10:7 The memory 3 of the righteous is a blessing,
but the reputation 4 of the wicked will rot. 5
13:9 The light 6 of the righteous shines brightly, 7
but the lamp 8 of the wicked goes out. 9
1 tn Heb “leave me alone.”
2 tn Heb “from under heaven.”
3 sn “Memory” (זֵכֶר, zekher) and “name” are often paired as synonyms. “Memory” in this sense has to do with reputation, fame. One’s reputation will be good or bad by righteousness or wickedness respectively.
4 tn Heb “name.” The term “name” often functions as a metonymy of association for reputation (BDB 1028 s.v. שֵׁם 2.b).
5 tn The editors of BHS suggest a reading “will be cursed” to make a better parallelism, but the reading of the MT is more striking as a metaphor.
6 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.
7 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).
8 sn The lamp is an implied comparison as well, comparing the life of the wicked to a lamp that is going to be extinguished.
9 tc The LXX adds, “Deceitful souls go astray in sins, but the righteous are pitiful and merciful.”