Psalms 37:36

36 But I passed by again, and he was no longer there; I looked for him, but he could not be found.

Psalms 37:36 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 37:36

Yet he passed away
At once, on a sudden; either his riches and honour, which, in one hour, came to nought, by one providence or another; or he himself by death; in the midst of all his prosperity, and while blessing himself in it, his soul was required of him; and so the Targum is, "he ceased from the world"; he went out of it unawares: the laurel, or bay tree, very quickly grows old ^F4;

and, lo, he [was] not;
he was not reduced to nothing; he did not become a nonentity, though he might wish himself to be so; it being better for him if he had never been born; but he was not in the land of the living, in hell he lifted up his eyes;

yea, I sought him, but he could not be found;
in the place where he formerly was, that knowing him no more; he could not be found on earth, from whence he was gone; nor in heaven, where no place is found for such wicked men; he was gone to his own place, as is said of Judas, and of whom Jerom interprets the whole of this passage.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 "Senescit velociter", Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 16. c. 44.

Psalms 37:36 In-Context

34 Put your hope in ADONAI, keep to his way, and he will raise you up to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.

35 I have seen a wicked man wielding great power, flourishing like a shade tree in its native soil.

36 But I passed by again, and he was no longer there; I looked for him, but he could not be found.

37 Observe the pure person, consider the upright; for the peaceful person will have posterity.

38 But transgressors will all be destroyed; the posterity of the wicked will be cut off.