What Does Psalm 37:1 Mean?
A Psalm of David. Do not burn yourself because of the evildoers, and do not burn with envy at the makers of crookedness.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
A Psalm of David. Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.THE KEY
The same root that names envy also names zeal: the verse exposes how easily another person’s wrongdoing can claim your ardent attention.
THE MEANING
Seeing people do wrong can stir distress, then make their path seem desirable. This verse names both reactions and loosens their hold: another person’s crookedness does not set what is worth desiring.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that a wrongdoer’s apparent advantage makes their path desirable.
THE ROOT
תְּקַנֵּא
təqannēʾ
GROWS FROM
קנא
q-n-ʾ
To be zealous or jealous, with ardent intensity.
“burn with envy” in this verse is təqannēʾ. The same root names jealousy and zeal, so envy here is more than a passing wish for what someone has. It is ardent attention fixed on the wrongdoer’s lot.
ALSO GROWS
qinʾāh: Jealousy; zeal.
קִנְאָה
This noun shows that the root can describe intense attachment as well as envy, giving the warning more depth than simple wanting.
qannāʾ: Jealous; zealous.
קַנָּא
This related form uses the same root for a quality of ardent regard, echoing the intensity behind “envious.”
עֹשֵׂי
ʿōśē
GROWS FROM
עשה
ʿ-ś-h
To do or make; to bring about.
“workers” in this verse is ʿōśē. The phrase names people by what they do: they are makers or doers of crookedness. The verse points to practiced action, not just a hidden label.
ALSO GROWS
maʿăśeh: Deed; work; action.
מַעֲשֶׂה
This noun preserves the root consonants and makes visible the deed implied by “workers.”
ʿăśiyyāh: Doing; action.
עֲשִׂיָּה
This form carries the same make-and-do root, reinforcing that the verse describes wrongdoing as something enacted.
עַוְלָה
ʿawlāh
GROWS FROM
עול
ʿ-w-l
Crookedness; acting unjustly.
“makers of crookedness” in this verse is ʿawlāh. The word translated “iniquity” carries the sense of crookedness or injustice. Beside “workers,” it pictures wrong as a distortion people enact.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāwel: Injustice; wrong.
עָוֶל
This related word names the injustice that the workers enact.
ʿawwāl: An unjust person; a wrongdoer.
עַוָּל
This form names a person through the same crookedness described in the verse.
THE PATTERN
The sight of wrongdoing can stir distress or envy, but it does not have to set the reader’s inner measure.
Do not kindle yourself because of evil men, nor burn with envy at the wicked.For I burn with envy at the boasting ones when I see the wholeness of the wicked.Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.THE THREAD
You shall not bow down to them, nor serve them, for I, the LORD your God, am a zealous God, visiting the crookedness of the fathers upon the children, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me.The Hebrew root behind “envious” is also used in “a jealous God.” Its range includes zeal as well as jealousy, linking envy to an intense orientation of attention and attachment.
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