between the sheep and the goats, the tares and the wheat; see Matthew 13:41, Matthew 13:49. That great day (so the Chaldee here calls it) will be a day of discovery, a day of distinction, and a day of final division. Then you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, which here it is sometimes hard to do, Malachi 3:18.

_ _ III. The reason rendered of this different state of the godly and wicked, Psalms 1:6. 1. God must have all the glory of the prosperity and happiness of the righteous. They are blessed because the Lord knows their way; he chose them into it, inclined them to choose it, leads and guides them in it, and orders all their steps. 2. Sinners must bear all the blame of their own destruction. Therefore the ungodly perish, because the very way in which they have chosen and resolved to walk leads directly to destruction; it naturally tends towards ruin and therefore must necessarily end in it. Or we may take it thus, The Lord approves and is well pleased with the way of the righteous, and therefore, under the influence of his gracious smiles, it shall prosper and end well; but he is angry at the way of the wicked, all they do is offensive to him, and therefore it shall perish, and they in it. It is certain that every man's judgment proceeds from the Lord, and it is well or ill with us, and is likely to be so to all eternity, accordingly as we are or are not accepted of God. Let this support the drooping spirits of the righteous, that the Lord knows their way, knows their hearts (Jeremiah 12:3), knows their secret devotions (Matthew 6:6), knows their character, how much soever it is blackened and blemished by the reproaches of men, and will shortly make them and their way manifest before the world, to their immortal joy and honour. Let this cast a damp upon the security and jollity of sinners, that their way, though pleasant now, will perish at last.

_ _ In singing these verses, and praying over them, let us possess ourselves with a holy dread of the wicked man's portion, and deprecate it with a firm and lively expectation of the judgment to come, and stir up ourselves to prepare for it, and with a holy care to approve ourselves to God in every thing, entreating his favour with our whole hearts.

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

Psalms 1:4

Ungodly — Their condition is far different. Chaff — They are restless and unquiet: their seeming felicity, hath no firm foundation, but quickly vanishes and flees away as chaff before the wind.

Geneva Bible Translation Notes

Psalms 1:4

(d) The ungodly [are] not so: but [are] like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

(d) Though the wicked seem to prosper in this world, yet the Lord drives them down that they shall not rise nor stand in the company of the righteous.

Cross-Reference Topical ResearchStrong's Concordance
like:

Psalms 35:5 Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the LORD chase [them].
Job 21:18 They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.
Isaiah 17:13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but [God] shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
Isaiah 29:5 Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones [shall be] as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.
Hosea 13:3 Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff [that] is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.
Matthew 3:12 Whose fan [is] in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
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Chain-Reference Bible SearchCross References with Concordance

Jb 21:18. Ps 35:5. Is 17:13; 29:5. Ho 13:3. Mt 3:12.

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