Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Does hell exist?The Bible offers four mutually incompatible afterlife schemes.
Has there ever been a righteous person?Job 15:14, Isaiah 64:6, and Romans 3:10 deny anyone is righteous — all our righteousness is as filthy rags, there is none righteous, no, not one.
2 Timothy 2:19(v6)However God’s firm foundation stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let every one who names the name of the…
John 10:14(v6)I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own;
Job 21:18(v4)How often is it that they are as stubble before the wind, as chaff that the storm carries away?
Proverbs 15:9(v6)The way of the wicked is an abomination to Yahweh, but he loves him who follows after righteousness.
Nahum 1:7(v6)Yahweh is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knows those who take refuge in him.
Show all 33 cross-references
Psalms 5:5(v5)The arrogant will not stand in your sight. You hate all workers of iniquity.
Matthew 3:12(v4)His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the…
Psalms 37:18-24(v6)Yahweh knows the days of the perfect. Their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be disappointed in the time of evil. In the days…
John 10:27(v6)My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
Matthew 25:46(v5)These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Psalms 35:5(v4)Let them be as chaff before the wind, Yahweh’s angel driving them on.
Psalms 146:9(v6)Yahweh preserves the foreigners. He upholds the fatherless and widow, but he turns the way of the wicked upside down.
Proverbs 14:12(v6)There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
Malachi 3:18(v5)Then you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who doesn’t serve him.
Psalms 139:1-2(v6)Yahweh, you have searched me, and you know me. You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar.
Matthew 7:13(v6)“Enter in by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter in by it.
Matthew 25:41(v5)Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his…
Job 23:10(v6)But he knows the way that I take. When he has tried me, I will come out like gold.
Psalms 142:3(v6)When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, you knew my route. On the path in which I walk, they have hidden a snare for me.
Luke 21:36(v5)Therefore be watchful all the time, praying that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will happen, and to stand before…
Isaiah 17:13(v4)The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters: but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far off, and will be chased like the…
Matthew 25:32(v5)Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
2 Peter 2:12(v6)But these, as unreasoning creatures, born natural animals to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are…
Psalms 9:6(v6)The enemy is overtaken by endless ruin. The very memory of the cities which you have overthrown has perished.
Psalms 112:10(v6)The wicked will see it, and be grieved. He shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away. The desire of the wicked will perish.
Matthew 13:49(v5)So will it be in the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked from among the righteous,
Isaiah 29:5(v4)But the multitude of your foes will be like fine dust, and the multitude of the ruthless ones like chaff that blows away. Yes, it will be…
Hosea 13:3(v4)Therefore they will be like the morning mist, and like the dew that passes away early, like the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out…
Psalms 9:7-8(v5)But Yahweh reigns forever. He has prepared his throne for judgment. He will judge the world in righteousness. He will administer judgment…
Jude 1:15(v5)to execute judgment on all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their works of ungodliness which they have done in an ungodly way, and of…
Psalms 26:9(v5)Don’t gather my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men;
Psalms 9:16(v5)Yahweh has made himself known. He has executed judgment. The wicked is snared by the work of his own hands.
Psalms 24:3(v5)Who may ascend to Yahweh’s hill? Who may stand in his holy place?
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (19 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
John Calvin1540 · Public DomainOn vv4–6The Psalmist might, with propriety, have compared the ungodly…
The Psalmist might, with propriety, have compared the ungodly to a tree that speedily withers, as Jeremiah likens them to the heath which grows in the wilderness, (Jeremiah 17:6) But not reckoning this figure sufficiently strong, he debases them by employing another, which represents them in a light still more contemptible: and the reason is, that he does not keep his eye on the prosperous condition of which they boast for a short time, but his mind is seriously pondering on the destruction which awaits them, and will at length overtake them. The meaning, therefore, is, although the ungodly now live prosperously, yet by and by they shall be like chaff; for when the Lord has brought them low, he shall drive them hither and thither with the blast of his wrath. Besides, by this form of speech, the Holy Spirit teaches us to contemplate with the eye of faith, what might otherwise seem incredible; for although the ungodly man rise high, and appear to great advantage, like a stately tree, we may rest assured that he will be even as chaff or refuse, whenever God chooses to cast him down from his high estate, with the breath of his mouth.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv4–6Though the wicked seem to bear the swinge in…
Though the wicked seem to bear the swinge in this world, yet the Lord driveth them down that they shall not rise nor stand in the company of the righteous.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv4–6Psa 1:4 The ungodly [are] not so: but [are]…
Psa 1:4 The ungodly [are] not so: but [are] like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Ver. 4. The ungodly are not so] Not like any such tree before described, but rather like the cypress tree, which, the more it is watered, is the less fruitful; or like the cyparit tree, whereof Pliny writeth that it is good for nothing, no, not for show, shadow, or smell. St Jude saith, they are trees indeed, but such as are twice dead, pulled up by the roots, Jdg 1:12. Twice dead they are said to be, 1. Because a spiritual death is so great a death that it may well go for two. 2. Because those ungodly ones were dead, both in regard of fruit and leaves, truth of grace and any outward actings of grace. Their fruit, if any, is but hedge fruit, their leaves of formal profession wither and come to nothing; if they prosper in the world (as Sigonius observeth of Pope Zechariah that he died rebus non tam pie quam prospere gestis, not overly pious, and yet very prosperous) it is that they may be cut down for ever, Psa 37:2 : such a temporary prosperity plus deceptionis habet quam delectationis, saith Lactantius, is more deceitful than delightful, and is, therefore, well called by Bernard, Misericordia omni indignatione crudelior, a giftless gift, &c.
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But are like the chaff] Not so they are, but much worse in many respects, as it is fit they should be. God will surely set a difference, Mal 3:18. {See Trapp on "Mal 3:18"} A profane soldier at the siege of a town, passing a place of danger, was heard swearing; and when one that stood by warned him, saying, Fellow soldier, do not swear, the bullets fly; he answered, They that swear come off as well as they that pray. But what came of it? Soon after a shot hit him, and down he fell. "The wicked is" (as chaff) "driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death," Pro 14:32. The word here rendered chaff is Palea tenuissima et minutissime contrita chaff beaten to dust, and, therefore, good for nothing, but apt to be whiffied up and down with every wind of doctrine, with every puff of temptation. A good man is, as a tree, stedfast, and unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, 1Co 15:58. An evil man is, as chaff, light and worthless, Religionem habens ephemeram, constant in nothing so much as in his inconstancy, serves God by fits and starts, flies in his face when afflicted, as chaff doth in the face of the winnower, while the weightier grain falls low at his feet. See Job 21:18 Psa 55:5 Hos 13:3 Mat 3:12. {See Trapp on "Job 21:18"} {See Trapp on "Psa 55:5"} {See Trapp on "Hos 13:3"} {See Trapp on "Mat 3:12"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv4–6The ungodly are not so; their condition is far…
The ungodly are not so; their condition is far differing from the former.
But are like the chaff; in regard either,
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1. Of their sinful disposition. They are vain and frothy, unprofitable and hurtful, without any root of true and solid goodness, without any certain end or constant course, tossed to and fro with every wind of their own lusts or temptations. Or rather,
2. Of their wretched condition. They are restless and unquiet in their own minds and consciences; their seeming felicity, in which they please and pride themselves, hath no firm foundation, but quickly vanisheth and fleeth away, as chaff doth before the wind, and their end is to be burned: see Job 21:8; Psa 35:5; Mat 3:12.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry1710 · Public DomainOn v4Here is, I. The description of the ungodly given,…
Here is, I. The description of the ungodly given, Psa 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 (Psa 35:5), so unable to stand before it or to escape it, Isa 17:13.
II. The doom of the ungodly read, Psa 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, Jde 1:14; Co1 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, Th2 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, Luk 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 Mat 13:41, Mat 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, Mal 3:18.
