Proverbs 13:9

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., אור רשׁעים ידעך and נרו עליו ידעך (cf. Pro 21:17) stand together, and there is spoken of (Pro 29:3) a divine נר as well as a divine אור which enlightens the righteous; however, one must say that the poet, as he, Pro 6:3, deliberately calls the Tor אור, and the commandment, as derived from it and separated, נר, so also here designedly calls the righteous אור, viz., אור היום (Pro 4:18, cf. Pe2 1:19), and the godless נר, viz., נר דלוק - the former imparts the sunny daylight, the latter the light of tapers set in darkness. The authentic punctuation is אור־צדיקים, Ben-Naphtali's is 'אור צ' si s'i without Makkeph. To ישׂמח Hitzig compares the "laughing tongue of the taper" of Meidni, iii. 475; Kimchi also the "laughing, i.e., amply measured span, טפח שׂוהק," of the Talmud; for the light laughs when it brightly shines, and increases rather than decreases; in Arab. samuḥa has in it the idea of joy directly related to that of liberality. The lxx translates ישׂמח incorrectly by διαπαντός, and has a distich following Pro 13:9, the first line of which is ψυχαὶ δόλιαι (נפשׁ רמיּה?) πλανῶνται ἐν ἁμαρτίαις, and the second line is from Psa 37:21.

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, Pro 4:18. 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 50:11. 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.

13:9 snuffed out: Cp. 20:20; 24:20.