Człowiek sprawiedliwy a człowiek bezbożny w świetle Ps 37

Abstract

Psalm 37 is one of the most typical wisdom texts in the Book of Psalms. In comparison to other psalms it contains a high number of information on the righteous and the wicked person. The paper aims to present and analyse in detail all contexts in which mentions of the righteous and the wicked appear in order to answer the question what function these information have. The paper is divided into three main parts. In the first one is given a short introduction into psalm’s genre, its structure and main topic. In the second and third part of the paper the information about the righteous and the wicked are analysed in detail and the main contexts of their using are defined. The analysis presented in these two parts reflects all mentions of the righteous and the wicked in Ps 37, such containing the key terms as צריק and רשע but also those which are thematically connected with them. The righteous as supported by God are mainly viewed as existential winners in contrast to the wicked presented as life losers. The final part of the article explains in short the role of the information on the righteous and the wicked in Ps 37 taking into account the actual situation of the psalm’s addressee.