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III. The reason rendered of this different state of the godly and wicked, Psa 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 (Jer 12:3), knows their secret devotions (Mat 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.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv4–6The ungodly are not so,.... They are not as…
The ungodly are not so,.... They are not as the good man is; their manner and course of life are different; they walk in the counsel of ungodly men, like themselves, and take counsel against the Lord, his Anointed, and his people: they stand in the way of sinners, and steer their conversation according to the course of the world, and sit in the seat of the scornful; laugh at divine revelation, lampoon the Scriptures, deride good men, make a jest of religion and a future state: they have no delight in the law of the Lord, they cast it away from them, and despise it; and are so far from a constant meditation on it, that they never read it, nor so much as look into it, nor is it ever in their thoughts. They are not like to a tree, as described in Psa 1:3, if they are like to trees, it is to dry trees, and not green ones, to trees without any sap, moisture, and verdure, and which are only fit fuel for the fire; to the trees of the wood, to wild olive trees; to trees on an heath, in a desert, in parched land, and not to trees by rivers of water, but to trees that have no root, and are without fruit, Jde 1:12. And though they may be in a seeming prosperous condition for a time, may be in great power, riches, and honour, and spread themselves like a green bay tree; yet suddenly they are cut down as the grass, and wither as the green herb; and even their outward prosperity destroys them; so that not anything they have or do in the issue prospers: and therefore they are not blessed or happy as the good man is; yea, they are wretched and miserable, nay, cursed; they are cursed now, and will be hereafter; they are cursed in their basket and store, their blessings are curses to them; the law pronounces them cursed; and they will hear, "go ye cursed", at the day of judgment, see Mat 25:41. The Vulgate Latin, Septuagint, and Arabic versions, repeat the words "not so", and read "not so the ungodly, not so:" which seems to be done for the confirmation of the truth of it:
but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away; they are like chaff, which has no root, moisture, greenness, nor fruitfulness; they have nothing in them solid and substantial; they are destitute of all that is good; are vain and empty; without the knowledge of God and Christ; without faith in Christ and love to him; and are sensual, not having the Spirit, his graces and fruits: they are like chaff for lightness, vain in their imaginations, light in their principles, frothy in their words, and unstable in all their ways: they are never long in any position, unsettled, disquieted, and tossed to and fro; and there is no peace unto them: they are like chaff, useless and unprofitable, nothing worth, fit only for everlasting burnings, which will be their case. For when Christ will gather his wheat, the righteous, which are of value, into his garner, the heavenly glory, he will burn the chaff, the wicked, with unquenchable fire. They are now like chaff, driven and carried about with every wind of doctrine, with divers and strange doctrines, and entertain every light and airy notion; and are easily drawn aside and carried away by the force of their own lusts, and with every temptation of Satan, who works effectually in then: and particularly they are like chaff before the wind of terrible judgments and calamities in this life, and of the awful judgment hereafter, when they will be driven away from the presence of the Lord into everlasting destruction. The metaphor is often used in this sense; see Job 21:17; and denotes the secret, sudden, sure, and easy ruin of the ungodly, which comes upon them like a whirlwind, in an instant, which they cannot avoid; and they can no more stand before God and against him, than chaff before the wind. It follows,
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv4–6Ungodly - Their condition is far different. Chaff -…
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.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv4–6Verse 4. The ungodly are not so] The Vulgate…
Verse 4. The ungodly are not so] The Vulgate and Septuagint, and the versions made from them, such as the AEthiopic 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 chaff that shall be separated from the good grain when the fan or shovel of God's power throws them up to the wind of his judgments. The manner of winnowing in the eastern countries is nearly the same with that practiced in various parts of these kingdoms before the invention of winnowing machines. They either throw it up in a place out of doors by a large wooden shovel against the wind; or with their weights or winnowing fans shake it down leisurely in the wind. The grain falls down nearly perpendicularly; and the chaff, through its lightness, is blown away to a distance from the grain.
An ungodly man is never steady; his purposes are abortive; his conversation light, trifling, and foolish; his professions, friendships, c., frothy, hollow, and insincere and both he and his works are carried away to destruction by the wind of God's judgments.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv4–6Psa 1:4. The ungodly are not so — Their…
Psa 1:4. The ungodly are not so — Their condition is far different; but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away — Withered and worthless, restless and unquiet, without form or stability, blown about by every wind, and, at length, finally dispersed from the face of the earth, by the breath of God’s displeasure, and driven into the fire which never shall be quenched. Their seeming felicity hath no firm foundation, but quickly vanishes, and flies away, as chaff before the wind.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv4–6The ungodly are not so - literally, “Not thus…
The ungodly are not so - literally, “Not thus the wicked.” For the word ungodly, see the notes at Psa 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 in the counsel of the wicked, and stand in the way of sinners, and sit in the seat of the scornful, as it is that the righteous do not; as true that they do not delight in the law of the Lord, as it is that the righteous do; as true that the wicked are not like a tree planted by the channels of water, as it is that the righteous are. This passage, therefore, may be employed to show what is the character of the ungodly, and in so applying it, what was before negative in regard to the righteous, becomes positive in regard to the wicked; what was positive, becomes negative. Thus it is true:
(a) that the wicked do walk in the counsel of the ungodly; do stand in the way of sinners; do sit in the seat of the scornful;
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(b) that they do not delight in the law of the Lord, or meditate on his word; and
(c) that they are not like a tree planted by the waters, that is green and beautiful and fruitful.
Both in character and in destiny the ungodly differ from the righteous. The subsequent part of the verse shows that, while the general truth was in the mind of the writer, the particular thing on which his attention was fixed was, his condition in life - his destiny - as that which could not be compared with a green and fruitful tree, but which suggested quite another image.
But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away - When the wheat was winnowed. This, in Oriental countries, was commonly performed in the open field, and usually on an eminence, and where there was a strong wind. The operation was performed, as it is now in our country, when a fan or fanning-mill cannot he procured, by throwing up the grain as it is threshed with a shovel, and the wind scatters the chaff, while the grain falls to the ground. See the notes at Mat 3:12.
This very naturally and appropriately furnished an illustration of the destiny of the wicked. Compared with the righteous, they were like the worthless chaff driven away by the wind. The image is often found in the Scriptures. See Job 21:18, note; Isa 17:13, note. Compare also Psa 35:5; Isa 29:5; Isa 41:15; Dan 2:35; Hos 13:3. The idea here is, that the wicked are in no respect like the green and fruitful tree referred to in Psa 1:3. They are not like a tree in any respect. They are not even like a decaying tree, a barren tree, a dead tree, for either of these would suggest some idea of stability or permanency. They are like dry and worthless chaff driven off by the wind, as of no value to the farmer - a substance which he is anxious only to separate wholly from his grain, and to get out of his way. The idea thus suggested, therefore, is that of intrinsic worthlessness. It will be among other things, on this account that the wicked will be driven away - that they are worthless in the universe of God - worthless to all the purposes for which man was made. At the same time, however, there may be an implied contrast between that chaff and the useful grain which it is the object of the farmer to secure.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv4–6not so--either as to conduct or happiness.
not so--either as to conduct or happiness.
like the chaff--which, by Eastern modes of winnowing against the wind, was utterly blown away.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv4–64. Not so—The contrast in character of the godly…
4. Not so—The contrast in character of the godly and the ungodly is absolute and infinite; their treatment under the government of God is correspondingly diverse.
Chaff—The emblem of worthlessness doomed to destruction.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv4–64. In sharp contrast to the firmly-rooted, flourishing, fruitful…
4. In sharp contrast to the firmly-rooted, flourishing, fruitful tree is the chaff on the threshing-floor, worthless in itself, and liable to be swept away by every passing breeze.
The scattering of chaff by the wind is a common figure in the O.T. for the sudden destruction of the wicked. Cp. Psa_35:5; Job_21:18; Isa_29:5; Hos_13:3. Here it describes their character as well as their fate. It would be vividly suggestive to those who were familiar with the sight of the threshing-floors, usually placed on high ground to take advantage of every breeze, on which the corn was threshed out and winnowed by throwing it up against the wind with shovels, the grain falling on the floor to be carefully gathered up, the chaff left to be carried away by the wind and vanish.
