Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water?
Rush - rather, paper reed: the papyrus of Egypt, which was used to make garments, shoes, baskets, boats, and paper (a word derived from it). It and the flag or bulrush grow only in marshy places such as are along the Nile. So the godless thrive only in external prosperity: there is in the hypocrite no inward stability, "Because he is without the favour of God, the sole fountain of life" (Psalms 36:9). His prosperity is like the rapid growth of water plants. The double point of comparison between the ungodly and the paper reed is:
(1) The luxuriant prosperity at first; and
(2) The sudden destruction.