Amsal 10:28

10:28 The hope ¹  of the righteous is joy,

but the expectation of the wicked will remain unfulfilled. ² 

Amsal 12:5

12:5 The plans ³  of the righteous are just;

the counsels of the wicked are deceitful. ⁴ 

Amsal 12:7

12:7 The wicked are overthrown ⁵  and perish, ⁶ 

but the righteous household ⁷  will stand.

Amsal 13:9

13:9 The light ⁸  of the righteous shines brightly, ⁹ 

but the lamp ¹⁰  of the wicked goes out. ¹¹ 

Amsal 15:29

15:29 The Lord is far ¹²  from the wicked,

but he hears ¹³  the prayer of the righteous. ¹⁴ 

[10:28]  ¹ sn This proverb contrasts the hopes of the righteous and the wicked. The righteous will see their hopes fulfilled. The saying is concerned with God’s justice. The words תּוֹחֶלֶת (tokhelet, from יָחַל, yakhal) and תִּקְוַת (tiqvat, from קָוָה, qavah) are synonyms, both emphasizing eager expectations, longings, waiting in hope.

[10:28]  ² tn Heb “will perish”; NAB “comes to nought.”

[12:5]  ³ tn Heb “thoughts.” This term refers not just to random thoughts, however, but to what is planned or devised.

[12:5]  ⁴ sn The plans of good people are directed toward what is right. Advice from the wicked, however, is deceitful and can only lead to trouble.

[12:7]  ⁵ sn This proverb is about the stability of the righteous in times of trouble. The term “overthrown” might allude to Gen 19:21.

[12:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “and they are not.”

[12:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “the house of the righteous.” The genitive צַדִּיקִים (tsadiqim) functions as an attributive adjective: “righteous house.” The noun בֵּית (bet, “house”) functions as a synecdoche of container (= house) for the contents (= family, household; perhaps household possessions). Cf. NCV “a good person’s family”; NLT “the children of the godly.”

[13:9]  ⁸ sn The images of “light” and “darkness” are used frequently in scripture. Here “light” is an implied comparison: “light” represents life, joy, and prosperity; “darkness” signifies adversity and death. So the “light of the righteous” represents the prosperous life of the righteous.

[13:9]  ⁹ tn The verb יִשְׂמָח (yismah) is normally translated “to make glad; to rejoice.” But with “light” as the subject, it has the connotation “to shine brightly” (see G. R. Driver, “Problems in the Hebrew Text of Proverbs,” Bib 32 [1951]: 180).

[13:9]  ¹⁰ sn The lamp is an implied comparison as well, comparing the life of the wicked to a lamp that is going to be extinguished.

[13:9]  ¹¹ tc The LXX adds, “Deceitful souls go astray in sins, but the righteous are pitiful and merciful.”

[13:9]  tn The verb דָּעַךְ (da’akh) means “to go out [in reference to a fire or lamp]; to be extinguished.” The idea is that of being made extinct, snuffed out (cf. NIV, NLT). The imagery may have been drawn from the sanctuary where the flame was to be kept burning perpetually. Not so with the wicked.

[15:29]  ¹² sn To say that the Lord is “far” from the wicked is to say that he has made himself unavailable to their appeal – he does not answer them. This motif is used by David throughout Psalm 22 for the problem of unanswered prayer – “Why are you far off?”

[15:29]  ¹³ sn The verb “hear” (שָׁמַע, shama’) has more of the sense of “respond to” in this context. If one “listens to the voice of the Lord,” for example, it means that he obeys the Lord. If one wishes God to “hear his prayer,” it means he wishes God to answer it.

[15:29]  ¹⁴ sn God’s response to prayer is determined by the righteousness of the one who prays. A prayer of repentance by the wicked is an exception, for by it they would become the righteous (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 316).