Proverbs 4:18
in Proverbs 4The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But the path of the righteous is as the dawning light, That shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
KJV
But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
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This verse in Proverbs 4
Commentary
7 notes on this verseBut the path of the just - The path of the wicked is gloomy, dark, and dangerous; that of the righteous is open, luminous, and instructive. This verse contains a fine metaphor; it refers to the sun rising above the horizon, and the increasing twilight, till his beams shine full upon the earth.
This site's exposition
The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn
on Proverbs 4:18-19
The two ways are light and dark. The growing light is the whole course of a godly life, small beginnings ripening toward a noon still ahead. The darkness of the wicked is blindness to their own danger, since a man in full dark cannot see what trips him.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
He therefore who keeps away from all bitterness and all the noisome effluvia of the flesh, and raises himself on the aforesaid wings above all low earthly ambitions, or, more than that, above the whole universe itself, will be the man to find that which is alone worth loving, and to become himself as beautiful as the Beauty which he has touched and entered, and to be made bright and luminous himself in the communion of the real Light.
The Medieval Church1 voice
But the path of the just is like the shining light, etc. The works of the just are conducted in the light of knowledge, and they lead to eternal life, which is the perfect day.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
): The path of the just, which they have chosen, and in which they walk, is as light; the light shines on their ways ( Job xxii. 28 ) and makes them both safe and pleasant. Christ is their way and he is the light.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
But - Just men daily grow in knowledge, and grace, and consolation, 'till all be perfected and swallowed up in glory.
But the path of the just is as the shining light,....
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאֹ֣רַח | veorach | and [the] path of | H734 → | 58 times |
| צַ֭דִּיקִים | tzadikim | righteous [people] | H6662 → | 206 times |
| כְּא֣וֹר | keor | [is] like a light of | H216 → | 121 times |
| נֹ֑גַהּ | nogah | brightness | H5051 → | |
| הוֹלֵ֥ךְ | holekh | [which] goes | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וָ֝א֗וֹר | vaor | and [which] shines | H215 → | |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| נְכ֥וֹן | nekhon | [the] established [part] of | H3559 → | 217 times |
| הַיּֽוֹם׃ | haiyom | the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
וְאֹ֣רַחand [the] path of
veorachH734 →58 times
צַ֭דִּיקִיםrighteous [people]
tzadikimH6662 →206 times
כְּא֣וֹר[is] like a light of
keorH216 →121 times
נֹ֑גַהּbrightness
nogahH5051 →
הוֹלֵ֥ךְ[which] goes
holekhH1980 →1546 times
וָ֝א֗וֹרand [which] shines
vaorH215 →
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
נְכ֥וֹן[the] established [part] of
nekhonH3559 →217 times
הַיּֽוֹם׃the day
haiyomH3117 →2304 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
John 8:12Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
it leads to
- John 12:46
I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should remain in darkness.
- John 9:5
While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
- John 12:35
Then Jesus told them, “For a little while longer, the Light will be among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you. The one who walks in the…
- Matthew 5:14
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
- John 12:46
Through
2 Corinthians 3:18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 4:6
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of…
- Ephesians 4:22–24
to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
- Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of…
- 2 Corinthians 4:4
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
- 2 Corinthians 4:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; Gregory of Nyssa, ON VIRGINITY 11; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
