Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 13:9
The light of the righteous rejoiceth: but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.
9. light lamp ] The change of word is doubtless designed. So our Lord is , and John Baptist (Joh 8:12; Joh 5:35).
shall be put out ] Comp. Pro 20:20, Pro 24:20.
The LXX. add to this verse:
“Deceitful souls go astray in sins;
But the righteous are pitiful and merciful.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Very beautiful in its poetry is the idea of the light rejoicing in its brightness (compare Psa 19:5; Job 38:7). Note also the distinction between the light and the lamp. The righteous ones have the true light in them. That which belongs to the wicked is only derived and temporary, and even that shall be extinguished before long. Compare a like distinction in Joh 1:8; Joh 5:35.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Pro 13:9
The light of the righteous rejoiceth: but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.
The light of the righteous and the lamp of the wicked
By this we are to understand that the light of the righteous burns joyously, is a very image of gladness and rapture: the sun rejoiceth as a giant to run his course; he is, so to say, conscious of his power and of his speed; travelling does not weary him; shining does not exhaust him: at the end he is as mighty as at the beginning. It will be observed that in the one case the word is light as applied to the righteous, and in the other the word is lamp as applied to the wicked. The path of the just is as a shining light, shining more and more unto the perfect day; the light of the righteous man is above, it is not of his own making, it never can be exhausted: the light in which the wicked man walks is a lamp of his own creation, he made it, he lighted it, he is above and greater than that light, and at any moment it may be extinguished; he walks in the fire and in the sparks which he himself has kindled; he is full of brilliant fancies, flashing and glaring eccentricities; he rejoices transiently in the rockets which he throws up into the air, but as they expire and fall back in dead ashes at his feet he sees how poor have been his resources, and how mean is the issue of a cleverness that is without moral basis and moral inspiration. Gods blessing is always attached to the true light. God himself is Light. Jesus Christ was the Light of the world, and Christians are to be lights of their day and generation, reflecting the glory of their Master. The wicked indeed have a kind of light; that should always be amply acknowledged: but it is a light of their own creation, and a light that is doomed to extinction–it shall be put out; a drop of rain shall fall upon it, and the little flicker shall expire, never to be rekindled. (J. Parker, D.D.)
The lights of souls
I. The joyous light of soul. The light of the righteous rejoiceth. In what does the light of the soul consist? There are at least three elements–faith, hope, love. The first fills the soul with the light of ideas; the second, with the light of a bright future; the third, with the light of happy affections. Extinguish these in any soul, and there is the blackness of darkness for ever. The righteous have these as Divine impartations, as beams from the Father of lights, and in their radiance they live, walk, and rejoice. They rejoice in their faith. Their faith connects them with the Everlasting Sun. They rejoice in their hope. Their hope bears them into the regions of the blest. They rejoice in their love. Their love fixes their enrapturing gaze on Him in whose presence there is fulness of joy.
II. The transient light of soul. The lamp of the wicked shall be put out. It is implied that the light of the righteous is permanent. It is inextinguishable. Not so the light of the wicked. Their light, too, is in their faith, their hope, their love. But their faith is in the false, and it must give way. The temple of their hope is built on sand, and the storm of destiny will destroy it. Their love is on corrupt things, and all that is corrupt must be burnt by the all-consuming fire of eternal justice. Thus the lamp of the wicked must be put out. (Homilist.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 9. The light of the righteous rejoiceth] They shall have that measure of prosperity which shall be best for them; but the wicked, howsoever prosperous for a time, shall be brought into desolation. Light and lamp in both cases may signify posterity. The righteous shall have a joyous posterity; but that of the wicked shall be cut off. So 1Kg 11:36: “And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light ( ner, a lamp) always before me.” 1Kg 15:4: “Nevertheless for David’s sake did the Lord give them a lamp, to set up his son after him.” See also Ps 132:17, and several other places.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The light; the prosperity or happiness, which is oft called a light or lamp in Scripture, and other authors.
Rejoiceth; shineth with a pleasant and constant brightness and glory; for this is opposed to the putting out in the next clause. Rejoicing is here ascribed to the light, as it is to the sun, Psa 19:5, both metaphorically, because they would rejoice in it if they were capable of any such passions; and metonymically, because they refresh and cheer mens spirits. So mountains and trees are said to rejoice, Psa 65:12; 96:12.