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The P.B.V. following the LXX and Vulg. adds from the face of the earth. Cp. Amo_9:8; Zep_1:2-3.
4–6. The character and destiny of the wicked.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv4–6(4) The ungodly.—Better, Not so the ungodly.
(4) The ungodly.—Better, Not so the ungodly.
But are like.—They shall be winnowed out of the society of the true Israel by the fan of God’s judgment. The image is a striking one, although so frequent as almost to have become a poetical commonplace (Hab_3:12; Joe_3:14; Jer_51:33; Isa_21:10). (See Bible Educator, iv. 4.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv4–6The ungodly are not so; or, the wicked (see…
The ungodly are not so; or, the wicked (see the comment on ver. 1). But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. "Chaff" is used throughout Scripture as an emblem of what is weak and worthless. (see Job_21:18 Psa_35:5 Isa_5:24 Isa_17:13 Isa_29:5 Isa_33:11 Isa_41:15 Jer_23:28 Dan_2:35 Hos_13:3 Zep_2:2 Mat_3:12 Luk_3:17) In ancient times it was considered of no value at all, and when corn was winnowed, it was thrown up in the air until the wind had blown all the chaff away (see the representation in the author"s "History of Ancient Egypt," vol. 1. p. 163).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon1885 · Public DomainOn vv4–6Verse 4. We have now come to the second…
Verse 4. We have now come to the second head of the Psalm. In this verse the contrast of the ill estate of the wicked is employed to heighten the coloring of that fair and pleasant picture which precedes it. The more forcible translation of the Vulgate and of the Septuagint version is "Not so the ungodly, not so." And we are hereby to understand that whatever good thing is said of the righteous is not true in the case of the ungodly. Oh! how terrible is it to have a double negative put upon the promises! and yet this is just the condition of the ungodly. Mark the use of the term "ungodly," for, as we have seen in the opening of the Psalm, these are the beginners in evil, and are the least offensive of sinners. Oh! if such is the sad state of those who quietly continue in their morality, and neglect their God, what must be the condition of open sinners and shameless infidels? The first sentence is a negative description of the ungodly, and the second is the positive picture. Here is their character "they are like chaff," intrinsically worthless, dead, unserviceable, without substance, and easily carried away. Here, also, mark their doom, "the wind driveth away;" death shall hurry them with its terrible blast into the fire in which they shall be utterly consumed.
Verse 4. "Chaff." Here, by the way, we may let the wicked know they have a thanks to give they little think of; that they may thank the godly for all the good days they live upon the earth, seeing it is for their sakes and not for their own that they enjoy them. For as the chaff while it is united and keeps close to the wheat, enjoys some privileges for the wheat's sake, and is laid up carefully in the barn; but as soon as it is divided, and parted from the wheat, it is cast out and scattered by the wind; so the wicked, whilst the godly are in company and live amongst them, partake for their sake of some blessedness promised to the godly; but if the godly forsake them or be taken from them, then either a deluge of water comes suddenly upon them, as it did upon the old world when Noah left it; or a deluge of fire, as it did upon Sodom, when Lot left it, and went out of the city. Sir Richard Baker.
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Verse 4. "Driveth away," or tosseth away; the Chaldee translateth for "wind," "whirlwind." Henry Ainsworth, 1639. This shows the vehement tempest of death, which sweeps away the soul of the ungodly.
Verses 3, 4. See No. 280 of "Spurgeons Sermons." "The Chaff Driven Away." Sin puts a negative on every blessing.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn vv4–6The ungodly are not so, but are like the…
Psa_1:4
The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
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The chaff driven away
Who are the ungodly? Are they open and wilful sinners? Certainly these are included, but not mainly intended. Are they the atheists, scoffers, and those who make a ribald jest of all sacred things? Yes, but not they alone. For the godly man is he who has a constant eye to God, recognises Him in all things, trusts Him, loves and serves Him. The ungodly man is he who lives in the world as if there were no God; he may be religious, but that is not enough. He attends to outward forms, but the heart of them he does not perceive. How many there are in all our congregations, therefore, who are ungodly. They do not love the Lord, or delight in communion with Him, or desire to be like Him. They are ungodly. Now concerning all such, the text utters--
I. A fearful negative. The ungodly are not so. For
1. They are not like a tree planted. The Christian is so. The tree planted is visited and in every way cared for by the husbandman. But the wild tree in the forest, the tree self-sown upon the plain, no one owns, no one watches over it.
2. Not like a tree planted by the rivers of waters. The believer is. He is planted not by banks which may soon dry up, far less in a desert; but by the rivers of waters. And is it not so? We know what it is to drink of the rivers of Christs fulness. But not so the ungodly. Days of drought will come for them.
3. Does not bring forth his fruit in his season. The righteous does so. If the ungodly have here and there a shrivelled grape it is brought forth in the wrong season. Many think that so long as they dont do wrong it is as if they did right. But mere negative goodness will not suffice. The curse on Meroz was for not coming to the help of the Lord. They did not oppress, only did not help.
4. His leaf also shall not wither. Not so the ungodly. And
5. Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Yes, though the righteous may suffer much earthly loss. They have an inward prosperity even when the outward one is wanting. No so the ungodly. Is he really happy now? To him there is nothing good in this life. That which looketh fair is but as the paint upon the harlots face.
II. A terrible comparison. Like the chaff--so useless, so light and unstable, so worthless.
III. An awful prophecy. How near the chaff is to the grain. As yon godless parent of a Christian child. As yon helpers in various forms of Christian work; sitting side by side with the godly. Close to the grain, and yet only chaff. And to be driven away--Where, where? Jesus Christ has said, He shall burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Who here is prepared to make his bed in hell? I beseech you by the living God, tremble and repent. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The gate to the threshing floor
Not so! The Psalmist does not dwell upon the details of their ungodliness. As in the case of the righteous, he confines himself to indicating the sources of their life. The great object of this Psalm is to show us the fountain heads of moral character. The character that is not so is set forth by a figure. We leave now the garden gate, and not far off behold a raised platform of earth beaten hard. It is the threshing floor. Here stand the workmen with their earthen vessels, and scooping up the threshed grain, mingled with chaff, throw it up into the air, or let it fall in a stream from the uplifted jar; and the wind, with its whirling gusts, which arise so suddenly on the plains, catches the chaff and drives it away before it. The ungodly are like the chaff--light, shifting, worthless Here three aspects of the ungodly character--its instability; its worthlessness; its insecurity. One of the happiest phases of goodness is its fixedness. A life rooted in God, based on settled conviction, has a single aim, a uniform tendency, and a permanent result. In these particulars the opposite character tails. Take a life away from God, and you take from it unity of impulse. Passion, pride, selfishness drive it hither and thither as the winds drive the dismantled ship. Nowhere but in God does man find a consistent law. The second phase of this character is its worthlessness. The wind drives it away, and the husbandman is glad to have it driven away. Here we find ourselves in the track of gospel thought. An ungodly life is not used under Gods direction and for Gods uses. The present age is very susceptible to this fallacy--the identification of activity with usefulness. But we ask, under whose direction? For what? For whom? We call that man useful who works on Gods lines, in Gods ways, and for Gods ends. It is the unchanging law of God, that the life which gives nothing has no place in His Divine order. The chaff, which only lives by the grain, which feeds no one, which has no power of reproduction, is driven away. The third phase of this character is its insecurity. The contrast is between the fixed tree and the shifting chaff: How safe is the man who abides in God, while he who puts himself outside of the restraints of Divine law forfeits likewise its protection. The weakness and instability of the character which is not founded in Gods law shall finally be made manifest. The whole current of the Psalms moves in the direction of a day of final tests which shall lay bare the foundations of character. It is only in romances that virtue always triumphs and vice always goes under. But our Psalm does not leave us here. It carries us over this time of the growing together of wheat and tares, to the time of separation. There is coming a day of judgment, whose searching tests shall resolve the confusion, and make clearly manifest to the world what is weak and what is strong; what is solid and what is superficial; what is wheat and what is chaff. (Marvin R. Vincent, D. D.)
