This Little Light of Mine

(Proverbs 13:9 KJV)  The light of the righteous rejoiceth: but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.

Do “light” (216) and “lamp” (5216) have contrasting ideas?  The differences in the Hebrew are similar to the meanings in English.  Light is a bigger, general category.  Lamp is a specific tool.  Light is a force, a lamp is a container. 

We also have the contrast between “light” (216) and the absence of light.  One represents the good things of creation the other the evil that exists.  The image is that light allows you to see and darkness limits our options for anything but sleep.

Does this look forward to Jesus saying “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12)?  If we are “righteous” (6662) Jesus is our light.  He is the one who shows us the way.  There is another verse that people are familiar with:

(Psalms 119:105 KJV) Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

The Hebrew words for light and lamp are the same as our verse except here “lamp” (5216) is not used in a negative way.

Light is a characteristic of God:

(1 John 1:5 KJV)  This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

Evil is associated with darkness.  It is hard for a lamp to burn in the midst of death.  Light repels evil because light brings cleansing and revelation.

So?  We can rejoice because we have the light of revelation.  We have the light that shows us how to live and illuminates the hope that we have.  We never need our lamp to go out.