Psalms 34:21

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Barnes' Notes

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Psalms 34:21

Evil shall slay the wicked - That is, his own wicked conduct will be the cause of his destruction. His ruin is not arbitrary, or the mere result of a divine appointment; it is caused by sin, and is the regular and natural consequence of guilt. In the destruction of the sinner, there will not be any one thing which cannot be explained by the supposition that it is the regular effect of sin, or what sin is, in its own nature, suited to produce. The one will measure the other; guilt will be the measure of all that there is in the punishment.
And they that hate the righteous - Another term for the wicked, or a term designating the character of the wicked in one aspect or view. It is true of all the wicked that they must hate the righteous in their hearts, or that they are so opposed to the character of the righteous that it is proper to designate this feeling as "hatred."
Shall be desolate - Margin, "shall be guilty." Prof. Alexander and Hengstenberg render this, as in the margin, "shall be guilty." DeWette, "shall repent." Rosenmuller, "shall be condemned." The original word - ׁ 'âsham - means properly to fail in duty, to transgress, to be guilty. The primary idea, says Gesenius (Lexicon), is that of "negligence," especially in going, or in gait, as of a camel that is slow or faltering. Then the word means to be held or treated as faulty or guilty; and then, to bear the consequences of guilt, or to be punished. This seems to be the idea here. The word is sometimes synonymous with another Hebrew word - ׁ yâsham - meaning to be desolate; to be destroyed; to be laid waste: Ezekiel 6:6; Joel 1:18; Psalms 5:10. But the usual meaning of the word is undoubtedly retained here, as signifying that, in the dealings of Providence, or in the administering of divine government, such men will be held to be guilty, and will be treated accordingly; that is, that they will be punished.

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