Commentaire de citation sur Les Proverbes 20:20

as the apple Heb. (כאישון). That is the pupil (lit. the black) of the eye, on which the vision depends. Because it is black, it is called אישון, an expression of darkness, and the Holy One, blessed be He, prepared a guard for it, viz. the eyelids, which constantly cover it.

דעכו It is Pual,^21aI. E. seems to have read רֹּעֲכוּ instead of the Kal רׇּעֲכוּ comp. Ps. 118:12. and means they are extinct; comp. ידעך shall be put out (Prov. 20:20)

For a commandment is a candle, and the Torah is light Just as light always illuminates, so does the merit of the Torah stand for a person forever, but the merit of the commandment is only for a limited time, like the light of a candle. Another explanation: For a commandment is a candle, etc. The command of the father is a candle. Whoever fulfills the command of his father is as though he takes a candle in his hand to light a dark place, and if he loses anything there he finds it by its light; similarly, whoever fulfills his mother’s instruction—it is light to him, and so [Scripture] states (verse 20): “and forsake not the instruction of your mother.” It is certain that this verse speaks of the commands of one’s father and mother, for it is written (20:20): “If one curses his father or mother, his candle will be put out in the blackest darkness.” Now if a person’s candle goes out when he does not fulfill the commandments of his parents, conversely when he fulfills the command, his candle lights up (Rabbi Joseph Kara).