The Meaning of Psalms 36:12 Explained

Psalms 36:12

KJV: There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise.

YLT: There have workers of iniquity fallen, They have been overthrown, And have not been able to arise!

Darby: There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and are not able to rise.

ASV: There are the workers of iniquity fallen: They are thrust down, and shall not be able to rise.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

There are the workers  of iniquity  fallen:  they are cast down,  and shall not be able  to rise. 

What does Psalms 36:12 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 36:1-12 - God The Fountain Of Life
The servant of the Lord, as the superscription tells us, is speaking here. He is horror-stricken at the ways and thoughts of the ungodly. By a bold image, Psalms 36:1, r.v., margin; Transgression is personified as speaking in the heart of the ungodly, as the Delphic oracle in her dark cave; and the answer from that secret oracle is full of smooth but beguiling words. So our first parents found it.
What a blessed thing it is to turn from man to God! Notice God's attributes as here enumerated: "thy lovingkindness" (r.v.), "thy faithfulness," "thy righteousness," "thy judgments." The golden bracelet begins and ends with love. All nature speaks, to the heart that loves, of the love of God. But they who fly to God find Him even better than nature can proclaim. He is better than banquets for hungry men. Let His life arise in thee as a fountain, and ask for the illumination of His light. Serenely sheltered under the wing, or in the house, of God, the soul may look out, unmoved, on "the wrecks of matter, and the crush of worlds." [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 36

1  The grievous state of the wicked
8  The excellence of God's mercy
10  David prays for favor to God's children

What do the individual words in Psalms 36:12 mean?

There have fallen the workers of iniquity they have been cast down and not are able to rise
שָׁ֣ם נָ֭פְלוּ פֹּ֣עֲלֵי אָ֑וֶן דֹּ֝ח֗וּ וְלֹא־ יָ֥כְלוּ קֽוּם

נָ֭פְלוּ  have  fallen 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: נָפַל  
Sense: to fall, lie, be cast down, fail.
פֹּ֣עֲלֵי  the  workers 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural construct
Root: פָּעַל  
Sense: to do, make.
אָ֑וֶן  of  iniquity 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אָוֶן 
Sense: trouble, wickedness, sorrow.
דֹּ֝ח֗וּ  they  have  been  cast  down 
Parse: Verb, Pual, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: דָּחָה 
Sense: to push, thrust, chase, overflow, totter, sore, drive away or out, be outcast, be cast down.
וְלֹא־  and  not 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
יָ֥כְלוּ  are  able 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: יָכֹל  
Sense: to prevail, overcome, endure, have power, be able.
קֽוּם  to  rise 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: קוּם 
Sense: to rise, arise, stand, rise up, stand up.