The lamp of the wicked shall be put out; their felicity shall have a sudden and a dismal end.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. light . . . lampprosperity;the first, the greater, and it
rejoicethburnsbrightly, or continues, while the other, at best small, soon fails.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The light of the righteous rejoiceth,…. The light of joy and gladness, which is sown for them, and arises to them; the light of spiritual knowledge and experience they have; the light of sound doctrine; the light of good works, and a Gospel conversation; all this, as it is delightful to themselves and others, so it is increasing more and more to the perfect day, and it continues: so the Septuagint and Arabic versions, “light [is] always for the righteous”; especially it will be in the latter day, and particularly in the New Jerusalem state, when there will be no night, Re 21:23;
but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out; the light of the righteous is like that of the sun, bright and pleasant; but the light of the wicked is like that of a lamp, lesser and not so agreeable, nor will it last; their prosperity is short lived, their joy is but for a moment; the pleasures of sin are but for a season; their candle soon goes out; it is put out in obscure darkness, and they themselves are reserved to blackness of darkness, Job 18:5; as prosperous and flourishing as the kingdom of antichrist has been or is, it will be full of darkness, Re 16:12.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The three following proverbs in Pro 13:9-11 have at least this in common, that the two concluding words of each correspond with one another almost rhythmically.
9 The light of the righteous burneth joyously,
And the lamp of the godless goeth out.
The second line = Pro 24:20, cf. Pro 20:20. In the Book of Job 18:5., and (cf. Pro 21:17) stand together, and there is spoken of (Pro 29:3) a divine as well as a divine which enlightens the righteous; however, one must say that the poet, as he, Pro 6:3, deliberately calls the Tor , and the commandment, as derived from it and separated, , so also here designedly calls the righteous , viz., (Pro 4:18, cf. 2Pe 1:19), and the godless , viz., – the former imparts the sunny daylight, the latter the light of tapers set in darkness. The authentic punctuation is , Ben-Naphtali’s is ‘ ‘ si s’i without Makkeph. To Hitzig compares the “laughing tongue of the taper” of Meidni, iii. 475; Kimchi also the “laughing, i.e., amply measured span, ,” of the Talmud; for the light laughs when it brightly shines, and increases rather than decreases; in Arab. samuha has in it the idea of joy directly related to that of liberality. The lxx translates incorrectly by , and has a distich following Pro 13:9, the first line of which is ( ?) , and the second line is from Psa 37:21.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
9 The light of the righteous rejoiceth: but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.
Here is, 1. The comfort of good men flourishing and lasting: The light of the righteous rejoices, that is, it increases, and makes them glad. Even their outward prosperity is their joy, and much more those gifts, graces, and comforts, with which their souls are illuminated; these shine more and more, ch. iv. 18. The Spirit is their light, and he gives them a fulness of joy, and rejoices to do them good. 2. The comfort of bad men withering and dying: The lamp of the wicked burns dimly and faint; it looks melancholy, like a taper in an urn, and it will shortly be put out in utter darkness, Isa. l. 11. The light of the righteous is as that of the sun, which may be eclipsed and clouded, but will continue; that of the wicked is as a lamp of their own kindling, which will presently go out and is easily put out.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Expectations of Life
Verse 9 contrasts the enlightened and satisfying life of the righteous with the uncertain and hopeless life of the wicked, Pro 4:18; Job 18:5-6; Job 21:17.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Pro. 13:9. Rejoiceth, burns brightly. The words light and lamp are regarded by most modern commentators as synonymous.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 13:9
THE ABIDING LIGHT
I. The analogy between the righteous and the wicked. Both have a light or lamp. The words here translated lamp and light are elsewhere used interchangeably, and are often used to signify prosperity (1Ki. 15:4; 2Ki. 8:19) of any and every kind. Prosperity resembles a lamp in that it is an attractive force. A benighted traveller in the darkness is drawn towards a light wherever he sees it, although he does not know whether it is the light of a thief or of an honest man. Tempest-tossed mariners look anxiously for a light in their extremity, and hope for help from it whether it swings from the masthead of a pirate or from a vessel which carries the police of the seas. So prosperity in any man is an attractive force. A prosperous wicked man attracts to himself the needy and unfortunate. The unprincipled gather round him, hoping to share in some degree in the light and heat of his worldly success, and the good man who is poor is often compelled by need to do the same. The lamp of prosperity, like the net of the kingdom, gathers of every kind (Mat. 13:47), not because of what the prosperous man is, but because of what he has. Many saints are dependent on sinners for their daily bread. Lazarus lay at the rich mans gate hoping to be fed with the crumbs which fell from his table. The prosperity of the righteous is equally attractive both to good men and bad for the same reason. The great mass of men in the world are toiling upon the sea of life for daily bread like tempest-tossed mariners, and wherever they see the light of prosperity they make for it, hoping for help in their need. And prosperity in the general acceptance of the word is as often given to the good as to the badto the wicked as to the righteous. Some commentators regard the light or the lamp as emblematic also of posterity. The words in 2Ki. 8:19 may be translated to give him always a light in his children (see Lange on 2Ch. 21:7), and in this sense also the analogy holds good, seeing that both good and bad men become the heads of households, and have joy and honour in their children.