The chaff in the wind
My heart aches when I begin a sermon on a theme like this. But what makes my heart ache is that a man or a woman born so high should sink so low. That one who had the possibility of being the good grain in Gods field, that might have been useful and happy, should have so resisted the gracious influence of Gods husbandry as at last to have become of no value, and only to be compared to the chaff which the wind driveth away. Importance hinges on the word ungodly. Who are the ungodly? I do not understand that it means, necessarily, that a man is outbreakingly and viciously wicked. The ungodly man or woman is simply a person who does not live in the way that God demands; one whose thoughts and purposes and conduct are not in harmony with Gods laws; who does not please God. What a graphic suggestion is here of the vanity of a sinful life! The man who loves and serves God is building up a character which is abiding like a great tree. He is gathering many treasures of character and personality that can never be taken from him. Truth, and integrity, and love and faith, and hope, and patience, and gentleness, these great spiritual qualities in which God develops the Christian, are qualities that cannot be taken away from us by any disaster that can come. Money, and honour, and friends, and health, and life itself may go, and all these qualities remain in their full measure; but a sinful life, a life that resists Gods grace, has nothing left that is substantial. If a man gives himself up to worldliness he may be ever so successful in his ambitions, but there is nothing about it that will last. A rich man goes out of the world as poor as when he came into it. His wealth fails, and is like the chaff which the wind driveth away Physical strength is fragile in the same way; often a man rejoices in his strength one week and the next he is in his grave. But if he lives to be an old man, with trembling hands and tottering footsteps, his physical strength fails him at last and is like the chaff in the wind. The same is true of physical beauty and all the attractiveness of physical life. Many people who do not obey God are nevertheless very ambitious to make themselves of some account in the world; but ones work must be like the chaff if it is not in harmony with God. God could not be the good God that you dream of if He did not make a difference between chaff and wheat. It is not that God is not good, but that the ungodly man has failed to avail himself of Gods goodness, has sinned against Gods goodness and mercy, and has brought ruin upon himself. You say that the chaff cannot help being chaff; yes, but the man can. You will not be chaff unless you choose to be chaff. God did not make you to be chaff; He made you ill His own likeness and image, and when you had wandered from Him by wicked ways Jesus Christ wrought out your salvation on the Cross. (L. A. Banks, D. D.)
The fruitless life
The second half of the Psalm gives the dark contrast of the fruitless, rootless life. The Hebrew flashes the whole dread antithesis on the view at once by its first word, Not so, a universal negative which reverses every part of the preceding picture. The remainder of the Psalm has three thoughts--the real nullity of such lives, their consequent disappearance in the judgment, and the ground of both the blessedness of the one type of character and the vanishing of the other in the diverse attitude of God to each. Nothing could more vividly suggest the essential nothingness of the wicked than the contrast of the leafy beauty of the fruit laden tree, and the chaff, rootless, fruitless, lifeless, light, and therefore the sport of every puff of wind that blows across the elevated and open threshing floor. Such is indeed a true picture of every life not rooted in God and drawing fertility from Him. It is rootless, for what holdfast is there but in Him? or where shall the heart twine its tendrils if not round Gods stable throne? or what basis do fleeting objects supply for him who builds elsewhere than on the enduring Rock? Chaff is fruitless because lifeless. Its disappearance in the winnowing wind is the consequence and manifestation of its essential nullity. Just as the winnower throws up his shovelful into the breeze, and the chaff goes fluttering out of the floor because it is light, while the wheat falls on the heap because it is solid, so the wind of judgment will one day blow, and deal with each man according to his own nature. It will separate them, whirling away the one and not the other. The ground of these diverse fates is the different attitude of God to each life. Each clause of the last verse really involves two ideas, but the pregnant brevity of style states only half of the antithesis in each, suppressing the second member in the first clause, and the first member in the second clause, and so making the contrast the more striking by emphasising the cause of an unspoken consequence in the former, and the opposite consequence of an unspoken cause in the latter. The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous (therefore it shall last). The Lord knoweth not the way of the wicked (therefore it shall perish). The way or course of life which God does not know perishes. A path perishes when, like some dim forest track, it dies out, leaving the traveller bewildered amid impenetrable forests; or when, like some treacherous Alpine track among rotten rocks, it crumbles beneath the tread. Every course of life but that of the man who delights in and keeps the law of the Lord comes to a fatal end, and leads to the brink of a precipice over which the impetus of descent carries the reluctant foot. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The wicked compared to chaff
Natural chaff is light and unprofitable. It is light, containing in it no solid or weighty matter, but a very slight and frothy substance subject to many alterations; even so the wicked are not solid in their purposes and enterprises, and weighty in then carnage and courses, but as chaff, light, easily tossed and blown away. They are light in their words and light in their minds. They are unprofitable ill two ways. In matters temporal, concerning this life, wherein, though they have ability, they want the will to do good with the same. In matters spiritual, wherein, though they have a will, yet they want ability. In that the Spirit of God compares all wicked men to chaff, we learn that the estate and condition of wicked men is exceedingly inconstant, void, uncertain, mutable, and changeable. They have no certain stay, no sure and settled estate in this world. Whether we consider the matters of religion and Gods worship, or the things of the world, we shall see them like unto chaff--vain, vile, uncertain, mutable. (Samuel Smith.)
The ungodly described
Where, first, we may observe that the prophet observes here a different course in handling of this proposition from that he held ill handling the former; for there he only described a godly man, but named him not; here, he only names the wicked, but describes them not; and, indeed, it needed not, for Rectum est index sui et obliqui [Justice defines both the just and the unjust]; by telling what a godly man is he tells, by virtue of the law of contraries, what the wicked are, for it that be affirmed of a wicked man which was denied of a godly, and that denied which was affirmed, the description is made ready to your hand, and you have him deciphered in his fulness. And yet we may take notice of a further reason, for godliness is subject to many falsifications; it may suffer much alloy by mixture of base metals, and there is need of a touchstone to try whether it be right or no. Many colours may be laid upon wickedness, to make it seem godliness, as Satan can transform himself into all angel of light (2Co_11:14); and then there is need of marks to know whether it be a good angel, whether it be true godliness or no; but in the case of wickedness it is not so; there is no need of any such marks, for there cannot a worse vizard be put upon wickedness than its own face, there is no baser metal to be mingled with it; and though a wicked man will be counterfeiting to be godly, yet it was never known that a godly man would counterfeit to be wicked; and therefore the prophet, who is no waster of words in vain, would not give marks where they needed none, but left wickedness to be known by its own ill face, which is seen plainly enough by the law of contraries. (Sir Richard Baker.)
The wicked as chaff
But may we not make a stand here, and question the prophet about his similitude? for look upon the wicked, do they look like chaff? One would think them rather, in all appearance, to be clean wheat, and the best wheat too, for they only are flourishing--they only carry the price in all markets. But the prophet speaks not how they look, but what they are; he saith not, They look like chaff, but, They are like chaff; and before he hath done, for all their appearance, he will make it appear they are like chaff, and chaff they are like to have for their similitude. Well, be it so: let the prophet have his will, and let them be like chaff; what hurt take they by this? for doth not the chaff grow up, and is it not brought up with the wheat? and when harvest comes, are they not both reaped together, and both together laid up in the barn? and what more misery in all this to the chaff than to the wheat itself? All this is true; the prophet sees it welt enough, and therefore stays not here neither; he ends not with saying, They are like to chaff, but, They are like to chaff which the wind scatters. For this is that which perfects the similitude; and now let any man except against it if he can. (Sir Richard Baker.)
