Psalms 37:11

Psa 37:11 But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

Ver. 11. But the meek shall inherit the earth] Our Saviour (and probably from hence) saith the same, Mat 5:5. {See Trapp on "Mat 5:5"} {See Trapp on "Psa 37:9"}

And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace] Because cured of the fret, and well content with their present condition; hence that ευθυμια, rectitude of mind, the mother of all true mirth; when the wicked are in a perpetual disquietude, στασιαζει γαρ αυτων η φυχη, they are never at rest.

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.

11. (Psa 37:11) And the humble as in Psa 37:4, above.—In abundance, or increase, the infinitive of a verb which means to be increased or multiplied, and which occurs above, in Psa 3:2 (1).—Of peace, in the wide sense of prosperity, well-being, as opposed to want and suffering, and not merely of repose or quiet, as opposed to strife and perturbation.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

37:11 The Lord is the author of peace (85:10)—he brings peace to a chaotic world (29:11; 37:11; 85:8; 147:14). His wisdom guides the lowly into the way of peace (119:165; Matt 5:5).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

peace--includes prosperity.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 11. But the meek] ענוים anavim, the afflicted, the poor Jewish captives.

Shall inherit the earth] ארץ arets, the land of Judea, given by God himself as an inheritance to their fathers, and to their posterity for ever. See Ps 37:9.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(11) Shall inherit.—A repetition of Psa_37:3.—Better, are heirs of the land, i.e., Canaan. Christ’s Beatitude (see Mat_5:3, N. Test. Commentary) widens the promise and lifts it to a higher level. The quiet, unpretending, contented servant of God gets more true blessedness out of the earth, and so more truly possesses it, than the ungodly, though they be lords of broad acres.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. The promise is reaffirmed in a larger sense in the beatitude of Mat_5:5, the language of which reproduces the rendering of the LXX here: οἱ δὲ πρᾳεῖς κληρονομήσουσιν γῆν.

in the abundance of peace] Cp. Psa_72:7; Psa_119:165; Isa_32:17.

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.

The wicked plotteth against the just,.... Forms schemes to make him uneasy, uncomfortable, and unhappy:

and gnasheth upon him with his teeth: which expresses his malice and hatred, as David's enemies did upon him, Psa 35:16; and Stephen's, Act 7:54.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

But the meek shall inherit the earth - See the notes at Psa 37:3. On the meaning of the word here rendered “meek,” see the notes at Psa 9:12, where it is rendered “humble.” The word properly denotes those who are afflicted, distressed, needy; then, those who are of humble rank in life; then, the mild, the gentle, the meek. The term here is a general one to denote those who are the friends of God, considered as meek, mild, gentle, humble, in contradistinction from the wicked who are proud and haughty; perhaps also, in this connection, in contrast with the wicked as prosperous in life. It was probably this passage that the Saviour quoted in Mat 5:5.

And shall delight themselves -

(a) Shall “prefer” what is here referred to as the source of their happiness, or as in accordance with the desires of their hearts;

(b) shall “find” actual delight or happiness in this.

Though not rich and prospered in this world as the wicked often are, yet they will have their own sources of enjoyment, and will find happiness in what they prefer.

In the abundance of peace - In abundant peace. In the tranquility and quietness in which they spend their lives, in contrast with the jealousies, the contentions, and the strifes which exist among the wicked even when prosperous. They will have peace with God Psa 29:11; Psa 85:8; Psa 119:165; Rom 5:1; they will have peace in their own consciences; they will have peace in the calmness of a quiet and contented spirit; they will have peace with those around them, as they have no passions to gratify, and no object to secure, which will excite the envy, or stir up the wrath, of others.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The meek, i.e. the godly, who are frequently thus called, as Psa 22:26; 149:4; those who patiently bear God’s afflicting hand, and meekly pass by injuries from ungodly men. The abundance of peace; partly of outward peace and prosperity, which God in his due time will give them; and principally of inward peace and satisfaction of mind, in the sense of God’s favour, and the assurance of his own endless happiness.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 11. But the meek shall inherit the earth. Above all others they shall enjoy life. Even if they suffer, their consolations shall overtop their tribulations. By inheriting the land is meant obtaining covenant privileges and the salvation of God. Such as are truly humble shall take their lot with the rest of the heirs of grace, to whom all good things come by a sacred birthright. And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. Peace they love and peace they shall have. If they find not abundance of gold, abundance of peace will serve their turn far better. Others find joy in strife, and thence arises their misery in due time, but peace leads on to peace, and the more a man loves it the more shall it come to him. In the halcyon period of the latter days, when universal peace shall make glad the earth, the full prophetic meaning of words like these will be made plain.

Ver. 11. The meek shall inherit the earth. In the meantime, they, and they only, possess the present earth, as they go toward the kingdom of heaven, by being humble, and cheerful, and content with what their good God has allotted them. They have no turbulent, repining, vexatious thoughts that they deserve better; nor are vexed when they see others possessed of more honour, or more riches, than their wise God has allotted for their share. But they possess what they have with a meek and contented quietness; such a quietness as makes their very dreams pleasing, both to God and themselves. Isaak Walton (1593-1683), in "The Complete Angler."

