Psalm 37/Notes/Lexical.v. 20.734903

Verse 20 contains one of the most difficult exegetical issues in this psalm. It is not clear whether the phrase כִּיקַר כָּרִים in v. 20b refers to "the fat of lambs" (KJV), "the glory of the pastures" (ESV), or "fuel in a furnace" (REB). See The Text, Grammar, and Meaning of Psalm37:20 for an in-depth discussion. In short, the phrase probably refers to "the glory of the pastures" (ESV, cf. Ps 65:14), i.e., "the flowers of the field" (NIV), which, despite their beauty, quickly "come to an end" (אבד, v. 20a). The determining factor for this decision is the surrounding context of agricultural images for the wicked. The agricultural image for the wicked here at the end of the first half of the psalm (vv. 1-20) corresponds to the agricultural image for the wicked at the beginning of the psalm ("like grass," v. 2). Indeed, all of the similes for the wicked in Ps 37 are taken from the agricultural domain (cf. vv. 2, 20, 35). Furthermore, the image of fading flowers fits well with the image of vanishing smoke in the next line (v. 20c). Both flowers and smoke are images of transitoriness (cf. Hos 13:3; Ps 103:15-16). The point of these images is that the end of the wicked will be soon and sudden. This is the point of the verse even if an alternative interpretation is adopted ("fat of lambs" or "burning of ovens"). As Klein writes, "Entscheidend ist jedoch nicht das Bild, sondern die Aussage: Die Bösewichte verschwinden, als wären sie Rauch. Von ihnen bleibt nichts übrig, nicht einmal Asche" (Klein 2018, 68). Although they appear to flourish for the moment, their demise is imminent. And when they are destroyed, there will be no trace of their existence.