The wicked as chaff
And such is the condition of the wicked; a gale of prosperity hoisted them up, that they neither know themselves, nor where they are; a blast of adversity blows them down, and makes them tear the heavens with murmuring, and themselves with impatience. No state, no time, no place contents them. (Sir Richard Baker.)
The wind within
The chaff hath the wind without it that disquiets it, but a wicked man hath the wind within him (his own passions) that disquiets him. (Sir Richard Baker.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv4, 6The wicked are not so
The wicked are not so
How they are not like that can be stated clearly. "The wicked are not prosperous" or "The wicked do not prosper" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
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but are instead like the chaff
How they are like chaff can be stated clearly. AT: "but instead they are worthless like the chaff" (See: Simile)
will not stand in the judgment
Possible meanings are 1) not standing in the judgment is a metonym for being judged by God and having to leave his presence. AT: "will not continue to stay before God when he judges them" or "will have to leave God's presence when he judges them as guilty" or 2) not standing in the judgment is a metaphor for being condemned in the judgment. "AT: "will be condemned in the judgment" or "will be condemned when God judges them" (See: Metaphor)
in the judgment
The noun judgment can be expressed as a verb. This probably refers to the final judgment when God judges all people. AT: "when God judges everyone"
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous
Translators can supply the verb "stand." AT: "neither will sinners stand in the assembly of the righteous" or "and sinners will not stand in the assembly of the righteous" (See: Ellipsis)
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous
Being accepted by God as righteous is spoken of as standing with the group of righteous people. AT: "and God will not accept sinners along with the righteous people" (See: Metonymy)
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv4–6 The Psalmist might, with propriety, have compared the ungodly…
The Psalmist might, with propriety, have compared the ungodly to a tree that speedily withers, as Jeremiah likens them to the heath which grows in the wilderness, (Jeremiah 17:6) But not reckoning this figure sufficiently strong, he debases them by employing another, which represents them in a light still more contemptible: and the reason is, that he does not keep his eye on the prosperous condition of which they boast for a short time, but his mind is seriously pondering on the destruction which awaits them, and will at length overtake them. The meaning, therefore, is, although the ungodly now live prosperously, yet by and by they shall be like chaff; for when the Lord has brought them low, he shall drive them hither and thither with the blast of his wrath. Besides, by this form of speech, the Holy Spirit teaches us to contemplate with the eye of faith, what might otherwise seem incredible; for although the ungodly man rise high, and appear to great advantage, like a stately tree, we may rest assured that he will be even as chaff or refuse, whenever God chooses to cast him down from his high estate, with the breath of his mouth.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv4–6 Though the wicked seem to bear the swinge in…
Though the wicked seem to bear the swinge in this world, yet the Lord driveth them down that they shall not rise nor stand in the company of the righteous.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv4–6 Psa 1:4 The ungodly [are] not so: but [are]…
Psa 1:4 The ungodly [are] not so: but [are] like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Ver. 4. The ungodly are not so] Not like any such tree before described, but rather like the cypress tree, which, the more it is watered, is the less fruitful; or like the cyparit tree, whereof Pliny writeth that it is good for nothing, no, not for show, shadow, or smell. St Jude saith, they are trees indeed, but such as are twice dead, pulled up by the roots, Jdg 1:12. Twice dead they are said to be, 1. Because a spiritual death is so great a death that it may well go for two. 2. Because those ungodly ones were dead, both in regard of fruit and leaves, truth of grace and any outward actings of grace. Their fruit, if any, is but hedge fruit, their leaves of formal profession wither and come to nothing; if they prosper in the world (as Sigonius observeth of Pope Zechariah that he died rebus non tam pie quam prospere gestis, not overly pious, and yet very prosperous) it is that they may be cut down for ever, Psa 37:2 : such a temporary prosperity plus deceptionis habet quam delectationis, saith Lactantius, is more deceitful than delightful, and is, therefore, well called by Bernard, Misericordia omni indignatione crudelior, a giftless gift, &c.
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But are like the chaff] Not so they are, but much worse in many respects, as it is fit they should be. God will surely set a difference, Mal 3:18. {See Trapp on "Mal 3:18"} A profane soldier at the siege of a town, passing a place of danger, was heard swearing; and when one that stood by warned him, saying, Fellow soldier, do not swear, the bullets fly; he answered, They that swear come off as well as they that pray. But what came of it? Soon after a shot hit him, and down he fell. "The wicked is" (as chaff) "driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death," Pro 14:32. The word here rendered chaff is Palea tenuissima et minutissime contrita chaff beaten to dust, and, therefore, good for nothing, but apt to be whiffied up and down with every wind of doctrine, with every puff of temptation. A good man is, as a tree, stedfast, and unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, 1Co 15:58. An evil man is, as chaff, light and worthless, Religionem habens ephemeram, constant in nothing so much as in his inconstancy, serves God by fits and starts, flies in his face when afflicted, as chaff doth in the face of the winnower, while the weightier grain falls low at his feet. See Job 21:18 Psa 55:5 Hos 13:3 Mat 3:12. {See Trapp on "Job 21:18"} {See Trapp on "Psa 55:5"} {See Trapp on "Hos 13:3"} {See Trapp on "Mat 3:12"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv4–6 The ungodly are not so; their condition is far…
The ungodly are not so; their condition is far differing from the former.
But are like the chaff; in regard either,
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1. Of their sinful disposition. They are vain and frothy, unprofitable and hurtful, without any root of true and solid goodness, without any certain end or constant course, tossed to and fro with every wind of their own lusts or temptations. Or rather,
2. Of their wretched condition. They are restless and unquiet in their own minds and consciences; their seeming felicity, in which they please and pride themselves, hath no firm foundation, but quickly vanisheth and fleeth away, as chaff doth before the wind, and their end is to be burned: see Job 21:8; Psa 35:5; Mat 3:12.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v4 Here is, I. The description of the ungodly given,…
Here is, I. The description of the ungodly given, Psa 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 (Psa 35:5), so unable to stand before it or to escape it, Isa 17:13.
II. The doom of the ungodly read, Psa 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, Jde 1:14; Co1 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, Th2 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, Luk 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 Mat 13:41, Mat 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, Mal 3:18.
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III. The reason rendered of this different state of the godly and wicked, Psa 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 (Jer 12:3), knows their secret devotions (Mat 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.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv4–6 The ungodly are not so,.... They are not as…
The ungodly are not so,.... They are not as the good man is; their manner and course of life are different; they walk in the counsel of ungodly men, like themselves, and take counsel against the Lord, his Anointed, and his people: they stand in the way of sinners, and steer their conversation according to the course of the world, and sit in the seat of the scornful; laugh at divine revelation, lampoon the Scriptures, deride good men, make a jest of religion and a future state: they have no delight in the law of the Lord, they cast it away from them, and despise it; and are so far from a constant meditation on it, that they never read it, nor so much as look into it, nor is it ever in their thoughts. They are not like to a tree, as described in Psa 1:3, if they are like to trees, it is to dry trees, and not green ones, to trees without any sap, moisture, and verdure, and which are only fit fuel for the fire; to the trees of the wood, to wild olive trees; to trees on an heath, in a desert, in parched land, and not to trees by rivers of water, but to trees that have no root, and are without fruit, Jde 1:12. And though they may be in a seeming prosperous condition for a time, may be in great power, riches, and honour, and spread themselves like a green bay tree; yet suddenly they are cut down as the grass, and wither as the green herb; and even their outward prosperity destroys them; so that not anything they have or do in the issue prospers: and therefore they are not blessed or happy as the good man is; yea, they are wretched and miserable, nay, cursed; they are cursed now, and will be hereafter; they are cursed in their basket and store, their blessings are curses to them; the law pronounces them cursed; and they will hear, "go ye cursed", at the day of judgment, see Mat 25:41. The Vulgate Latin, Septuagint, and Arabic versions, repeat the words "not so", and read "not so the ungodly, not so:" which seems to be done for the confirmation of the truth of it:
but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away; they are like chaff, which has no root, moisture, greenness, nor fruitfulness; they have nothing in them solid and substantial; they are destitute of all that is good; are vain and empty; without the knowledge of God and Christ; without faith in Christ and love to him; and are sensual, not having the Spirit, his graces and fruits: they are like chaff for lightness, vain in their imaginations, light in their principles, frothy in their words, and unstable in all their ways: they are never long in any position, unsettled, disquieted, and tossed to and fro; and there is no peace unto them: they are like chaff, useless and unprofitable, nothing worth, fit only for everlasting burnings, which will be their case. For when Christ will gather his wheat, the righteous, which are of value, into his garner, the heavenly glory, he will burn the chaff, the wicked, with unquenchable fire. They are now like chaff, driven and carried about with every wind of doctrine, with divers and strange doctrines, and entertain every light and airy notion; and are easily drawn aside and carried away by the force of their own lusts, and with every temptation of Satan, who works effectually in then: and particularly they are like chaff before the wind of terrible judgments and calamities in this life, and of the awful judgment hereafter, when they will be driven away from the presence of the Lord into everlasting destruction. The metaphor is often used in this sense; see Job 21:17; and denotes the secret, sudden, sure, and easy ruin of the ungodly, which comes upon them like a whirlwind, in an instant, which they cannot avoid; and they can no more stand before God and against him, than chaff before the wind. It follows,
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv4–6 Ungodly - Their condition is far different. Chaff -…
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.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv4–6 Verse 4. The ungodly are not so] The Vulgate…
Verse 4. The ungodly are not so] The Vulgate and Septuagint, and the versions made from them, such as the AEthiopic 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 chaff that shall be separated from the good grain when the fan or shovel of God's power throws them up to the wind of his judgments. The manner of winnowing in the eastern countries is nearly the same with that practiced in various parts of these kingdoms before the invention of winnowing machines. They either throw it up in a place out of doors by a large wooden shovel against the wind; or with their weights or winnowing fans shake it down leisurely in the wind. The grain falls down nearly perpendicularly; and the chaff, through its lightness, is blown away to a distance from the grain.
An ungodly man is never steady; his purposes are abortive; his conversation light, trifling, and foolish; his professions, friendships, c., frothy, hollow, and insincere and both he and his works are carried away to destruction by the wind of God's judgments.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv4–6 Psa 1:4. The ungodly are not so — Their…
Psa 1:4. The ungodly are not so — Their condition is far different; but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away — Withered and worthless, restless and unquiet, without form or stability, blown about by every wind, and, at length, finally dispersed from the face of the earth, by the breath of God’s displeasure, and driven into the fire which never shall be quenched. Their seeming felicity hath no firm foundation, but quickly vanishes, and flies away, as chaff before the wind.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv4–6 The ungodly are not so - literally, “Not thus…
The ungodly are not so - literally, “Not thus the wicked.” For the word ungodly, see the notes at Psa 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 in the counsel of the wicked, and stand in the way of sinners, and sit in the seat of the scornful, as it is that the righteous do not; as true that they do not delight in the law of the Lord, as it is that the righteous do; as true that the wicked are not like a tree planted by the channels of water, as it is that the righteous are. This passage, therefore, may be employed to show what is the character of the ungodly, and in so applying it, what was before negative in regard to the righteous, becomes positive in regard to the wicked; what was positive, becomes negative. Thus it is true:
(a) that the wicked do walk in the counsel of the ungodly; do stand in the way of sinners; do sit in the seat of the scornful;
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(b) that they do not delight in the law of the Lord, or meditate on his word; and
(c) that they are not like a tree planted by the waters, that is green and beautiful and fruitful.
Both in character and in destiny the ungodly differ from the righteous. The subsequent part of the verse shows that, while the general truth was in the mind of the writer, the particular thing on which his attention was fixed was, his condition in life - his destiny - as that which could not be compared with a green and fruitful tree, but which suggested quite another image.
But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away - When the wheat was winnowed. This, in Oriental countries, was commonly performed in the open field, and usually on an eminence, and where there was a strong wind. The operation was performed, as it is now in our country, when a fan or fanning-mill cannot he procured, by throwing up the grain as it is threshed with a shovel, and the wind scatters the chaff, while the grain falls to the ground. See the notes at Mat 3:12.
This very naturally and appropriately furnished an illustration of the destiny of the wicked. Compared with the righteous, they were like the worthless chaff driven away by the wind. The image is often found in the Scriptures. See Job 21:18, note; Isa 17:13, note. Compare also Psa 35:5; Isa 29:5; Isa 41:15; Dan 2:35; Hos 13:3. The idea here is, that the wicked are in no respect like the green and fruitful tree referred to in Psa 1:3. They are not like a tree in any respect. They are not even like a decaying tree, a barren tree, a dead tree, for either of these would suggest some idea of stability or permanency. They are like dry and worthless chaff driven off by the wind, as of no value to the farmer - a substance which he is anxious only to separate wholly from his grain, and to get out of his way. The idea thus suggested, therefore, is that of intrinsic worthlessness. It will be among other things, on this account that the wicked will be driven away - that they are worthless in the universe of God - worthless to all the purposes for which man was made. At the same time, however, there may be an implied contrast between that chaff and the useful grain which it is the object of the farmer to secure.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv4–6 not so--either as to conduct or happiness.
not so--either as to conduct or happiness.
like the chaff--which, by Eastern modes of winnowing against the wind, was utterly blown away.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv4–6 4. Not so—The contrast in character of the godly…
4. Not so—The contrast in character of the godly and the ungodly is absolute and infinite; their treatment under the government of God is correspondingly diverse.
Chaff—The emblem of worthlessness doomed to destruction.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv4–6 4. In sharp contrast to the firmly-rooted, flourishing, fruitful…
4. In sharp contrast to the firmly-rooted, flourishing, fruitful tree is the chaff on the threshing-floor, worthless in itself, and liable to be swept away by every passing breeze.
The scattering of chaff by the wind is a common figure in the O.T. for the sudden destruction of the wicked. Cp. Psa_35:5; Job_21:18; Isa_29:5; Hos_13:3. Here it describes their character as well as their fate. It would be vividly suggestive to those who were familiar with the sight of the threshing-floors, usually placed on high ground to take advantage of every breeze, on which the corn was threshed out and winnowed by throwing it up against the wind with shovels, the grain falling on the floor to be carefully gathered up, the chaff left to be carried away by the wind and vanish.
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The P.B.V. following the LXX and Vulg. adds from the face of the earth. Cp. Amo_9:8; Zep_1:2-3.
4–6. The character and destiny of the wicked.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv4–6 (4) The ungodly.—Better, Not so the ungodly.
(4) The ungodly.—Better, Not so the ungodly.
But are like.—They shall be winnowed out of the society of the true Israel by the fan of God’s judgment. The image is a striking one, although so frequent as almost to have become a poetical commonplace (Hab_3:12; Joe_3:14; Jer_51:33; Isa_21:10). (See Bible Educator, iv. 4.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv4–6 The ungodly are not so; or, the wicked (see…
The ungodly are not so; or, the wicked (see the comment on ver. 1). But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. "Chaff" is used throughout Scripture as an emblem of what is weak and worthless. (see Job_21:18 Psa_35:5 Isa_5:24 Isa_17:13 Isa_29:5 Isa_33:11 Isa_41:15 Jer_23:28 Dan_2:35 Hos_13:3 Zep_2:2 Mat_3:12 Luk_3:17) In ancient times it was considered of no value at all, and when corn was winnowed, it was thrown up in the air until the wind had blown all the chaff away (see the representation in the author"s "History of Ancient Egypt," vol. 1. p. 163).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain On vv4–6 Verse 4. We have now come to the second…
Verse 4. We have now come to the second head of the Psalm. In this verse the contrast of the ill estate of the wicked is employed to heighten the coloring of that fair and pleasant picture which precedes it. The more forcible translation of the Vulgate and of the Septuagint version is "Not so the ungodly, not so." And we are hereby to understand that whatever good thing is said of the righteous is not true in the case of the ungodly. Oh! how terrible is it to have a double negative put upon the promises! and yet this is just the condition of the ungodly. Mark the use of the term "ungodly," for, as we have seen in the opening of the Psalm, these are the beginners in evil, and are the least offensive of sinners. Oh! if such is the sad state of those who quietly continue in their morality, and neglect their God, what must be the condition of open sinners and shameless infidels? The first sentence is a negative description of the ungodly, and the second is the positive picture. Here is their character "they are like chaff," intrinsically worthless, dead, unserviceable, without substance, and easily carried away. Here, also, mark their doom, "the wind driveth away;" death shall hurry them with its terrible blast into the fire in which they shall be utterly consumed.
