92:7 When the wicked sprout up like grass,
and all the evildoers glisten, 1
it is so that they may be annihilated. 2
104:14 He provides grass 3 for the cattle,
and crops for people to cultivate, 4
so they can produce food from the ground, 5
129:6 May they be like the grass on the rooftops
which withers before one can even pull it up, 6
147:8 He covers 7 the sky with clouds,
provides the earth with rain,
and causes grass to grow on the hillsides. 8
1 tn Or “flourish.”
2 tn Heb “in order that they might be destroyed permanently.”
sn God allows the wicked to prosper temporarily so that he might reveal his justice. When the wicked are annihilated, God demonstrates that wickedness does not pay off.
3 tn Heb “causes the grass to sprout up.”
4 tn Heb “for the service of man” (see Gen 2:5).
5 tn Heb “to cause food to come out from the earth.”
6 tn The Hebrew verb שָׁלַף (shalaf) normally means “to draw [a sword]” or “to pull.” BDB 1025 s.v. suggests the meaning “to shoot up” here, but it is more likely that the verb here means “to pluck; to pull up,” a nuance attested for this word in later Hebrew and Aramaic (see Jastrow 1587 s.v. שָׁלַף).
7 tn Heb “the one who covers.”
8 tn Heb “hills.”