Proverbs 11:7

7. Wicked man dieth This is a difficult verse. Stuart renders, “When a wicked man dieth his hope shall perish, and the expectation of the afflicted perishes.” Conant: “When a wicked man dies expectation shall perish, yea, the hope of wickedness perishes;” so also Noyes, substantially. Stuart gives the meaning thus: “When the wicked see all their hopes of pleasure, riches, etc., perish, and when they are sick and afflicted, their expectations of recovery or alleviation will be frustrated.” So the Vulgate and Bertheau. Whether the Seventy had a different version before them, or whether, having the same difficulty as other translators, they made out of this verse, as they sometimes do, a proverb to suit themselves, we cannot say. But their version is different, and gives a good Christian sense with an antithesis not found in the Hebrew text: “When a righteous man dies, his hope does not perish, but the exultation of wicked men perishes,” that is, when they die. The versions and critics vary, and nothing entirely satisfactory has yet been reached. Zockler translates: “With the death of the wicked his hope cometh to naught, and the unjust expectation hath perished.” Compare Proverbs 10:28; Psalms 49:0.