Psalms 1:4

Psalms 1:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
• New International Version (NIV)Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
• English Standard Version (ESV)The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
• New King James Version (NKJV)The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

Context of Psalms 1:4

2He is happy when he obeys the Law of the Lord. He thinks about God's Law during the day and at night. 3He will become like a tree that grows beside streams of water. It gives its fruit at the right season. Its leaves do not fall off. Everything that person does will have a good result. But wicked people are as empty as chaff. The wind blows them away. 5So they will not go free when God judges them. Sinners cannot join with God's people, the people who are right with God. 6The Lord takes care of people who respect him. But wicked people are living in a way that will take them to a bad end.

Psalms 1:4 word by word

לֹא־כֵ֥ן הָרְשָׁעִ֑ים כִּ֥י אִם־כַּ֝מֹּ֗ץ אֲֽשֶׁר־תִּדְּפֶ֥נּוּ רֽוּחַ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• The ungodlyרָשָׁעrâshâ‛ · wickedH7563
• like the chaffמוֹץmôts môts · chaffH4671
• which the windרוּחַrûach · spirit: breathH7307
• driveth awayנָדַףnâdaph · to driveH5086

Cross-references for Psalms 1:4

• Psalms 35:5Make them become like chaff that the wind blows away. Send the angel of the Lord to chase them away.
• Job 21:18He does not blow them away, like the wind blows dry grass. They do not disappear like chaff that a storm blows away.
• Isaiah 17:13But it does not matter how much noise they make. Those people may roar like powerful waves, but the Lord will shout at them to stop. Then they will run far away! They will run like the wind as it blows chaff across the hills. It will be like a strong storm that carries away dead weeds!
• Isaiah 29:5Your enemies will be like an army of dust. The wind will blow away that crowd of cruel men as if they are chaff. That will all happen very suddenly!
• Hosea 13:3So those people will soon disappear! They will quickly disappear like mist or dew in the morning. They will be like chaff that the wind blows away from a threshing floor. They will be like smoke that disappears out of an open window.
• Matthew 3:12He is like a farmer that brings the wheat home from his field. He uses a special tool to throw the wheat up in the air. He does this to make the wheat seeds separate from what remains. Then he cleans his yard. He carefully stores all the seeds to keep them safe. But he burns everything else in a great fire that nobody can put out.’

Commentaries on Psalms 1:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4The ungodly are not so - The Vulgate and Septuagint, and the versions made from them, such as the Ethiopic and Arabic, double the last negation, and add a clause to the end of the verse, "Not so the ungodly, not so; they shall be like the dust which the wind scatters away from the face of the earth." There is nothing solid in the men; there is nothing good in their ways. They are not of God's planting; they are not good grain; they are only chaff, and a…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4The ungodly are not so - literally, “Not thus the wicked.” For the word ungodly, see the notes at Psalm 1:1. The statement that the “wicked are not so,” is a general statement applicable alike to their character and destiny, though the mind of the author of the psalm is fixed immediately and particularly on the difference in their destiny, without specifying anything particularly respecting their character. It is as true, however, that the ungodly do walk…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4-6Verses 4-6 The ungodly are the reverse of the righteous, both in character and condition. The ungodly are not so, ver. 4; 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; they bring forth no fruit but what is evil. The righteous are like useful, fruitful trees: the ungodly are like the chaff which the wind drives away: the dust which the owner of the floor desires to…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4The future judgment (Psalm 1:5) will remove the wicked and everything they have done (Psalms 35:5; 83:13; Isaiah 17:13; see study note on Jeremiah 13:24).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. not so--either as to conduct or happiness. like the chaff--which, by Eastern modes of winnowing against the wind, was utterly blown away.Read the comment

Topics related to Psalms 1:4

• Chaff
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Chaff
• Consent
• Delight
• Meditate
• Offer
• Partaker
• Testify
• Bible, the
• Death
• Good, Chief

Commentaries on Psalms 1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• The Treasury of David
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings