Matthew 13:20-21

13:20 The ¹  seed sown on rocky ground ²  is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. 13:21 But he has no root in himself and does not endure; ³  when ⁴  trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away.

Job 8:13-14

8:13 Such is the destiny ⁵  of all who forget God;

the hope of the godless ⁶  perishes,

8:14 whose ⁷  trust ⁸  is in something futile, ⁹ 

whose security is a spider’s web. ¹⁰ 

Job 18:5

18:5 “Yes, ¹¹  the lamp ¹²  of the wicked is extinguished;

his flame of fire ¹³  does not shine.

Job 21:17

How Often Do the Wicked Suffer?

21:17 “How often ¹⁴  is the lamp of the wicked extinguished?

How often does their ¹⁵  misfortune come upon them?

How often does God apportion pain ¹⁶  to them ¹⁷  in his anger?

Proverbs 4:18-19

4:18 But the path of the righteous is like the bright morning light, ¹⁸ 

growing brighter and brighter ¹⁹  until full day. ²⁰ 

4:19 The way of the wicked is like gloomy darkness; ²¹ 

they do not know what causes them to stumble. ²² 

Proverbs 13:9

13:9 The light ²³  of the righteous shines brightly, ²⁴ 

but the lamp ²⁵  of the wicked goes out. ²⁶ 

Proverbs 20:20

20:20 The one who curses ²⁷  his father and his mother,

his lamp ²⁸  will be extinguished in the blackest ²⁹  darkness.

Luke 8:18

8:18 So listen carefully, ³⁰  for whoever has will be given more, but ³¹  whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has ³²  will be taken from him.”

Luke 12:35

Call to Faithful Stewardship

12:35 “Get dressed for service ³³  and keep your lamps burning; ³⁴ 

[13:20]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[13:20]  ² tn Grk “The one sown on rocky ground, this is the one.” The next two statements like this one have this same syntactical structure.

[13:21]  ³ tn Grk “is temporary.”

[13:21]  ⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[8:13]  ⁵ tn The word אָרְחוֹת (’orkhot) means “ways” or “paths” in the sense of tracks of destiny or fate. The word דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way, road, path”) is used in a similar way (Isa 40:27; Ps 37:5). However, many commentators emend the text to read אַחֲרִית (’akharit, “end”) in harmony with the LXX. But Prov 1:19 (if not emended as well) confirms the primary meaning here without changing the text (see D. J. A. Clines, Job [WBC], 199).

[8:13]  ⁶ tn The word חָנֵף (khanef) is often translated “hypocrite.” But the root verb means “to be profane,” and this would be done by idolatry or bloodshed. It describes an irreligious person, a godless person. In Dan 11:32 the word seems to mean “make someone pagan.” The word in this verse is parallel to “those who forget God.”

[8:14]  ⁷ tn The relative pronoun introduces the verse as a relative clause, working with the “godless person” of the preceding verse. The relative pronoun is joined to the resumptive pronoun in the translation: “who + his trust” = “whose trust.”

[8:14]  ⁸ tn The noun כֶּסֶל (kesel) in this half of the verse must correspond to “his security” in the second half. The meaning must be “his trust” (see 4:6). The two words will again be parallel in 31:24.

[8:14]  ⁹ tn The word יָקוֹט (yaqot) is not known anywhere else; here it looks like it should be a noun to parallel “spider’s house” in the next colon. But scholars have tried to identify it as a verb, perhaps an imperfect of קוֹט (qot, BDB 876 s.v.), or related to an Arabic qatta, “to cut.” Some versions have “break in sunder” (KJV, RV); others “cut off” (RSV). Apart from verbs, some commentators follow Sa`adia’s Arabic translation “sun cords,” meaning “gossamer.” Accordingly, there are emendations like “threads,” “threads of summer,” “spider threads,” and the like. D. J. A. Clines agrees with those who conclude that emendations based on Sa`adia’s translation lack a sound philological basis. E. Dhorme “somewhat timidly” suggests יַלְקוּט (yalqut), the shepherd’s bag or scrip (1 Sam 17:40). He suggests that an empty bag would be a symbol of something unstable and futile. It seems impossible to determine exactly what the word meant. One can only conclude that it means something like “fragile” or “futile.” The LXX is of no help: “for his house shall be without inhabitants.”