Verse 4. "Chaff." Here, by the way, we may let the wicked know they have a thanks to give they little think of; that they may thank the godly for all the good days they live upon the earth, seeing it is for their sakes and not for their own that they enjoy them. For as the chaff while it is united and keeps close to the wheat, enjoys some privileges for the wheat's sake, and is laid up carefully in the barn; but as soon as it is divided, and parted from the wheat, it is cast out and scattered by the wind; so the wicked, whilst the godly are in company and live amongst them, partake for their sake of some blessedness promised to the godly; but if the godly forsake them or be taken from them, then either a deluge of water comes suddenly upon them, as it did upon the old world when Noah left it; or a deluge of fire, as it did upon Sodom, when Lot left it, and went out of the city. Sir Richard Baker.
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Verse 4. "Driveth away," or tosseth away; the Chaldee translateth for "wind," "whirlwind." Henry Ainsworth, 1639. This shows the vehement tempest of death, which sweeps away the soul of the ungodly.
Verses 3, 4. See No. 280 of "Spurgeons Sermons." "The Chaff Driven Away." Sin puts a negative on every blessing.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv4–6 The ungodly are not so, but are like the…
Psa_1:4
The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
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The chaff driven away
Who are the ungodly? Are they open and wilful sinners? Certainly these are included, but not mainly intended. Are they the atheists, scoffers, and those who make a ribald jest of all sacred things? Yes, but not they alone. For the godly man is he who has a constant eye to God, recognises Him in all things, trusts Him, loves and serves Him. The ungodly man is he who lives in the world as if there were no God; he may be religious, but that is not enough. He attends to outward forms, but the heart of them he does not perceive. How many there are in all our congregations, therefore, who are ungodly. They do not love the Lord, or delight in communion with Him, or desire to be like Him. They are ungodly. Now concerning all such, the text utters--
I. A fearful negative. The ungodly are not so. For
1. They are not like a tree planted. The Christian is so. The tree planted is visited and in every way cared for by the husbandman. But the wild tree in the forest, the tree self-sown upon the plain, no one owns, no one watches over it.
2. Not like a tree planted by the rivers of waters. The believer is. He is planted not by banks which may soon dry up, far less in a desert; but by the rivers of waters. And is it not so? We know what it is to drink of the rivers of Christs fulness. But not so the ungodly. Days of drought will come for them.
3. Does not bring forth his fruit in his season. The righteous does so. If the ungodly have here and there a shrivelled grape it is brought forth in the wrong season. Many think that so long as they dont do wrong it is as if they did right. But mere negative goodness will not suffice. The curse on Meroz was for not coming to the help of the Lord. They did not oppress, only did not help.
4. His leaf also shall not wither. Not so the ungodly. And
5. Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Yes, though the righteous may suffer much earthly loss. They have an inward prosperity even when the outward one is wanting. No so the ungodly. Is he really happy now? To him there is nothing good in this life. That which looketh fair is but as the paint upon the harlots face.
II. A terrible comparison. Like the chaff--so useless, so light and unstable, so worthless.
III. An awful prophecy. How near the chaff is to the grain. As yon godless parent of a Christian child. As yon helpers in various forms of Christian work; sitting side by side with the godly. Close to the grain, and yet only chaff. And to be driven away--Where, where? Jesus Christ has said, He shall burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Who here is prepared to make his bed in hell? I beseech you by the living God, tremble and repent. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The gate to the threshing floor
Not so! The Psalmist does not dwell upon the details of their ungodliness. As in the case of the righteous, he confines himself to indicating the sources of their life. The great object of this Psalm is to show us the fountain heads of moral character. The character that is not so is set forth by a figure. We leave now the garden gate, and not far off behold a raised platform of earth beaten hard. It is the threshing floor. Here stand the workmen with their earthen vessels, and scooping up the threshed grain, mingled with chaff, throw it up into the air, or let it fall in a stream from the uplifted jar; and the wind, with its whirling gusts, which arise so suddenly on the plains, catches the chaff and drives it away before it. The ungodly are like the chaff--light, shifting, worthless Here three aspects of the ungodly character--its instability; its worthlessness; its insecurity. One of the happiest phases of goodness is its fixedness. A life rooted in God, based on settled conviction, has a single aim, a uniform tendency, and a permanent result. In these particulars the opposite character tails. Take a life away from God, and you take from it unity of impulse. Passion, pride, selfishness drive it hither and thither as the winds drive the dismantled ship. Nowhere but in God does man find a consistent law. The second phase of this character is its worthlessness. The wind drives it away, and the husbandman is glad to have it driven away. Here we find ourselves in the track of gospel thought. An ungodly life is not used under Gods direction and for Gods uses. The present age is very susceptible to this fallacy--the identification of activity with usefulness. But we ask, under whose direction? For what? For whom? We call that man useful who works on Gods lines, in Gods ways, and for Gods ends. It is the unchanging law of God, that the life which gives nothing has no place in His Divine order. The chaff, which only lives by the grain, which feeds no one, which has no power of reproduction, is driven away. The third phase of this character is its insecurity. The contrast is between the fixed tree and the shifting chaff: How safe is the man who abides in God, while he who puts himself outside of the restraints of Divine law forfeits likewise its protection. The weakness and instability of the character which is not founded in Gods law shall finally be made manifest. The whole current of the Psalms moves in the direction of a day of final tests which shall lay bare the foundations of character. It is only in romances that virtue always triumphs and vice always goes under. But our Psalm does not leave us here. It carries us over this time of the growing together of wheat and tares, to the time of separation. There is coming a day of judgment, whose searching tests shall resolve the confusion, and make clearly manifest to the world what is weak and what is strong; what is solid and what is superficial; what is wheat and what is chaff. (Marvin R. Vincent, D. D.)
The chaff in the wind
My heart aches when I begin a sermon on a theme like this. But what makes my heart ache is that a man or a woman born so high should sink so low. That one who had the possibility of being the good grain in Gods field, that might have been useful and happy, should have so resisted the gracious influence of Gods husbandry as at last to have become of no value, and only to be compared to the chaff which the wind driveth away. Importance hinges on the word ungodly. Who are the ungodly? I do not understand that it means, necessarily, that a man is outbreakingly and viciously wicked. The ungodly man or woman is simply a person who does not live in the way that God demands; one whose thoughts and purposes and conduct are not in harmony with Gods laws; who does not please God. What a graphic suggestion is here of the vanity of a sinful life! The man who loves and serves God is building up a character which is abiding like a great tree. He is gathering many treasures of character and personality that can never be taken from him. Truth, and integrity, and love and faith, and hope, and patience, and gentleness, these great spiritual qualities in which God develops the Christian, are qualities that cannot be taken away from us by any disaster that can come. Money, and honour, and friends, and health, and life itself may go, and all these qualities remain in their full measure; but a sinful life, a life that resists Gods grace, has nothing left that is substantial. If a man gives himself up to worldliness he may be ever so successful in his ambitions, but there is nothing about it that will last. A rich man goes out of the world as poor as when he came into it. His wealth fails, and is like the chaff which the wind driveth away Physical strength is fragile in the same way; often a man rejoices in his strength one week and the next he is in his grave. But if he lives to be an old man, with trembling hands and tottering footsteps, his physical strength fails him at last and is like the chaff in the wind. The same is true of physical beauty and all the attractiveness of physical life. Many people who do not obey God are nevertheless very ambitious to make themselves of some account in the world; but ones work must be like the chaff if it is not in harmony with God. God could not be the good God that you dream of if He did not make a difference between chaff and wheat. It is not that God is not good, but that the ungodly man has failed to avail himself of Gods goodness, has sinned against Gods goodness and mercy, and has brought ruin upon himself. You say that the chaff cannot help being chaff; yes, but the man can. You will not be chaff unless you choose to be chaff. God did not make you to be chaff; He made you ill His own likeness and image, and when you had wandered from Him by wicked ways Jesus Christ wrought out your salvation on the Cross. (L. A. Banks, D. D.)
