Lexicon

The wicked

רָשָׁ֑ע

(rā·šā‘)

Adjective - masculine singular



Wrong, an, bad person

flee

נָ֣סוּ

(nā·sū)

Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural



To flit, vanish away

when no one

וְאֵין־

(wə·’ên-)

Conjunctive waw | Adverb



A non-entity, a negative particle

pursues,

רֹדֵ֣ף

(rō·ḏêp̄)

Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular



To pursue, chase, persecute

but the righteous

וְ֝צַדִּיקִ֗ים

(wə·ṣad·dî·qîm)

Conjunctive waw | Adjective - masculine plural



Just, righteous

are as bold

יִבְטָֽח׃

(yiḇ·ṭāḥ)

Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular



To trust, be confident, sure

as a lion.

כִּכְפִ֥יר

(kiḵ·p̄îr)

Preposition-k | Noun - masculine singular



A village, a young lion

XXVIII

(1) The wicked flee when no man pursueth.--Comp. the curse pronounced upon Israel for disobedience (Leviticus 26:17; Leviticus 26:36).

The righteous are bold as a lion.--Comp. Leviticus 26:8; 1Samuel 17:32, sqq.; Psalm 91:1, sqq.

Verse 1.

The wicked flee when no man pursueth.

s

v

But the righteous are hold as a lion.







"Si fractus illabatur orbis,

Impavidum ferient ruinae."

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The unreasoning terror of the sinner arises partly from his uneasy conscience, which will not permit him to transgress without warning of consequences, and partly from the judgment of God, according to the threats denounced in Leviticus 26:36, 37 . A terrible picture of this instinctive fear is drawn in Job 15:20 , etc., Cand Wisd. 17:9, etc. There are numerous proverbs about unreasonable timidity, such as being afraid of one's own shadow (see Erasmus, 'Adag.,'. "Timiditas"). As the Eastern puts it, "The leaf cracked, and your servant fled;" and "Among ten men nine are women" (Lane). On the cowardice of sinners St. Chrysostom says well, "Such is the nature of sin, that it betrays while no one finds fault; it condemns whilst no one accuses; it makes the sinner a timid being, one that trembles at a sound; even as righteousness has the contrary effect How doth the wicked flee when no man pursueth? He hath that within which drives him on, an accuser in his own conscience, and this he carries about everywhere; and just as it would be impossible to flee from himself, so neither can he escape the persecutor within, but wherever he goeth he is scourged, and hath an incurable wound" ('Hom. in Stat.,' 8:3, Oxford transl.).They are undismayed in the presence of danger, because their conscience is at rest, they know that God is on their side, and, whatever happens, they are safe in the everlasting arms (see Psalm 91 .). Thus David the shepherd boy quailed not before the giant ( 1 Samuel 17:32 , etc.), remembering the promise in Leviticus 26:7, 8 . The heathen poet Horace could say of the upright man ('Carm.,' 3:3, 7) -Whoso feareth the Lord shall not fear nor be afraid; for he is his Hope (Ecclus. 31 (34):14, etc.). St. Gregory ('Moral.,' 31:55, "The lion is not afraid in the onset of beasts, because he knows well that he is stronger than them all. Whence the fearlessness of a righteous man is rightly compared to a lion, because, when he beholds any rising against him, he returns to the confidence of his mind, and knows that he overcomes all his adversaries because he loves him alone whom he cannot in any way lose against his will. For whoever seeks after outward things, which are taken from him even against his will, subjects himself of his own accord to outward fear. But unbroken virtue is the contempt of earthly desire, because the mind is both placed on high when it is raised above the meanest objects by the judgment of its hopes, and is the less affected by all adversities, the more safely it is fortified by being placed on things above" (Oxford transl.).Alphabetical: a are as bold but flee flees is lion man no one pursues pursuing righteous The though when wicked