Proverbs 11:31

Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner.

Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner.

"Recompensed" is here taken in the primitive sense; seeing that even the righteous have to pay on earth (not in the future life) the penalty of their occasional and exceptional delinquencies (Numbers 20:12, Moses and Aaron; 2 Samuel 12:14, David; 24:12; 1 Kings 13:21, the disobedient prophet; cf. 1 Corinthians 11:30), committed through infirmity and afterward humbly deplored, how much more shall "the wicked" (Rashang, implying the restlessly wicked; from a root [ raasha` (H7561)] to be disturbed; Isaiah 57:21), and "the sinner" (Chotee-he who errs from the right way) be punished. So 1 Peter 4:18, "If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" (cf. Jeremiah 25:29). These passages favour this view rather than the other (Mariana's view) - 'Behold the piety of the righteous, though imperfect, and though no more than what is due from them, and therefore having no claim to reward as a debt, is rewarded here; much more shall the impiety of the wicked receive its retribution.'