The fruitless life
The second half of the Psalm gives the dark contrast of the fruitless, rootless life. The Hebrew flashes the whole dread antithesis on the view at once by its first word, Not so, a universal negative which reverses every part of the preceding picture. The remainder of the Psalm has three thoughts--the real nullity of such lives, their consequent disappearance in the judgment, and the ground of both the blessedness of the one type of character and the vanishing of the other in the diverse attitude of God to each. Nothing could more vividly suggest the essential nothingness of the wicked than the contrast of the leafy beauty of the fruit laden tree, and the chaff, rootless, fruitless, lifeless, light, and therefore the sport of every puff of wind that blows across the elevated and open threshing floor. Such is indeed a true picture of every life not rooted in God and drawing fertility from Him. It is rootless, for what holdfast is there but in Him? or where shall the heart twine its tendrils if not round Gods stable throne? or what basis do fleeting objects supply for him who builds elsewhere than on the enduring Rock? Chaff is fruitless because lifeless. Its disappearance in the winnowing wind is the consequence and manifestation of its essential nullity. Just as the winnower throws up his shovelful into the breeze, and the chaff goes fluttering out of the floor because it is light, while the wheat falls on the heap because it is solid, so the wind of judgment will one day blow, and deal with each man according to his own nature. It will separate them, whirling away the one and not the other. The ground of these diverse fates is the different attitude of God to each life. Each clause of the last verse really involves two ideas, but the pregnant brevity of style states only half of the antithesis in each, suppressing the second member in the first clause, and the first member in the second clause, and so making the contrast the more striking by emphasising the cause of an unspoken consequence in the former, and the opposite consequence of an unspoken cause in the latter. The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous (therefore it shall last). The Lord knoweth not the way of the wicked (therefore it shall perish). The way or course of life which God does not know perishes. A path perishes when, like some dim forest track, it dies out, leaving the traveller bewildered amid impenetrable forests; or when, like some treacherous Alpine track among rotten rocks, it crumbles beneath the tread. Every course of life but that of the man who delights in and keeps the law of the Lord comes to a fatal end, and leads to the brink of a precipice over which the impetus of descent carries the reluctant foot. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The wicked compared to chaff
Natural chaff is light and unprofitable. It is light, containing in it no solid or weighty matter, but a very slight and frothy substance subject to many alterations; even so the wicked are not solid in their purposes and enterprises, and weighty in then carnage and courses, but as chaff, light, easily tossed and blown away. They are light in their words and light in their minds. They are unprofitable ill two ways. In matters temporal, concerning this life, wherein, though they have ability, they want the will to do good with the same. In matters spiritual, wherein, though they have a will, yet they want ability. In that the Spirit of God compares all wicked men to chaff, we learn that the estate and condition of wicked men is exceedingly inconstant, void, uncertain, mutable, and changeable. They have no certain stay, no sure and settled estate in this world. Whether we consider the matters of religion and Gods worship, or the things of the world, we shall see them like unto chaff--vain, vile, uncertain, mutable. (Samuel Smith.)
The ungodly described
Where, first, we may observe that the prophet observes here a different course in handling of this proposition from that he held ill handling the former; for there he only described a godly man, but named him not; here, he only names the wicked, but describes them not; and, indeed, it needed not, for Rectum est index sui et obliqui [Justice defines both the just and the unjust]; by telling what a godly man is he tells, by virtue of the law of contraries, what the wicked are, for it that be affirmed of a wicked man which was denied of a godly, and that denied which was affirmed, the description is made ready to your hand, and you have him deciphered in his fulness. And yet we may take notice of a further reason, for godliness is subject to many falsifications; it may suffer much alloy by mixture of base metals, and there is need of a touchstone to try whether it be right or no. Many colours may be laid upon wickedness, to make it seem godliness, as Satan can transform himself into all angel of light (2Co_11:14); and then there is need of marks to know whether it be a good angel, whether it be true godliness or no; but in the case of wickedness it is not so; there is no need of any such marks, for there cannot a worse vizard be put upon wickedness than its own face, there is no baser metal to be mingled with it; and though a wicked man will be counterfeiting to be godly, yet it was never known that a godly man would counterfeit to be wicked; and therefore the prophet, who is no waster of words in vain, would not give marks where they needed none, but left wickedness to be known by its own ill face, which is seen plainly enough by the law of contraries. (Sir Richard Baker.)
The wicked as chaff
But may we not make a stand here, and question the prophet about his similitude? for look upon the wicked, do they look like chaff? One would think them rather, in all appearance, to be clean wheat, and the best wheat too, for they only are flourishing--they only carry the price in all markets. But the prophet speaks not how they look, but what they are; he saith not, They look like chaff, but, They are like chaff; and before he hath done, for all their appearance, he will make it appear they are like chaff, and chaff they are like to have for their similitude. Well, be it so: let the prophet have his will, and let them be like chaff; what hurt take they by this? for doth not the chaff grow up, and is it not brought up with the wheat? and when harvest comes, are they not both reaped together, and both together laid up in the barn? and what more misery in all this to the chaff than to the wheat itself? All this is true; the prophet sees it welt enough, and therefore stays not here neither; he ends not with saying, They are like to chaff, but, They are like to chaff which the wind scatters. For this is that which perfects the similitude; and now let any man except against it if he can. (Sir Richard Baker.)
The wicked as chaff
And such is the condition of the wicked; a gale of prosperity hoisted them up, that they neither know themselves, nor where they are; a blast of adversity blows them down, and makes them tear the heavens with murmuring, and themselves with impatience. No state, no time, no place contents them. (Sir Richard Baker.)
The wind within
The chaff hath the wind without it that disquiets it, but a wicked man hath the wind within him (his own passions) that disquiets him. (Sir Richard Baker.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv4, 6 The wicked are not so
The wicked are not so
How they are not like that can be stated clearly. "The wicked are not prosperous" or "The wicked do not prosper" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
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but are instead like the chaff
How they are like chaff can be stated clearly. AT: "but instead they are worthless like the chaff" (See: Simile)
will not stand in the judgment
Possible meanings are 1) not standing in the judgment is a metonym for being judged by God and having to leave his presence. AT: "will not continue to stay before God when he judges them" or "will have to leave God's presence when he judges them as guilty" or 2) not standing in the judgment is a metaphor for being condemned in the judgment. "AT: "will be condemned in the judgment" or "will be condemned when God judges them" (See: Metaphor)
in the judgment
The noun judgment can be expressed as a verb. This probably refers to the final judgment when God judges all people. AT: "when God judges everyone"
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous
Translators can supply the verb "stand." AT: "neither will sinners stand in the assembly of the righteous" or "and sinners will not stand in the assembly of the righteous" (See: Ellipsis)
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous
Being accepted by God as righteous is spoken of as standing with the group of righteous people. AT: "and God will not accept sinners along with the righteous people" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
chaff
judge
righteous
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv4–6 1:4 The coming time of judgment (1:5) will carry…
1:4 The coming time of judgment (1:5) will carry off the wicked and their deeds (35:5; 83:13; Isa 17:13; see study note on Jer 13:24).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.