Proverbs 24:20
in Proverbs 24For the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be extinguished.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For there shall be no reward to the evil man; The lamp of the wicked shall be put out.
KJV
For there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out.
⋯
This verse in Proverbs 24
Commentary
5 notes on this verseFor there shall be no reboard to the evil man - אחרית acharith. There shall not be the future state of blessedness to the wicked. See the note on Pro 24:14 (note). His candle shall be put out; his prosperity shall finally cease, or he shall have no posterity. Some have thought that this text intimates the annihilation of sinners; but it refers not to being, but to the state or condition of that being. The wicked shall be; but they shall not be Happy.
This site's exposition
Do not fret over evildoers
on Proverbs 24:19-20
"Do not fret over evildoers, and do not be envious of the wicked" restates the chapter's warning in nearly the words that open Psalm 37. The reason is settled: "the evil man has no future." Delitzsch notes that the warning is repeated across the chapter.
This site's exposition
the lamp of the wicked will be extinguished
Adam Clarke reads the missing future as the loss of blessedness after death, and he takes the lamp's going out as the end of prosperity. Some have read it as annihilation. Clarke answers that the verse speaks of the condition of the wicked, who will exist without being happy.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
For there shall be no reward to the evil man,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
No reward - literally, “no future,” no life worthy to be called life, no blessing.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֤י׀ | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִהְיֶ֣ה | tihyeh | it will belong | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| אַחֲרִ֣ית | ʾacharit | a future | H319 → | 61 times |
| לָרָ֑ע | lara' | to the evil [person] | H7451 → | 662 times |
| נֵ֖ר | ner | [the] lamp of | H5216 → | 49 times |
| רְשָׁעִ֣ים | reshaim | wicked [people] | H7563 → | 263 times |
| יִדְעָֽךְ׃ | yidakh | it will be extinguished | H1846 → | 9 times |
כִּ֤י׀for
kiH3588 →4482 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תִהְיֶ֣הit will belong
tihyehH1961 →3559 times
אַחֲרִ֣יתa future
ʾacharitH319 →61 times
לָרָ֑עto the evil [person]
lara'H7451 →662 times
נֵ֖ר[the] lamp of
nerH5216 →49 times
רְשָׁעִ֣יםwicked [people]
reshaimH7563 →263 times
יִדְעָֽךְ׃it will be extinguished
yidakhH1846 →9 times
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
Psalms 11:6On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur; a scorching wind will be their portion.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 38:22
I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour out torrents of rain, hailstones, fire, and sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him.
- Genesis 19:24
Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.
- Ezekiel 13:13
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: In My wrath I will release a windstorm, and in My anger torrents of rain and hail will fall with destructive fury.
- Luke 17:29
But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
- Ezekiel 38:22
Through
Proverbs 13:9The light of the righteous shines brightly, but the lamp of the wicked is extinguished.
it leads to
- Proverbs 20:20
Whoever curses his father or mother, his lamp will be extinguished in deepest darkness.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 18:5–6
Indeed, the lamp of the wicked is extinguished; the flame of his fire does not glow.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 20:20
Through
Proverbs 20:20Whoever curses his father or mother, his lamp will be extinguished in deepest darkness.
it leads to
- Exodus 21:17
Anyone who curses his father or mother must surely be put to death.
- Proverbs 30:11
There is a generation of those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers.
- Exodus 21:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Proverbs

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