[8:14]  ¹⁰ sn The second half of the verse is very clear. What the godless person relies on for security is as fragile as a spider’s web – he may as well have nothing. The people of the Middle East view the spider’s web as the frailest of all “houses.”

[18:5]  ¹¹ tn Hebrew גַּם (gam, “also; moreover”), in view of what has just been said.

[18:5]  ¹² sn The lamp or the light can have a number of uses in the Bible. Here it is probably an implied metaphor for prosperity and happiness, for the good life itself.

[18:5]  ¹³ tn The expression is literally “the flame of his fire,” but the pronominal suffix qualifies the entire bound construction. The two words together intensify the idea of the flame.

[21:17]  ¹⁴ tn The interrogative “How often” occurs only with the first colon; it is supplied for smoother reading in the next two.

[21:17]  ¹⁵ tn The pronominal suffix is objective; it re-enforces the object of the preposition, “upon them.” The verb in the clause is בּוֹא (bo’) followed by עַל (’al), “come upon [or against],” may be interpreted as meaning attack or strike.

[21:17]  ¹⁶ tn חֲבָלִים (khavalim) can mean “ropes” or “cords,” but that would not go with the verb “apportion” in this line. The meaning of “pangs (as in “birth-pangs”) seems to fit best here. The wider meaning would be “physical agony.”

[21:17]  ¹⁷ tn The phrase “to them” is understood and thus is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[4:18]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “like light of brightness.” This construction is an attributive genitive: “bright light.” The word “light” (אוֹר, ’or) refers to the early morning light or the dawn (BDB 21 s.v.). The point of the simile is that the course of life that the righteous follow is like the clear, bright morning light. It is illumined, clear, easy to follow, and healthy and safe – the opposite of what darkness represents.

[4:18]  ¹⁹ tn The construction uses the Qal active participle of הָלַךְ (halakh) in a metaphorical sense to add the idea of continuance or continually to the participle הוֹלֵךְ (holekh). Here the path was growing light, but the added participle signifies continually.

[4:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “until the day is established.” This expression refers to the coming of the full day or the time of high noon.

[4:19]  ²¹ sn The simile describes ignorance or spiritual blindness, sinfulness, calamity, despair.

[4:19]  ²² tn Heb “in what they stumble.”

[13:9]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ tc The LXX adds, “Deceitful souls go astray in sins, but the righteous are pitiful and merciful.”

[20:20]  ²⁷ tn The form is the Piel participle of קָלַל (qalal), which means “to be light”; in the Piel stem it means “to take lightly; to treat as worthless; to treat contemptuously; to curse.” Under the Mosaic law such treatment of parents brought a death penalty (Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9; Deut 27:16).

[20:20]  ²⁸ tn “His lamp” is a figure known as hypocatastasis (an implied comparison) meaning “his life.” Cf. NLT “the lamp of your life”; TEV “your life will end like a lamp.”

[20:20]  ²⁹ tc The Kethib, followed by the LXX, Syriac, and Latin, has בְּאִישׁוֹן (bÿ’ishon), “in the pupil of the eye darkness,” the dark spot of the eye. But the Qere has בֶּאֱשׁוּן (be’eshun), probably to be rendered “pitch” or “blackest,” although the form occurs nowhere else. The meaning with either reading is approximately the same – deep darkness, which adds vividly to the figure of the lamp being snuffed out. This individual’s destruction will be total and final.

[8:18]  ³⁰ tn Or “Therefore pay close attention”; Grk “Take heed therefore how you hear.”

[8:18]  ³¹ tn Grk “and.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[8:18]  ³² sn The phrase what he thinks he has is important, because it is not what a person thinks he has that is important but whether he actually has something or not. Jesus describes the person who does not heed his word as having nothing. The person who has nothing loses even that which he thought was something but was not. In other words, he has absolutely nothing at all. Jesus’ teaching must be taken seriously.

[12:35]  ³³ tn Grk “Let your loins be girded,” an idiom referring to the practice of tucking the ends of the long cloak (outer garment) into the belt to shorten it in preparation for activities like running, etc.

[12:35]  ³⁴ sn Keep your lamps burning means to be ready at all times.