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Updated Bible Version

Psalms 37:35

I have seen the wicked in great power, And spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Bay Tree;   Death;   Happiness;   Wicked (People);   Thompson Chain Reference - Prosperity;   Prosperity-Adversity;   Transient, the Things That Are;   Transient-Enduring;   Trees;   Wicked, the;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Envy;   Happiness of the Wicked, the;   Trees;   Wicked, the, Are Compared to;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Bay-Tree;   Letters;   Trees;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Bay Tree;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Baytree;   Providence;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Bay Tree;   Laurel;   Patience;   Salvation;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Acrostic;   Bay-Tree;   English Versions;   Estate;   Ethics;   Greek Versions of Ot;   Psalms;   Sin;   Wealth;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Bay Tree;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Lamentations of jeremiah;   Psalms the book of;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Bay Tree;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Bay tree;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Bay-Tree;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Bay Tree;   Color;   Eschatology of the Old Testament (with Apocryphal and Apocalyptic Writings);   Land;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Bay tree;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - God;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for January 21;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
I have seen a wicked, violent personwell-rooted, like a flourishing native tree.
Hebrew Names Version
I have seen the wicked in great power, Spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil.
King James Version
I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.
English Standard Version
I have seen a wicked, ruthless man, spreading himself like a green laurel tree.
New Century Version
I saw a wicked and cruel man who looked strong like a healthy tree in good soil.
New English Translation
I have seen ruthless evil men growing in influence, like a green tree grows in its native soil.
Amplified Bible
I have seen a wicked, violent man [with great power] Spreading and flaunting himself like a cedar in its native soil,
New American Standard Bible
I have seen a wicked, violent person Spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil.
World English Bible
I have seen the wicked in great power, Spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil.
Geneva Bible (1587)
I haue seene the wicked strong, and spreading himselfe like a greene bay tree.
Legacy Standard Bible
I have seen a wicked, ruthless manSpreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil.
Berean Standard Bible
I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree,
Contemporary English Version
I have seen brutal people abuse others and grow strong like trees in rich soil.
Complete Jewish Bible
I have seen a wicked man wielding great power, flourishing like a shade tree in its native soil.
Darby Translation
I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading like a green tree in its native soil:
Easy-to-Read Version
I once saw a wicked man who was powerful. He was like a strong, healthy tree.
George Lamsa Translation
For I have seen the wicked boasting and spreading himself like stout forest trees;
Good News Translation
I once knew someone wicked who was a tyrant; he towered over everyone like a cedar of Lebanon;
Lexham English Bible
I have seen the wicked acting violently and spreading himself out like a luxuriant native tree.
Literal Translation
I have seen the wicked ruthless, even spreading himself out like a luxuriant, native tree ;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Hope thou in the LORDE, & kepe his waye: & he shal so promote the, that thou shalt haue the lode by enheritauce, & se, when the vngodly shall perishe.
American Standard Version
I have seen the wicked in great power, And spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil.
Bible in Basic English
I have seen the evil-doer in great power, covering the earth like a great tree.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a leafy tree in its native soil.
King James Version (1611)
I haue seene the wicked in great power: and spreading himselfe like a greene bay tree.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
I my selfe haue seene the vngodly in great power: and florishing lyke a greene bay tree.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
I saw the ungodly very highly exalting himself, and lifting himself up like the cedars of Libanus.
English Revised Version
I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
I siy a wickid man enhaunsid aboue; and reisid vp as the cedris of Liban.
Webster's Bible Translation
I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.
New King James Version
I have seen the wicked in great power, And spreading himself like a native green tree.
New Living Translation
I have seen wicked and ruthless people flourishing like a tree in its native soil.
New Life Bible
I have seen a very sinful man spreading himself like a green tree in its home land.
New Revised Standard
I have seen the wicked oppressing, and towering like a cedar of Lebanon.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
I have seen a lawless man, a tyrant, and spreading himself out, like a cedar in Lebanon;
Douay-Rheims Bible
(36-35) I have seen the wicked highly exalted, and lifted up like the cedars of Libanus.
Revised Standard Version
I have seen a wicked man overbearing, and towering like a cedar of Lebanon.
Young's Literal Translation
I have seen the wicked terrible, And spreading as a green native plant,
THE MESSAGE
I saw Wicked bloated like a toad, croaking pretentious nonsense. The next time I looked there was nothing— a punctured bladder, vapid and limp.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
I have seen a wicked, violent man Spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil.

Contextual Overview

34 Wait for Yahweh, and keep his way, And he will exalt you to inherit the land: When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it. 35 I have seen the wicked in great power, And spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil. 36 But one passed by, and, look, he was not: Yes, I sought him, but he could not be found. 37 Mark the perfect man, and look at the upright; For there is a [happy] end to the man of peace. 38 As for transgressors, they shall be destroyed together; The end of the wicked shall be cut off. 39 But the salvation of the righteous is of Yahweh; He is their stronghold in the time of trouble. 40 And Yahweh helps them, and rescues them; He rescues them from the wicked, and saves them, Because they have taken refuge in him.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I have: Psalms 73:3-11, Esther 5:11, Job 5:3, Job 21:7-17, Isaiah 14:14-19

a green bay tree: or, a green tree that groweth in his own soil, Job 8:13-19, Ezekiel 31:6-10, Ezekiel 31:18, Daniel 4:20-33

