Proverbs 16:15
in Proverbs 16When a king’s face brightens, there is life; his favor is like a rain cloud in spring.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
In the light of the king’s countenance is life; And his favor is as a cloud of the latter rain.
KJV
In the light of the king’s countenance is life; and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain.
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This verse in Proverbs 16
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The “latter rain” is that which falls in March or April just before the harvest. The “cloud” which brings it, immediately screening people from the scorching sun, and bringing plenty and blessing, is a fit type of the highest favor.
This site's exposition
Righteous lips are a king’s delight
on Proverbs 16:13-15
“Righteous lips are a king’s delight, and he who speaks honestly is beloved,” a courtier's proverb that measures royal favor by honesty over flattery. When the king's face brightens there is life, and “his favor is like a rain cloud in spring,” the rain tied to a good harvest.
This site's exposition
like a rain cloud in spring
The spring rain fell in March or April, just before the harvest, Albert Barnes explains. The cloud that brought it screened people from the scorching sun and brought plenty, a fit picture of the highest favor. When the face of a king brightens, there is life.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
And mercy is like the late rain. The late rain in Judea until this day is accustomed to come to the already mature crops; where the Lord also promises the early rain, saying through the prophet, I will give you the early and the latter …
In the cheerfulness of the face is the life of the king. Whoever deserves to see the cheerful face of Christ, will be given to live with Him forever. Otherwise, on the day of judgment, as it is written, Every flesh will see the salvation …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
In the light of the king's countenance is life,.... When he looks with a pleasant smiling countenance on a person that has been under his displeasure, and especially if under a sentence of death, it is as life from the dead: so the light of the countenance of God, the King of kings; the discoveries of his love, the manifestations of himself, his gracious presence, communion with him, the comforts of his Spirit, the joys of his salvation, are life unto his people, invigorate their graces, quicken their souls, and make them cheerful; see Psa 30:
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
In the light of the King’s countenance is life The one to whom the Holy One, blessed be He, shows a bright countenance—it is life to him. Therefore, a person must straighten his way before Him.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The king’s wrath is like messengers of death, like messengers of death [but not angels of death].
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 1 further source is cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּאוֹר־ | beor- | [is] in [the] light of | H216 → | 121 times |
| פְּנֵי־ | penei- | [the] face of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| מֶ֥לֶךְ | melekh | a king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| חַיִּ֑ים | chaiyim | life | H2416 → | 498 times |
| וּ֝רְצוֹנ֗וֹ | uretzono | and favor his | H7522 → | 56 times |
| כְּעָ֣ב | keav | [is] like a cloud of | H5645 → | |
| מַלְקֽוֹשׁ׃ | malkoosh | spring rain | H4456 → |
בְּאוֹר־[is] in [the] light of
beor-H216 →121 times
פְּנֵי־[the] face of
penei-H6440 →2123 times
מֶ֥לֶךְa king
melekhH4428 →2525 times
חַיִּ֑יםlife
chaiyimH2416 →498 times
וּ֝רְצוֹנ֗וֹand favor his
uretzonoH7522 →56 times
כְּעָ֣ב[is] like a cloud of
keavH5645 →
מַלְקֽוֹשׁ׃spring rain
malkooshH4456 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Acts 2:28You have made known to me the paths of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence.’
it leads to
- Psalms 16:11
You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.
- Psalms 16:11
Through
Hosea 6:3So let us know—let us press on to know the LORD. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 24:7
I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their…
- Hosea 14:5
I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.
- Proverbs 2:1–5
My son, if you accept my words and hide my commandments within you,
- Psalms 72:6
May he be like rain that falls on freshly cut grass, like spring showers that water the earth.
- Philippians 3:13–15
Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
- Jeremiah 24:7
Through
Psalms 4:6Many ask, “Who can show us the good?” Shine the light of Your face upon us, O LORD.
it leads to
- Psalms 80:19
Restore us, O LORD God of Hosts; cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.
- Numbers 6:26
may the LORD lift up His countenance toward you and give you peace.’
- Psalms 80:19
Where this verse is studied
About Proverbs
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).