Does the city in Proverbs 11:10 take pleasure in the death of the wicked?<\/p>\n\t
“When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting<\/em>” (Proverbs 11:10).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Everyone is happy when things go well with the righteous because the righteous is generous with his blessings (I Timothy 6:17-19). When the wicked die, it also brings happiness because the source of problems is removed. The focus here is on enjoying life and happiness, with justice triumphing over evil.<\/p>\n
A similar observation from the opposite viewpoint is “When the righteous triumph, there is great glory, but when the wicked rise, men hide themselves<\/em>” (Proverbs 28:12).<\/p>\n
Perhaps you are thinking of: “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; or the LORD will see it and be displeased, and turn His anger away from him<\/em>” (Proverbs 24:17-18). This almost seems contradictory, but notice that in Proverbs 11:10, it refers to a general feeling throughout the city, whereas in Proverbs 24:17-18, we are considering a personal enemy. We are not to seek vengeance on others (Romans 12:19-21). You can have an enemy, and he might not be a person totally given over to evil. Even with the wicked, we ought to desire their salvation. However, this doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the lack of oppression, whether it comes from an evil person converting to God or an evil person no longer being able to commit evil.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Does the city in Proverbs 11:10 take pleasure in the death of the wicked? Answer: “When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting” (Proverbs 11:10). Everyone is happy when things go well with the righteous because the righteous is generous with his blessings…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[109,183,374,1287,1640],"class_list":["post-86793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-death","tag-evil","tag-happiness","tag-joy","tag-wicked"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":57666,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/hope-for-the-future\/","url_meta":{"origin":86793,"position":0},"title":"Hope for the Future","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 5, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Andy Sochor Throughout the book of Proverbs, a contrast is made between wisdom and foolishness. Since the wisdom described in the book comes from above, those who follow this and live according to its precepts will be righteous. Conversely, those who reject the way of wisdom will inevitably find\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Land-of-Milk-and-Honey-300x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":40941,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-there-such-a-thing-as-tainted-money\/","url_meta":{"origin":86793,"position":1},"title":"Is there such a thing as tainted money?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I was reading one of your answers to the question Should I give up my job because I cheated some in college?\u00a0\u00a0about the tainted money thing. I just want to ask: what do you say to people when they use Proverbs 10:2 to support the idea that money\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90197,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-these-passages-talk-of-human-sacrifices\/","url_meta":{"origin":86793,"position":2},"title":"Do These Passages Talk of Human Sacrifices?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question about human sacrifice in Scripture, please. I believe in the Bible and I am a Christian, of course. But the following verses do bother me, because they really do sound like human sacrifice: Isaiah 34:5-6 (about Edom): \"The LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32062,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/things-the-wicked-despise\/","url_meta":{"origin":86793,"position":3},"title":"Things the Wicked Despise","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Leviticus 26:14-32 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This might come as shock, but have you noticed? The world is full of wicked people who are not nice. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Why do the wicked behave as they do? II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The wicked only care about themselves \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They despise their fellow man - Proverbs 14:21\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10298,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/gods-compassion\/","url_meta":{"origin":86793,"position":4},"title":"God’s Compassion","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalms 58 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God has the absolute right to judge \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Some get angry that He would dare to judge \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But it is the righteous God who gets angry - Psalms 7:10-11 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How can mankind who have shown repeated incidences of injustice sit in judgment on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55698,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-cords-of-the-wicked\/","url_meta":{"origin":86793,"position":5},"title":"The Cords of the Wicked","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 11, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Wayne S. Walker \"The LORD is righteous; He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked\" (Psalm 129:4). 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