Psalm 1 verse 7 - God knows us

The final verse of Psalm 1 takes us back to God's care for us.

7.	V/NV/JH/OR	Quoniam novit dominus viam iustorum; et iter impiorum peribit.
		ὅτι γινώσκει κύριος ὁδὸν δικαίων καὶ ὁδὸς ἀσεβῶν ἀπολεῖται

Quoniam (for) novit (he knows, perfect tense) Dominus (the Lord) viam (the way) iustorum (of the just); et (and) iter (the way) impiorum (of the wicked) peribit (it will perish).

  

nosco, novi, notum, ere 3 to know, to be acquainted with; to know, regard with approbation; approve

iter, ltineris, n., way, journey:

pereo, li, ltum, ire, to perish, come to naught, be lost; to stray, be lost.

DR	For the Lord knows the way of the just: and the way of the wicked shall perish.
Brenton	For the Lord knows the way of the righteous; but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
MD	For the Lord knoweth the way of the just, but the way of the wicked shall end in ruin.
RSV	for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
Cover	But the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous; and the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Knox	They walk, the just, under the Lord’s protection; the path of the wicked, how soon is it lost to sight!
Grail	for the Lord guards the way of the just but the way of the wicked leads to doom.

The idea of God 'knowing' the righteous is an important one, alluded in several other psalms. It is not, of course, that God does not see the evil-doer.

Several of the Fathers, including St Hilary, see this verse as alluding to the contrasting treatment by God of Adam and Abraham:

...For it was said to Adam when he had sinned: Adam, where are you? Not because God knew not that the man whom He still had in the garden was there still, but to show, by his being asked where he was, that he was unworthy of God's knowledge by the fact of having sinned. 

But Abraham, after being for a long time unknown— the word of God came to him when he was seventy years of age— was, upon his proving himself faithful to the Lord, admitted to intimacy with God by the following act of high condescension: Now I know that you fear the Lord your God, and for My sake you have not spared your dearly loved son...

In essence, then, God knowing the ways of the just means that he recognises and approves of their actions.

The verse though, is not (just) a statement of approbation for the just and condemnation of the wicked, but rather a call to repentance, as St Augustine's New Testament spin on it makes clear:

 As it is said, medicine knows health, but knows not disease, and yet disease is recognised by the art of medicine. In like manner can it be said that "the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous," but the way of the ungodly He knoweth not. Not that the Lord is ignorant of anything, and yet He says to sinners, "I never knew you." 

Vulgate	Douay Rheims translation
Beátus vir, qui non ábiit in consílio impiórum, et in via peccatórum non stetit, * et in cáthedra pestiléntiæ non sedit	Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence:
2  Sed in lege Dómini volúntas ejus, * et in lege ejus meditábitur die ac nocte.	But his will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he shall meditate day and night.
3  Et erit tamquam lignum, quod plantátum est secus decúrsus aquárum, * quod fructum suum dabit in témpore suo:	And he shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters, which shall bring forth its fruit, in due season.
4  Et fólium ejus non défluet: * et ómnia quæcúmque fáciet, prosperabúntur.	And his leaf shall not fall off: and all whatsoever he shall do shall prosper.
5  Non sic ímpii, non sic: * sed tamquam pulvis, quem prójicit ventus a fácie terræ.	Not so the wicked, not so: but like the dust, which the wind drives from the face of the earth.
6  Ideo non resúrgent ímpii in judício: * neque peccatóres in concílio justórum.	Therefore the wicked shall not rise again in judgment: nor sinners in the council of the just.
7  Quóniam novit Dóminus viam justórum: * et iter impiórum períbit.	For the Lord knows the way of the just: and the way of the wicked shall perish.

 

 

 

Psalm 1 Verse 6 - Rising up in judgment

Hans Melling, 

The text

6.	V/OR	Ideo non resurgent impii in iudicio, neque peccatores  in consilio iustorum
	NV	Ideo non consurgent impii in iudicio, neque peccatores in concilio iustorum.
	JH	Propterea non resurgunt impii in iudicio, neque peccatores  in congregatione iustorum.
		διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἀναστήσονται ἀσεβεῖς ἐν κρίσει οὐδὲ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἐν βουλῇ δικαίων

 Ideo (therefore) non (not) resurgent (they shall rise up) impii (the wicked) in iudicio (in judgment), neque (neither/nor) peccatores (sinners) in consilio (in the council) iustorum (of the just).

ideo, adv., therefore, on that account.

resurgo, surrexi, surrectum, ere 3,  rise again; to rise, rise up, stand, i.e., to prevail, triumph.

justus, a, um just; a just man, the just.

DR	Therefore the wicked shall not rise again in judgment: nor sinners in the council of the just.
Brenton	Therefore the ungodly shall not rise in judgment, nor sinners in the counsel of the just.
MD	Therefore the wicked shall not stand firm in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the just.
RSV	Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
Cover	Therefore the ungodly shall not be able to stand in the judgement, neither the sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
Knox	Not for the wicked, when judgement comes, to rise up and plead their cause; sinners will have no part in the reunion of the just.
Grail	When the wicked are judged they shall not stand, nor find room among those who are just;

‘Resurgent in judicio’ has an obvious eschatological sense here, of the wicked not enjoying the resurrection at the Last Judgement.  Accordingly, the neo-Vulgate’s change of resurgo  to consurgo seems an unfortunate choice.  

Cassiodorus explains that the phrase 'rising again for judgment' means that:

  ...the individual renders an account for his deeds, they are rightly said not to rise again for judgment, for God’s sentence has already condemned them beyond doubt.

Or to draw on St Liguori's rather pithier summary on the verse:

...the wicked will not rise again to be judged because they are already condemned to punishment. 

St Jerome argues that the psalms points us to three categories of people.  On the one side we have the outright wicked; at the other the perfect man, Christ and the saints.  In the middle though, stands the sinner, a quasi-atheist for a time, who will be judged:

 In the Gospel according to John, we read: He who believes in me is not judged; but he who does not believe in me is already judged…Let us reflect upon the one who stands between the believer and the non-believer, the one that is to be judged.  Now he who believes will not be judged; he who believes according to truth does not sin; he who has true faith does not sin.  Actually, when we commit sin, it is because our mind is wavering in faith.  When we are giving way to anger, when we are detracting from the reputation of another, when we are committing murder, when we are yielding to fornication, just where then is our faith?...Who then is to be judged?  The one who indeed believes and yet yields to sin; he who has goodness, but has evil too; he who performs good acts at the time when he believes, but commits sin when his faith is weak…. 

Cassiodorus builds on this idea, pointing to the grace of confession:

The wicked are those who with harshness of mind utterly refuse to confess the holy Trinity, who do not consent to obey the rules of the Old and New Testaments, or who in Paul’s words profess God in words, but in their works deny him.  They do not rise in judgment because they have already been condemned through their unbelief…

Sinners are those who proclaim themselves Christians, but are subject to lesser sins.  To them is addressed the Lord’s prayer that they deliver themselves from evils.  But the wicked are those who do not know their maker and are polluted by various sins, for example blasphemers, those unwilling to repent, worshippers of idols, and persons fast-bound to the chief vices.  

So there are two classes of sinners: the first, who remain in their sins without making any placating satisfaction, and the second, those whose sins are forgiven through the grace of confession...Among these are the saints, because no man is without sin…

  

Vulgate	Douay Rheims translation
Beátus vir, qui non ábiit in consílio impiórum, et in via peccatórum non stetit, * et in cáthedra pestiléntiæ non sedit	Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence:
2  Sed in lege Dómini volúntas ejus, * et in lege ejus meditábitur die ac nocte.	But his will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he shall meditate day and night.
3  Et erit tamquam lignum, quod plantátum est secus decúrsus aquárum, * quod fructum suum dabit in témpore suo:	And he shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters, which shall bring forth its fruit, in due season.
4  Et fólium ejus non défluet: * et ómnia quæcúmque fáciet, prosperabúntur.	And his leaf shall not fall off: and all whatsoever he shall do shall prosper.
5  Non sic ímpii, non sic: * sed tamquam pulvis, quem prójicit ventus a fácie terræ.	Not so the wicked, not so: but like the dust, which the wind drives from the face of the earth.
6  Ideo non resúrgent ímpii in judício: * neque peccatóres in concílio justórum.	Therefore the wicked shall not rise again in judgment: nor sinners in the council of the just.
7  Quóniam novit Dóminus viam justórum: * et iter impiórum períbit.	For the Lord knows the way of the just: and the way of the wicked shall perish.

 

And for the final post in this series, continue on here.