II. The contrast between the righteous and the wicked.
1. The righteous man will grow more and more prosperous. Present and material prosperity is but an earnest and a shadow of that higher light which shall rejoice throughout eternity. For the contrast implies that his light shall not be put out. And this continuance has its root in his character. Although in this world character does not govern circumstances, there is a world in which it does. And, after all, a good mans lightor occasion of satisfactionconsists more in what he is than in what he has, and this shines more and more unto the perfect day (chap. Pro. 4:18)See Homiletics, page 58.
2. The wicked mans prosperity will come to an end. His candle will be put out by the hand of death. It may burn well for a time and he may rejoice in its light, but even if it continue to shed its rays around him till the last hour of earthly life, death will put it out. All that has made him a prosperous man has belonged to the earth, and this can shed no light beyond the grave. It may be put out by the hand of retribution before death. Lamps kindled by unjust means may burn well for a time, and human retribution may never put out their light, because men may not know how they were lighted; but Gods providence may put them out. (On this subject see next verse.) Or if Divine retribution reserves its extinguisher for another world, another avenger may put out the light. Conscience may assert its right, and without actually taking from a man that in which he has promised himself satisfaction, may take the satisfaction from it, and thus as surely put out his lamp.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
How glowing, then, is the light of the Church in the combined shining of all her members! Many of them have no remarkable individual splendour; yet, like the lesser stars forming the Milky Way, they present a bright path of holiness in the spiritual firmament. But it is the light of the righteous that rejoiceth. Sin, therefore, will bring the cloud. Do we hope to shine in the heavenly firmament? Then we must shine with present glory in the firmament of the Church. So delicate is the Divine principle, that every breath of this world dims its lustre.Bridges.
The comfort of the righteous is a heavenly light, whose shining is rejoicing, and which even in this life maketh the darkness of Egypt to be light in Goshen, maketh the night of troubles to be day; but at length it shall be such a sunshine of glory, as that it dazzleth the human understanding to conceive it now. On the other side, the best comfort which the wicked have is but a lamp or a candle which shineth in the night; for as the light of a candle is shut up within a narrow circle of space, so their comfort is shut up within a narrow compass of time, until at length the candle be put out, never again to be lighted. But what say I at length, when Job saith the candle of the wicked is often put out. Upon which words St. Gregory saith, Ofttimes the wicked thinks his child to be his candle, but when his child, too much beloved, is taken away, his candle is put out and so with present honour or wealth. He, therefore, that desireth not to rejoice in eternal things, cannot here always rejoice where he would be eternal.Jermin.
They may not always rejoice, but their light will. The lamp of the wicked shines upon their own transitoriness. They never say that it will last. They know that it shall he put out. This is rather a dismal provision for being very cheerful. But the light of the righteous, however much they look at it, rejoices. The more they try it, the more it burns. It does not shine upon its own lack of oil. And, though they are not self-luminous, yet their light is, for it is the light of the Spirit, and it shines more and more through eternal ages.Miller.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(9) The light of the righteous rejoicethi.e., burns joyously, as the sun rejoiceth as a giant to run his course (Psa. 19:5). A distinction may be drawn between the light of the righteous and lamp of the wicked. The one walks in the light of Gods truth, and so his path becomes continually more plain (see above on Pro. 6:23); the other walks by the glimmer of his own lamp, the fire and sparks of his own kindling (Isa. 50:11), the fancies of his own devising, and so his end is darkness. But this distinction is not always observed (comp. Job. 18:5-6, where light and lamp are both applied to the wicked.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. The light of the righteous rejoiceth Burns brightly, cheerfully, as if rejoicing; equal to, they shall have prosperity, or a happy posterity.