Ver. 11. The meek. What is thy Beloved more than any other beloved? It is spoken to the spouse. So what is meekness more than any other virtues? We may say, here is synecdoche speciei, one particular taken for the general, one virtue for all the rest. Or the effect is put for the cause; because meekness is one of the principal and chiefest parts of holiness. But if you will give me leave to conjecture, the Holy Ghost may seem in this promise at once to show the condition of the church, and to comfort her; and because being laid hard at on every side, she stands in need of this virtue more than any other, to fit and fashion the reward to the virtue, to cherish and exalt it in us with the promise of something beyond our expectation, even the inheritance of the earth. And indeed what fitter reward can there be of meekness? What more fit and just than that they who have been made the anvil for injuries to beat on, who have been viri perpessitii, as Seneca speaks of Socrates, men of great sufferance, who have suffered not only their goods to be torn from them by oppression and wrong, but their reputations to be wounded with the sharp razor of detraction, and have withstood the shock of all spectantibus similes, with the patience of a looker on, should be raised and comforted with a promise of that which their meekness gave up to the spoil; and that by the providence of God which loves to thwart the practice of the world, they should be made heirs even of those possessions which the hand of violence hath snatched from them. Anthony Farindon, B.D., 1596-1658.

Ver. 11. Not the hot stirring spirits who bustle for the world shall have it, but the meek, who are thrust up and down from corner to corner, and hardly suffered to remain anywhere quietly in it. This earth, which they seem most deprived of, they only shall have and enjoy. When the Lord hath made it worth the having, then none shall have it but they. They shall inherit the earth. The earth is the Lord's; these are the children of the Lord, and they shall inherit this earth. When the Lord taketh it into his own possession and enjoyment, they shall succeed him in the possession and enjoyment of it. It is their right, and shall descend unto them by right, by inheritance. It is the Lord's right, and by the Lord shall descend to them as their right. They cannot yet have it, for the Lord hath it not yet; but when the Lord hath it, it shall fairly descend to them. This accursed earth they shall never have, but when it is taken into the hands of the Lord, and blessed by the Lord, then it shall be theirs, then it shall be inherited by the children of blessing. John Pennington.

Ver. 11. And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. Surely when the glory of the Lord covers the earth, and all the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of the Prince of Peace, and the wicked one is rooted out, we may well expect peace in rich abundance. W. Wilson.

Ver. 11. The meek man's delight, or "the harvest of a quiet eye."

Psalms 37:12*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. The meek shall inherit the earth—Quoted by our Lord, (Mat_5:5,) where the Greek γη (ge) stands for the Hebrew ארצ, (arets,) both generic terms, signifying earth, land, country, etc. The word occurs six times in this psalm, and is three times translated land, (land of Palestine,) and three times earth. There is no rule for determining whether the former or the latter rendering should be given but by the context, but the restricted sense of land, as the abode of the covenant people, would seem more probable here, particularly as the sovereign control of that country was the great point in dispute between the Jews and the nations, and was the standing sign of the reward of righteousness to the Hebrews. Our Lord’s quotation, given above, might have also been intended to admonish the Jews that the character necessary to perpetuate their abode in their native soil was the condition of heirship to his kingdom.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But the meek shall inherit the earth. This prophecy is endorsed by our Lord. (Mat_5:5) It has only had occasional fulfilment hitherto, notably in Moses, the meekest man of his day; (Num_12:3) to some extent in St. Louis and other great saints, whose influence has been world-wide, as St. Francis d"Assisi, St. Francis Xavier, St. Carlo Boromeo, and others. And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. Being men of peace, the meek, when they "inherit the earth," will establish universal peace (Isa_2:4 Isa_11:6-9 Isa_65:25 Eze_34:25) and "delight in the abundance of it". (comp. Psa_72:7)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But - Those who patiently bear God's afflicting hand, and meekly pass by injuries. Peace - Partly of outward peace and prosperity, which God in his due time will give them: but principally of inward peace, in the sense of God's favour and the assurance of endless happiness.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

the meek

This refers to the people who are meek. AT: "the meek people" (See: Nominal Adjectives)

will inherit the land

The possession of the land is spoken of as if it will be received as an inheritance. See how you translated this in Psalms 37:9. AT: "will receive the land as their own possession" or "will live safely in the land" (See: Metaphor)

The wicked man

This does not refer to a specific man. It refers to wicked people in general. AT: "The wicked person" (See: Generic Noun Phrases)

the righteous

This does not refer to specific people. This refers to people who are righteous. AT: "the righteous person" (See: Nominal Adjectives)

grinds his teeth

The wicked man hates the righteous person so much that he grinds his teeth together to show his anger. (See: Symbolic Language)

his day is coming

It is implied that "his day" will be a day of judgment. AT: "the day is coming when Yahweh will judge and punish him" or "the day is coming when Yahweh will judge and punish the wicked person" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

translationWords

meek

inherit

righteous

lord

day of the Lord

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.