Psalms 1:5
Therefore the wicked shall not rise again in judgment: nor sinners in the council of the just.
Open Psalms 1:5 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Ideo non resurgent impii in judicio, neque peccatores in concilio justorum :
- Septuagint (Swete)
- διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἀναστήσονται οἱ ἀσεβεῖς ἐν κρίσει, οὐδὲ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἐν βουλῇ δικαίων·
- Hebrew (WLC)
- עַל כֵּ֤ן לֹא יָקֻ֣מוּ רְ֭שָׁעִים בַּמִּשְׁפָּ֑ט וְ֝חַטָּאִ֗ים בַּעֲדַ֥ת צַדִּיקִֽים
Haydock's commentary
Again. So as to gain their cause, (Amama) or to make opposition; as the Hebrew yakumu, "stand up," with defiance, intimates. (Haydock)
They are already judged, (John iii. 18.) and can make no defence; they being separated from the just, like goats. Kimchi (though he is defended by Amama. Haydock) and some other Jews, falsely asserts that the souls of the wicked will be annihilated, and that only the just Israelites will rise again. (Buxtorf, Syn. 1.)
But this is very different from the belief of the ancient Jews, who clearly assert the truth respecting future rewards and punishments, 2 Machabees vii. 9, 14, 23, and 36., and Wisdom v. 1., or Josephus, or 4 Machabees x. See Job, &c.
The Fathers have adduced many such proofs from the other parts of Scripture, which they had read with as much attention as modern critics. (Calmet)
Council, (Menochius) or rather "counsel," as the same word, Boule, is used by the Septuagint as [in] ver. 1., (Calmet) though the Hebrew hadath, here be different, and mean a council, or assembly. (Menochius)
Septuagint and Vulgate may be understood in the same sense. (Haydock)
Sinners shall be destitute of all hope at the resurrection, and shall be driven from the society of the blessed. (Worthington)
They will not even be able to complain, since they had been so often admonished of their impending fate, (Berthier) and would not judge themselves in time. (St. Augustine; 1 Corinthians xi., and Acts xxiv. 15.) Protestants, "They shall not stand," &c. (Haydock)
Where a note speaks of the Jewish people, the Church teaches that the Passion cannot be charged against all the Jews then living, nor against the Jews of today, and that all sinners were its authors (CCC 597, 598).
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
The Epistle of Barnabas The Epistle of Barnabas, Chapter XI. Baptism and the cross
Let us further inquire whether the Lord took any care to foreshadow the water [of baptism] and the cross. Concerning the water, indeed, it is written, in reference to the Israelites, that they should not receive that baptism which leads to the remission of sins, but should procure another for themselves. The prophet therefore declares, “Be astonished, O heaven, and let the earth tremble at this, because this people hath committed two great evils: they have forsaken Me, a living fountain, and have hewn out for themselves broken cisterns. …
Clement of Alexandria The Stromata, or Miscellanies, Chapter XV. On the Different Kinds of Voluntary Actions, and the Sins Thence Proceeding
Justly, therefore, the prophet says, “The ungodly are not so: but as the chaff which the wind driveth away from the face of the earth. Wherefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment” (being already condemned, for “he that believeth not is condemned already”), “nor sinners in the counsel of the righteous,” inasmuch as they are already condemned, so as not to be united to those that have lived without stumbling. “For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous; and the way of the ungodly shall perish.”
St Cyprian Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews, Testimony XXXI
In the Gospel according to John: “He that believeth not is already judged, because he hath not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that light has come into the world, and men have loved darkness rather than light.” Of this also in the first Psalm: “Therefore the ungodly shall not rise up in judgment, nor sinners in the council of the righteous.”
St Augustine Expositions on the Book of Psalms, Psalm I
5. “Therefore the ungodly rise not in the judgment” ( ver. 5 ): “therefore,” namely, because “as dust they are cast forth from the face of the earth.” And well did he say that this should be taken away from them, which in their pride they court, namely, that they may judge; so that this same idea is more clearly expressed in the following sentence, “nor sinners in the counsel of the righteous.” For it is usual for what goes before, to be thus repeated more clearly. …
St John Chrysostom The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch, Homily VIII
4. Study then, O man, the life according to God, and no one shall conquer thee at any time; and although thou mayest be accounted the most insignificant of men, thou shalt be more powerful than all. On the other hand, if thou art indifferent about virtue of soul, though thou wert the most powerful of men, thou wilt easily be worsted by all that assail thee. And the examples already quoted proved this. But if thou art desirous, I will also endeavour to teach thee by actual facts the unconquerableness of the righteous, and the vulnerable condition of sinners. Hear then how the prophet intimates both these particulars. …
Aphrahat Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations, Of Death and the Latter Times
17. And the wicked shall not arise in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous . And even as the righteous who are perfected in good works shall not come into the judgment to be judged, so of the wicked also whose sins are many, and the measure of whose offences is overflowing, it shall not be required that they should draw nigh unto the judgment, but when they have risen again they shall turn back to Sheol, as David said, The wicked shall turn back to Sheol, and all the nations that forget God. And Isaiah said, All the nations are as a drop from the bucket, and as the turning of the balance. And the isles as a grain of sand shall be cast away, and all the nations are esteemed as nothingness by Him. For destruction and the sword are they esteemed by Him . …