The Meaning of Psalms 73:7 Explained

Psalms 73:7

KJV: Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.

YLT: Their eye hath come out from fat. The imaginations of the heart transgressed;

Darby: Their eyes stand out from fatness, they exceed the imaginations of their heart:

ASV: Their eyes stand out with fatness: They have more than heart could wish.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Their eyes  stand out  with fatness:  they have more  than heart  could wish. 

What does Psalms 73:7 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 73:1-15 - Deceptive Prosperity
The opening psalms of this third Book of Psalms are by Asaph; see 2 Chronicles 29:30. The r.v. margin substitutes only for surely in Psalms 73:1. There is none good but God and God is only good. "His every act pure goodness is; His path unsullied light." Israel, as here intended, is not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. See John 1:47 and Romans 2:28-29.
We have in these verses a good man's temptation. In every age God's people have asked whether God can possibly know all that is taking place on the earth, and if He does know, why He allows evil to prosper. The dark spirit who is ever at our elbow whispers that we should have done as well, and better, if we had not been quite so scrupulous in our business dealings; and we are held back from giving expression to our thoughts only by the fear that we might cause God's weaker children to stumble. This reticence is, of course, wholly commendable. A Christian man confessed the other day that the irreligion of his children was due to his critical and captious speech. By all means keep these dark and faithless thoughts locked in your own breast; you have no right to scatter thistle-down. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 73

1  The prophet, prevailing in a temptation
2  Shows the occasion thereof, the prosperity of the wicked
13  The wound given thereby, diffidence
15  The victory over it, knowledge of God's purpose

What do the individual words in Psalms 73:7 mean?

Bulge with abundance their eyes they have more than could wish heart
יָ֭צָא מֵחֵ֣לֶב עֵינֵ֑מוֹ עָ֝בְר֗וּ מַשְׂכִּיּ֥וֹת לֵבָֽב

יָ֭צָא  Bulge 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יׄוצֵאת 
Sense: to go out, come out, exit, go forth.
מֵחֵ֣לֶב  with  abundance 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular
Root: חֵלֶב  
Sense: fat.
עֵינֵ֑מוֹ  their  eyes 
Parse: Noun, common singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: עֹונָה 
Sense: eye.
עָ֝בְר֗וּ  they  have  more  than 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: עָבַר 
Sense: to pass over or by or through, alienate, bring, carry, do away, take, take away, transgress.
מַשְׂכִּיּ֥וֹת  could  wish 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct
Root: מַשְׂכִּית  
Sense: show-piece, figure, imagination, image, idol, picture.
לֵבָֽב  heart 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: לֵבָב  
Sense: inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding.