Proverbs 11:7

7 When the wicked dies, his hope perishes, and the expectation of the godless comes to nought.

Proverbs 11:7 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 11:7

When a wicked man dieth, [his] expectation shall perish
His expectation of a longer life, of getting more riches, attaining to more honour, enjoying more pleasure here, and of having happiness hereafter, and of being delivered from wrath to come; he will then find, when he comes to die, that his expectations in this world are vain, and those which respect happiness in another world are ill-grounded; or when he dies, the expectation of others that depended on him, trusted in him, and looked for great things from him, will then be at an end; and the hope of unjust [men] perisheth;
which is as the giving up of the ghost, and expires when a man does; it is only in this life, or however it ceases when that does; he has no hope in his death, as the righteous man has; if he does not live without hope in the world, he has none when he goes out of it, or that will be of any use unto him: moreover, the hope of "unjust" men to oppress and injure others ceases when they die, ( Job 3:17 ) . The word rendered unjust men is by some ^F8 understood of strength, substance, riches; and so the meaning may be, that such a hope that is placed in strength and riches perishes at death. Jarchi interprets it of children, which are a man's substance; as if the sense was, that the hope of the children of such persons is then cut off.

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 (Mynwa tlxwt) "expectatio virium", Gejerus; "spes in viribus collocata", Michaelis; "spes confidentium in divitiis", Munster; so some in Vatablus; "divitiarum", Pagniaus, Baynus; "roborum", Montanus, Amama.

Proverbs 11:7 In-Context

5 The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight, but the wicked falls by his own wickedness.

6 The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the treacherous are taken captive by their lust.

7 When the wicked dies, his hope perishes, and the expectation of the godless comes to nought.

8 The righteous is delivered from trouble, and the wicked gets into it instead.

9 With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.