Proverbs 11:5

The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way: but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
righteousness	צִדְקַ֣ת tzid.Kat	H6666	rightness (abstractly) · noun, common feminine singular construct
perfect	תָּ֭מִים Ta.mim	H8549	entire (literally · adjective, masculine singular absolute
direct	תְּיַשֵּׁ֣ר te.ya.Sher	H3474	to be straight or even · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
way	דַּרְכּ֑וֹ dar.Ko	H1870	a road (as trodden) · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
wicked	רָשָֽׁע ra.Sha'	H7563	morally wrong · noun, common masculine singular absolute
fall	יִפֹּ֥ל yi.Pol	H5307	to fall · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
wickedness	וּ֝בְרִשְׁעָת֗וֹ u.ve.rish.'a.To	H7564	wrong (especially moral) · conjunction + preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Proverbs 5:22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
Psalms 9:15-16 The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.
Esther 7:3-10 Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at…
Proverbs 1:31-32 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
Proverbs 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Proverbs 11:3 The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.
Matthew 27:4-5 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.
2 Samuel 17:23 And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and pu…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 11:5-6

These two verses are, in effect, the same, and both to the same purport with Pro 11:3. For the truths are here of such certainty and weight that they cannot be too often inculcated. Let us govern ourselves by these principles. I. That the ways of religion are plain and safe, and in them we may enjoy a holy security. A living principle of honesty and grace will be, 1. Our best direction in the right way, in every doubtful case to say to us, This is the way, walk in it. He that acts without a guide looks right on and sees his way before him. 2. Our best deliverance from every false way: The righteousness of the upright shall be armour of proof to them, to deliver them from the allurements of t…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 11:5

direct--or, "make plain"; wicked ways are not plain (Pro 13:17).

John Gill on Proverbs 11:5

The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way,.... Or "make it plain" (f); that is, the righteousness of those who are perfect in Christ, complete in him, perfectly justified by his righteousness; that righteousness makes their way plain; it is the direct way, the highway, the pathway to eternal life and happiness; see Proverbs 12:28; but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness; or, "in his wickedness" (g): in his own wicked way, which he has chosen and delights to walk in; he shall stumble therein, and fall into ruin and destruction, into hell and damnation: or by means or because of it he will fall; his wickedness will be the cause of his fall; as it will be the cause of the f…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 11:5

5 The righteousness of the blameless smootheth his way, And by his own wickedness doth the wicked fall. With the תּמים (cf. Pro 1:12), formed after the passive, more than with תּם, is connected the idea of the perfected, but more in the negative sense of moral spotlessness than of moral perfection. The rectitude of a man who seeks to keep his conscience and his character pure, maketh smooth (ישּׁר, as Pro 3:6, not of the straightness of the line, but of the surface, evenness) his life's path, so that he can pursue his aim without stumbling and hindrance, and swerving from the direct way; while, on the contrary, the godless comes to ruin by his godlessness - that by which he seeks to forward…

The Church Fathers

To be repeatedly requesting forgiveness for offenses repeatedly committed is not repentance, only its appearance. "The righteousness of the blameless keeps their way straight," proclaims Scripture, and again, "The righteousness of the innocent will set straight their way."
— Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 2

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Integrity · 16:19,20; — 16:19,20;
Righteousness · FRUITS OF — FRUITS OF

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Proverbs 11:5

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 11:5-6

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 11:5

John Gill on Proverbs 11:5

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 11:5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 11:5

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 11:5-6

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 11:5

John Gill on Proverbs 11:5

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 11:5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 11:4

Rashi on Proverbs 11:3