Psalms 1 · Verse 4

Psalms 1:4

The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Psalms 1:4, King James Version

Psalms 1:4 in other translations

BSB	Not so the wicked! For they are like chaff driven off by the wind.
WEB	The wicked are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
ASV	The wicked are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
YLT	Not so the wicked: But--as chaff that wind driveth away!
DARBY	The wicked are not so; but are as the chaff which the wind driveth away.
BBE	The evil-doers are not so; but are like the dust from the grain, which the wind takes away.
Webster	The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

What does Psalms 1:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

4. not so--either as to conduct or happiness. like the chaff--which, by Eastern modes of winnowing against the wind, was utterly blown away.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 4 The ungodly are not so - The Vulgate and Septuagint, and the versions made from them, such as the Ethiopic and Arabic, double the last negation, and add a clause to the end of the verse, "Not so the ungodly, not so; they shall be like the dust which the wind scatters away from the face of the earth." There is nothing solid in the men; there is nothing good in their ways. They are not of God's planting; they are not good grain; they are only chaff, and a chaff that shall be separated from the good grain when the fan or shovel of God's power throws them up to the wind of his judgments. The manner of winnowing in the eastern countries is nearly the same with that practiced in various parts of these kingdoms before the invention of winnowing machines. They either throw it up in a place out of doors by a large wooden shovel against the wind; or with their weights or winnowing fans shake it down leisurely in the wind. The grain falls down nearly perpendicularly; and the chaff, through its lightness, is blown away to a distance from the grain. An ungodly man is never steady; his purposes are abortive; his conversation light, trifling, and foolish; his professions, friendships, etc., frothy, hollow, and insincere; and both he and his works are carried away to destruction by the wind of God's judgments.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Psalms 1:4-6

The ungodly are the reverse of the righteous, both in character and condition. The ungodly are not so, ver. 4; they are led by the counsel of the wicked, in the way of sinners, to the seat of the scornful; they have no delight in the law of God; they bring forth no fruit but what is evil. The righteous are like useful, fruitful trees: the ungodly are like the chaff which the wind drives away: the dust which the owner of the floor desires to have driven away, as not being of any use. They are of no worth in God's account, how highly soever they may value themselves. They are easily driven to and fro by every wind of temptation. The chaff may be, for a while, among the wheat, but He is coming, whose fan is in his hand, and who will thoroughly purge his floor. Those that, by their own sin and folly, make themselves as chaff, will be found so before the whirlwind and fire of Divine wrath. The doom of the ungodly is fixed, but whenever the sinner becomes sensible of this guilt and misery, he may be admitted into the company of the righteous by Christ the living way, and become in Christ a new creature. He has new desires, new pleasures, hopes, fears, sorrows, companions, and employments. His thoughts, words, and actions are changed. He enters on a new state, and bears a new character. Behold, all things are become new by Divine grace, which changes his soul into the image of the Redeemer. How different the character and end of the ungodly!

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Psalms 1:4 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

לֹא\־lo'-notH3808

כֵ֥ןkhen[are] soH3651

הָרְשָׁעִ֑יםha.re.sha.'Imthe wicked [people]H7563

כִּ֥יkithatH3588

אִם\־'im-exceptH518

כַּ֝מֹּ֗ץka.Motz[they are] like the chaffH4671

אֲֽשֶׁר\־'asher-whichH834

תִּדְּפֶ֥נּוּti.de.Fe.nuit drives about itH5086

רֽוּחַ\׃Ru.achwindH7307

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Psalms 1:4

Job 21:18
They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.
Matthew 3:12
Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
Psalms 35:5
Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the Lord chase them.
Isaiah 17:13
The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
Hosea 13:3
Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.
Isaiah 29:5
Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

like.
35:5; Job 21:18; Isa 17:13; 29:5; Ho 13:3; Mt 3:12

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Psalms 1:3
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Psalms 1:4
The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Psalms 1:5
Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

Read all of Psalms 1

Psalms 1:4 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	No así los malos: sino como el tamo que arrebata el viento.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Il n’en est pas ainsi des méchants, mais ils sont comme la balle que le vent chasse.
German Elberfelder 1871	Nicht so die Gesetzlosen, sondern sie sind wie die Spreu, die der Wind dahintreibt.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Non sic impii, non sic; sed tamquam pulvis quem projicit ventus a facie terræ.