ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Psalms 1.6

Book: Psalms · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

4. The wicked are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. 5. Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6. For Jehovah knoweth the way of the righteous; But the way of the wicked shall perish. (Psalms 1:4-6, ASV)

WEB

4. The wicked are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. 5. Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6. For Yahweh knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish. (Psalms 1:4-6, WEB)

KJV

4. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. 5. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish. (Psalms 1:4-6, KJV)

YLT

4. Not so the wicked: But, as chaff that wind driveth away! 5. Therefore the wicked rise not in judgment, Nor sinners in the company of the righteous,

6. For Jehovah is knowing the way of the righteous, And the way of the wicked is lost! (Psalms 1:4-6, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: the psalmist; the psalm carries no attribution
  • Audience: Israel gathered in worship; the Psalter is the congregation's book
  • Location: the sanctuary and its liturgy, rather than a narrative setting
  • Time period: the monarchy or later; individual psalms are difficult to date and the Psalter was compiled over centuries

Theological reading

The LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish.

The closing verse of the Psalter's deliberate introduction, and it states the two-ways structure the whole first psalm has been building. "Knows" is the covenantal yada, acknowledgement and care rather than information, so the contrast is not between God's awareness of two groups but between a way that is owned and a way that ends.

The psalm's placement is editorial and significant: whoever arranged the collection put a wisdom poem about the two ways at the front of a book of prayers, which frames the praying that follows as belonging to a way of life rather than to occasions.

The tree by streams of water in verse 3 and the chaff in verse 4 supply the images the verse summarises, and the asymmetry is exact: the righteous are known, the wicked simply perish, with no corresponding verb of relation.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Lexicon:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.