The lamp of the wicked put out An Arabic proverbial saying is: “Ill fortune has put out my lamp;” that is, good fortune has failed me. Comp. Job 18:5-6; Job 21:17; Job 22:28; Job 29:3; Job 38:7; Psa 19:5; Psa 97:11; Psa 112:4; Pro 4:18; Mat 5:16.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
v. 9. The light of the righteous rejoiceth,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 13:9. The light of the righteous rejoiceth See chap. Pro 4:18-19. Schultens renders it, The light of the righteous shall shine forth joyfully; but the darkening lamp of the wicked shall be put out. If there was a difference anciently, as there is now, in Egypt, between the lamps of the poor and of the prosperous, as to the brightness and agreeableness of the scent of the several kinds of oil which they burnt, possibly Solomon might refer to that circumstance in these words. The light of the righteous rejoiceth; he uses the brightest burning and most agreeable scented kind of oil; he prospers: But the lamp of the wicked shall be put out; he shall not only be poor, but be destroyed, and his house become desolate. It may, however, very possibly refer to the great number of lights which the righteous burned, which might be as numerous almost as those of an illumination in a time of public rejoicing, the families of the wealthy in these countries being extremely numerous; and, according to Maillet, every inhabited apartment has a light burning in it: whereas the wicked shall sink in his circumstances, and have hardly a servant to attend him; yea, shall absolutely perish, and his house become desolate. See Observations, p. 108.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Pro 13:9 The light of the righteous rejoiceth: but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.
Ver. 9. The light of the righteous rejoiceth. ] As the sun rejoiceth to run his race, and seemeth sometimes to suffer eclipse, but doth not. a A saint’s joy is as the light of the sun, fed by heavenly influence, and never extinct, but diffused through all parts of the world.
But the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.
a Sol non patitur eclipsin, sed videtur tantum pati.
b Apuleius in Apolog.
the righteous = righteous ones.
lamp . . . put out. May mean that his family or line will become extinct.
the wicked = lawless ones.
Pro 13:9
Pro 13:9
“The light of the righteous rejoiceth; But the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.”
“The light of the righteous shines brightly, but the lamp of the wicked goes out. “Note the distinction between the `light’ and the `lamp.’ The righteous have the true light in them; but the lamp of the wicked is temporary, contrived and inadequate. It shall shortly be extinguished.
Pro 13:9. Various passages refer to the lamp or light of the wicked being put out (Job 18:5-6; Job 21:17; Pro 24:20). While applied to the individual and his life, the figure was drawn from their household habit: No house, however poor, is left without a light burning in it all night; the housewife rising betimes to secure its continuance by replenishing the lamp with oil. If a lamp goes out, it is a fatal omen (Geike). The Septuagint translates: The light of the righteous is everlasting; but the light of sinners is quenched.
light: Pro 4:18, 1Ki 11:36, Psa 97:11, Psa 112:4
lamp: or, candle, Pro 20:20, Pro 24:20, Job 18:5, Job 18:6, Job 21:17, Isa 50:10, Isa 50:11, Mat 22:13, Mat 25:8
Reciprocal: Num 27:4 – Why Job 12:5 – a lamp Job 29:3 – candle Psa 9:5 – put out Pro 15:30 – light Eze 32:7 – put thee out
Pro 13:9. The light of the righteous rejoiceth, &c. Or, as Schultens renders it, The light of the righteous shall shine forth joyfully; but the darkening lamp of the wicked shall be put out See note on Pro 4:18-19. The meaning seems to be, 1st, The comfort of good men is flourishing and lasting; their prosperity increases and makes them glad. 2d, The comfort of bad men is withering and dying; their lamp burns dim and faint; it looks melancholy, like a taper in an urn; and it will shortly be put out in litter darkness, Isa 50:11.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments