But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.
But the wicked shall ... fat of lambs - not, as Gesenius translates, 'as the beauty of the meadows' (karim) -
i.e., the grass; cf. Psalms 37:2. The Hebrew х yaaqaar (H3368)] for "fat" is literally, the preciousness. But there is an evident allusion here, as elsewhere in Scripture, to the burnt sacrifices; such are the wicked, consumed by the fire of God's wrath against sin, and passing away as "smoke." Compare Isaiah 34:6. As the fatness of the lambs only makes them the fitter for sacrifice, so the more sumptuous the wicked are, the more speedily and miserably shall they perish (cf. James 5:5; Mark 9:49).
Into smoke ... - carrying on the image of the sacrifice, the victim being burnt into smoke and ashes.
[lamedh (l)]