Proverbs 20:27 - Exposition

The spirit of men is the candle ( lamp ) of the Lord. Neshamah, "spirit," or "breath," is the principle of life breathed into man by God himself ( Genesis 2:7 ), distinguishing man from brutes—the conscious human soul. We may consider it as equivalent to what we Christians call conscience, with its twofold character of receiving light and illumination from God, and sitting as judge and arbiter of actions. It is named "the Lord's lamp," because this moral sense is a direct gift of God, and enables a man to see his real condition. Our Lord ( Matthew 6:23 ) speaks of the light that is in man, and gives a solemn warning against the danger of letting it be darkened by neglect and sin; and St. Paul ( 1 Corinthians 2:11 ) argues, "Who among men knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of the man, which is in him?" As Elihu says ( Job 32:8 ), "There is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty giveth them understanding." And Aristotle speaks of practical wisdom ( φρόνησις ) combined with virtue as "the eye of the soul ( ὄμμα τῆς ψυχῆς )." Searching all the inward parts of the belly; i.e. the very depths of the soul, probing thoughts, desires, affections, will, and approving or reproving, according as they are in conformity with or opposition to God's Law. We must remember that Eastern houses, before the introduction of glass, had very scanty openings to admit light, and lamps were necessary if for any purpose the interior had to be thoroughly illuminated. Hence the metaphor used above would strike an Oriental more forcibly than it strikes us. Septuagint, "The breath ( πνοὴ , as Proverbs 11:13 ) of man is a light of the Lord, who searches the chambers of the belly." St. Gregory ('Moral.,' 12.64), "We ought to bear in mind that in holy Writ by the title of the 'belly,' or the 'womb,' the mind is used to be understood. For the light of grace, which comes from above, affords a 'breathway' to man unto life, which same light is said to 'search all the inward parts of the belly,' in that it penetrates all the secrets of the heart, that the things which were hidden in the soul touching itself it may bring back before the eyes thereof" (Oxford transl.).