The theme of this saying is that the human conscience is God’s searchlight, revealing people’s innermost thoughts and motives. The verse is a single statement continuing through its two lines.

“The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord“: The Hebrew of this line is literally “Lamp of the Lord spirit of man.” There is no verb, so Revised Standard Version and others supply “is”. Others, however, understand the verb “searching” in the next line to apply here; for example, New International Version says “The lamp of the Lord searches the spirit of a man.” Translators may follow either of these alternatives. “Spirit” is literally “breath,” which was said to be breathed into the body by God so that “man became a living being” (Gen 2.7). Here it seems to refer to the moral and intellectual understanding, which is often expressed by the term “conscience” in English. Contemporary English Version expresses this as “inner thoughts.” “The lamp of the Lord” is a figurative expression; the meaning of the picture is that the Lord uses the human spirit or conscience to bring to light a person’s hidden thoughts or motives.

“Searching all his innermost parts”: “Searching” has the sense of “going through” and “seeking out.” Most English versions have “searching”; but with “the lamp” as its subject a term like “illuminating” (Scott) is also appropriate. “His innermost parts” is the same expression rendered “the inner parts of the body” in 18.8; in this context the meaning is something like “his inmost being” (New International Version, Revised English Bible) or “the deepest self” (New Jerusalem Bible).

In many languages the figurative expression may need to be rendered as a simile: “. . . like a lamp the Lord has given us so that we can see our thoughts and actions” or “. . . like the Lord‘s light that shines into every part of our life.” For a rendering that avoids the picture altogether, see Good News Translation.

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 .