They overpass the deeds of the wicked. — Better (the English being ambiguous), they exceed in deeds (literally, words or things) of wickedness. The prophet dwells not only on the prosperity of the wicked, but on their callous indifference to the well-being of the poor.

Yet they prosper. — Better, so that they (the fatherless) may prosper. They do not judge with a view to that result. The words admit, however, in Hebrew as in English, of the sense that they (the wicked themselves) may prosper. That was all they aimed at or cared for.

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