For there are no pains in their death, And their belly is fat.
Parallel translations
- WEB For there are no struggles in their death, but their strength is firm.
- KJV For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.
- BSB They have no struggle in their death; their bodies are well-fed.
- NKJV For there are no pangs in their death, But their strength is firm.
- NLT They seem to live such painless lives; their bodies are so healthy and strong.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
It seemed to Asaph that the wicked suffer no struggles in death and remain strong and healthy.
Overview
From his troubled vantage point, the wicked appear to escape the pains that afflict others, even in dying. Their seeming immunity to suffering fueled his envy. The psalm will later overturn this surface impression by revealing the sudden and certain end of those who forget God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Job 21:23–24One dies in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.
- Ps 17:14from men by your hand, Yahweh, from men of the world, whose portion is in this life. You fill the belly of your cherished ones. Your sons have plenty, and they store up wealth for their children.
- Luke 16:22The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried.
- Eccl 2:16For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no memory for ever, since in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. Indeed, the wise man must die just like the fool!
- Job 24:20The womb shall forget him. The worm shall feed sweetly on him. He shall be no more remembered. Unrighteousness shall be broken as a tree.
- Ps 17:10They close up their callous hearts. With their mouth they speak proudly.
- Eccl 7:15All this I have seen in my days of vanity: there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives long in his evildoing.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 73:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.