This verse is a single sentence in two clauses on the theme of honoring or respecting parents. In the Ten Commandments (Exo 20.12) a blessing is promised to those who honor their parents; here there is the prospect of a terrible fate for those who do not.
“If one curses his father or his mother”: “Curses” in this context refers to speech. It does not mean “putting a curse on” someone in the sense of using sorcery against them. To curse someone is to say things that dishonor them, to say bad things about them, to express a hope that something terrible will happen to them, or generally to speak with disrespect. Such behavior was regarded as a very serious sin in ancient Israel and is also regarded as very bad in many cultures today. Other ways of expressing this conditional clause are, for example, “If anyone curses. . .,” “If you curse. . .,” “Whoever curses. . .,” or “Children who curse. . ..” In some languages there are expressions for speaking in this way like “spoil the name of. . .” and “make his name black.”
“His lamp will be put out in utter darkness”: This is the consequence of the bad behavior described in the first line. In the Law the punishment for cursing a parent was death (see Exo 21.17; Lev 20.9), and that is probably the sense in which we should take the expression “his lamp will be put out”. The commandment in Exo 20.12 promises long and prosperous life to those who honor their parents; this is the opposite—a premature and hopeless death. “His lamp” is a metaphor for the life of the person, and if it is “put out” that means that life comes to an end (see 13.9). “In utter darkness” is literally “in the middle [or, pupil] of darkness” in the written Hebrew text, which Hebrew Old Testament Text Project accepts with a “C” rating and suggests rendering “in the middle of the night.” Most English versions keep the word “lamp,” but Good News Translation changes the figure of speech to a simile: “your life will end like a lamp that goes out.” This may be a good model for some languages; but for others it may be better to drop the picture altogether, as in the translation “he will die and go to the place of darkness.”
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .