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Surviving the Storm

Proverbs 10:25 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
²⁵When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more,
but the righteous are a foundation forever.

When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more: Interesting Albert Barnes tells us, “In the later Rabbinic interpretation this was applied to the Messiah as being the Just One, the Everlasting Foundation, on Whom the world was established.”[1] The Hebrew word (סוּפָה suphah) rendered whirlwind means a storm wind, a tempest that can be blowing straight or whirling around itself as it moves over the surface of the ground. Exactly when the whirlwind passes is ambiguous in that it could mean when the storm is passing over or when it has already passed by, so some dynamic equivalents follow the unwise pattern of making the choice for the reader, as in Good News Translation (GNT) “Storms come.…” While it is true that the meaning is when the storm is happening not after it has passed over, this interpretative choice belongs to the reader, and he should not be cut off from it by translators thinking they know best. The meaning of the wicked is no more (אַיִן ayin) is straightforward in that they are destroyed, or they disappear, namely, they are no more.

but the righteous are a foundation forever: Here foundation (יְסוֹד yesod) is a figurative reference to a building, meaning that it is enduring or persevering. In other words, the wicked are destroyed by the storm while the righteous are like a solid foundation, which can endure any storm.

The righteous ones live by the righteous principles found in God’s Word, so they are able to endure or persevere and windstorm from their imperfection or Satan’s world. The wicked, on the other hand, have no foundation in righteous principles making them an unstable building that is unable to withstand the storms of difficult times, leaving them to collapse in violent storms. Therefore, God’s servants need to keep their thinking grounded in godly principles. Just like a structure that has a strong, solid foundation, God’s people do not cave in when pressure mounts. – Matthew 7:24-27.

[1] Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Jeremiah, Lamentations & Ezekiel, ed. F. C. Cook and J. M. Fuller (London: John Murray, 1879), 35.