24:1 Do not envy evil people, 1
do not desire 2 to be with them;
24:19 Do not fret because of evil people
or be envious of wicked people,
24:20 for the evil person has no future, 3
and the lamp of the wicked will be extinguished. 4
1 tn Heb “evil men,” although the context indicates a generic sense.
2 tn The Hitpael jussive is from the verb that means “to crave; to desire.” This is more of a coveting, an intense desire.
3 tn Heb “there is no end [i.e., future] for the evil.”
4 sn The saying warns against envying the wicked; v. 19 provides the instruction, and v. 20 the motivation. The motivation is that there is no future hope for them – nothing to envy, or as C. H. Toy explains, there will be no good outcome for their lives (Proverbs [ICC], 449). They will die suddenly, as the implied comparison with the lamp being snuffed out signifies.