Proverbs (Part 119) - Pro 10:7

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7. Pro 10:7 – "The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot." A. The memory of the just is blessed: i. Memory n. – 1. a. The faculty by which things are remembered; the capacity for retaining, perpetuating, or reviving the thought of things past. 5. a. The recollection (of something) perpetuated amongst men; what is remembered of a person, object, or event; (good or bad) posthumous repute. (OED cites Pro 10:7 for sense 5.) ii. Just adj. – 1. That does what is morally right, righteous. just before (with) God or, simply, just: Righteous in the sight of God; justified. Now chiefly as a Biblical archaism. iii. Blessed ppl. - 1. Consecrated, hallowed, holy; consecrated by a religious rite or ceremony. 3. a. Enjoying supreme felicity; happy, fortunate. 4. a. Bringing, or accompanied by, blessing or happiness; pleasurable, joyful, blissful. iv. This phrase could be understood in two different ways depending on which genitive is being used. a. If the phrase "the memory of the just is blessed" is used in the objective genitive, the just is remembered with joy. b. If the phrase "the memory of the just is blessed" is used in the subjective genitive, the just remembers with joy. c. The context makes it clear that the objective genitive is used in this case since the blessed memory of the just is set in contrast with the rotten name of the wicked. d. Therefore, the verse is teaching that when people remember the life of a just man who does/did what is morally right and who is/was righteous before God, they will look back on those memories with fondness, happiness, pleasure, and joy. v. A good name (reputation) is an exceedingly valuable thing (Pro 22:1; Ecc 7:1). vi. When the faith and character of good men, whether dead or alive, is remembered, it brings joy to our hearts (Php 1:3-8; 1Th 3:6; 2Ti 1:3-5). vii. Even if men try to cancel us and cut us off from the earth that our names be not remembered, they will not succeed. a. They tried to do so with Jeremiah (Jer 11:19). b. Nevertheless, Jeremiah's memory is blessed in the minds of Christians to this day. viii. The righteous (another name for the just) shall be in everlasting remembrance (Psa 112:6). a. Most people will not be remembered after they die (Ecc 2:16; Ecc 9:5). b. But regardless if we are remembered by men after we die, God will always remember us (Joh 10:14; 2Ti 2:19; Isa 49:14-16). c. The wicked, even if they are memorialized on this earth, will be everlastingly forgotten by God (Mat 7:23). d. The sins of the wicked are remembered by God (Rev 18:5), but they themselves are not. ix. There is also another application to this verse. a. God is "just" (Deut 32:4), and remembrance of Him should bring us joy and thanksgiving (Psa 30:4; Psa 97:12; Psa 145:1-7). b. Jesus Christ is called "the just" (Act 3:14), and our memory of Him is blessed (Luk 22:19; Tit 2:13; 1Pe 2:6-7). B. but the name of the wicked shall rot. i. Name n. – 1. a. The particular combinations of sounds employed as the individual designation of a single person, animal, place, or thing. 4. a. The name of a person (or thing) with implication of the individual denoted by it. b. The name (sense I) of a person or group of persons, with implication of all the individuals bearing, or comprehended under, it; those having a certain name; hence, a family, clan, people. 8. One's repute or reputation, etc.; esp. one's (good) name. ii. Rot v. – 1. a. intr. Of animal substances: To undergo natural decomposition; to decay, putrefy, through disease, mortification, or death. 2. fig. in various contexts, chiefly denoting decay of a moral or abstract kind. a. The reputation and identity of a wicked man will decay and putrefy in the memories of men. b. The wicked will not be remembered with fondness, but disgust. iii. The wicked who sin against God will be destroyed and not remembered (Psa 9:5-6; Eze 21:32). iv. Entire wicked nations have been destroyed and flushed down the memory hole of history (Eze 25:10). v. The remembrance of the wicked shall perish (Job 18:17-21; Psa 34:16; Isa 26:14). a. They will be forgotten (Ecc 8:10) as the worms feed on them (Job 24:20). b. Give me the names of the agents of the Catholic church which tortured and murdered the saints during the Inquisition. c. You get the point. vi. The family name of the wicked will rot also, and his children will not be remembered well, if at all, such as was the case with Judas (Psa 109:8-15 c/w Act 1:20). a. It they are remembered at all, it will be for their iniquity (Eze 21:24). b. The names of the following persons have been rotting in the memories of men for thousands of years: Cain, Ham, Pharaoh, Balaam, Korah, Ahab, Jezebel, Haman, Herod, Herodias, Judas. vii. Though the righteous will be in everlasting remembrance by God because of the atonement of Christ, if a righteous man commits iniquity and dies in it, all of his righteousness will be forgotten by men, and his memory will not be blessed (Eze 3:20; Eze 18:24; Eze 33:13). viii. Even the name of a good man with a good reputation will rot if he allows but a little folly into his life to sully it (Ecc 10:1).