Reciprocal: Genesis 36:15 - Eliphaz Judges 4:17 - fled 1 Kings 16:15 - seven Esther 5:12 - to morrow Esther 7:9 - Hang him thereon Job 8:16 - green Job 12:6 - tabernacles Job 19:10 - mine hope Job 20:5 - the triumphing Job 24:24 - are exalted Psalms 37:2 - General Psalms 37:9 - evildoers Psalms 37:10 - wicked Psalms 52:5 - pluck Psalms 58:8 - pass Psalms 73:12 - these Psalms 73:18 - thou castedst Psalms 92:7 - wicked Proverbs 12:7 - wicked Proverbs 21:12 - wisely Isaiah 41:12 - shalt seek Isaiah 51:13 - where is Jeremiah 12:1 - Wherefore doth Jeremiah 49:10 - he is not Jeremiah 49:25 - General Ezekiel 31:5 - his height Ezekiel 31:8 - nor any Daniel 4:10 - a tree Daniel 11:4 - he shall stand Luke 16:25 - thy good 1 Corinthians 1:28 - to bring James 1:10 - because James 1:11 - so

Cross-References

Genesis 31:43
And Laban answered and said to Jacob, The daughters are my daughters, and the sons are my sons, and the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine: and what can I do this day to these my daughters, or to their sons whom they have borne?
Genesis 37:22
And Reuben said to them, Shed no blood; cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him: that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father.
Genesis 37:26
And Judah said to his brothers, What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood?
Genesis 37:29
And Reuben returned to the pit; and, look, Joseph wasn't in the pit; and he rent his clothes.
Genesis 37:31
And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a he-goat, and dipped the coat in the blood;
Genesis 42:31
And we said to him, We are true men; we are no spies:
Genesis 42:38
And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left: if harm befall him by the way in which you go, then you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.
Genesis 45:28
and Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.
2 Samuel 12:17
And the elders of his house arose, [and stood] beside him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.
Job 2:11
Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that came on him, they came every one from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and they made an appointment together to come to bemoan him and to comfort him.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

I have seen the wicked in great power,.... Meaning some particular person invested with great power, in great authority among men, one of the spiritual wickednesses in high places; such a man as Haman in Ahasuerus's court; and though the psalmist does not choose to mention his name, he doubtless had him in his mind; as either Saul, or Doeg the Edomite, or Ahithophel, or some such man, who was in an exalted station of life; and it may be when he himself was in low and distressed circumstances: the word used c signifies one formidable and terrible, striking terror to all around; of whom others are afraid, as Aben Ezra interprets it, Isaiah 29:20;

and spreading himself like a green bay tree: or like one that grows up out of the earth of itself, and is in its native soil, and very flourishing: and the metaphor denotes an increase of riches and honour, and a seemingly settled state in the enjoyment of such outward felicity; so Jarchi interprets it משריש, "taking root"; as well as such a man's glorying in and boasting of his affluence and fulness; see

Psalms 73:12. Aben Ezra explains it of a wicked man's openly committing iniquity, declaring his sin as Sodom, and glorying in his shame; but rather it denotes a man in great authority and esteem, as a man crowned with laurels, and in a very exalted and triumphant state.

c עדיץ "terrificam", Montanus, Vatablus; "terribilem ant formidabilem", Gejerus, Michaelis; "daunting, terrible", Ainsworth.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I have seen - I have had an opportunity, in my long life Psalms 37:25, of witnessing the accuracy of the statement just made, that a righteous man may live to see a confirmation of the truth that wickedness, however prosperous the wicked man may be, will lead to ultimate ruin - as I have had an opportunity of seeing Psalms 37:25-26 the effect of a course of righteousness on the ultimate prosperity and happiness of its possessor. The same experience, with the same result, is referred to in Job 5:3.

In great power - The word used here - עריץ ârı̂yts - means properly “terrible; inspiring terror.” It is applied to God in Jeremiah 20:11; and to powerful nations, Isaiah 25:3. It is also used in a bad sense, as denoting violent, fierce, lawless, or a tyrant, Isaiah 13:11; Isaiah 25:4-5; Job 15:20; Job 27:13. Here it may be used in the sense of one who was prosperous and mighty, and as referring to a man who wielded vast power; but there is connected with that also, undoubtedly, the idea that that power was wielded, not for purposes of benevolence, but for injustice, oppression, and wrong. It was a “wicked” man that was thus powerful.

And spreading himself - The word used here means properly to be naked; to make naked; to empty; then, to pour oneself out; and then, to spread oneself abroad. It is applied here to a tree that seems to pour itself out, or to spread itself out in every direction - sending its limbs aloft, and its branches far on every side.

Like a green bay tree - Margin: “a green tree that groweth in its own soil.” The “bay tree” is a species of laurel, but there is no evidence that the original word here refers particularly to this, or specifically to any other tree. The original word אזרח 'ezrâch - is derived from זרח zârach, to rise; and then, to spring up as a plant does, and it properly means here, as expressed in the margin, “a native tree;” that is, a tree that grows in its own soil, or that has not been transplanted. Then, also, it comes to denote a native; one born in the country, not a foreigner: Leviticus 16:29; Leviticus 18:26, et al. The idea here is that a tree which thus remains in its own soil is more vigorous, and will attain to a larger growth, than one which is transplanted; and thus the figure becomes an emblem of a prosperous and mighty man. “Perhaps,” also, there is included here, respecting the man, the idea that he has grown up where he is; that he has not been driven from place to place; that he has had uniform prosperity; that on the very soil which gave him birth he has risen to rank, to wealth, to power. His life has been spent in tranquil scenes, where everything seemed to be stable and secure; what his end will be, the psalmist states in the next verse.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 37:35. I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay-tree. — Does not this refer to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and to the vision he had of the great tree which was in the midst of the earth, the head of which reached up to heaven? See Daniel 4:10, &c.


 
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