Proverbs 15:24

The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
way	אֹ֣רַח 'O.rach	H734	a well-trodden road (literally or figuratively) · noun, common masculine singular construct
life	חַ֭יִּים Chai.yim	H2416	alive · noun, common masculine plural absolute
above	לְמַ֣עְלָה le.Ma'.lah	H4605	properly · preposition + cardinal number, both genders singular absolute + directional suffix
wise	לְמַשְׂכִּ֑יל le.mas.Kil	H7919	to be (causatively · preposition + verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular absolute
depart	ס֝֗וּר Sur	H5493	to turn off (literal or figurative) · verb, qal infinitive construct
hell	מִשְּׁא֥וֹל mi.she.'ol	H7585	Hades or the world of the dead (as if a subterranean re… · preposition + noun, common both genders singular absolute
beneath	מָֽטָּה Ma.tah	H4295	downward · cardinal number, masculine singular absolute

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

Colossians 3:1-2 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Psalms 16:11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
Matthew 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Jeremiah 21:8 And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Philippians 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Psalms 139:24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Proverbs 23:14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 15:24

The way of wisdom and holiness is here recommended to us, 1. As very safe and comfortable: It is the way of life, the way that leads to eternal life, in which we shall find the joy and satisfaction which will be the life of the soul, and at the end of which we shall find the perfection of blessedness. Be wise and live. It is the way to escape that misery which we cannot but see ourselves exposed to, and in danger of. It is to depart from hell beneath, from the snares of hell, the temptations of Satan, and all his wiles, from the pains of hell, that everlasting destruction which our sins have deserved. 2. As very sublime and honourable: It is above. A good man sets his affections on things ab…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 15:24

(Compare Col 3:2). Holy purposes prevent sinning, and so its evils.

John Gill on Proverbs 15:24

The way of life is above to the wise,.... Of "the way of life"; See Gill on Proverbs 10:17; this is said to be "above", or it tends "to what is above"; it leads to heaven and happiness above; the life itself it is the way of or to is above, it is hid with Christ in God; eternal life, glory, and happiness, is above; it is a house eternal in the heavens, an inheritance reserved there, and will be there enjoyed by the saints: the way to it is above; Christ is the way, and he is in heaven, at the Father's right hand, through whom only men can come at this life; wherefore those who are in the way of it have their thoughts, their hearts, their affections and conversations, above, Matthew 6:21. Fai…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 15:24

Four proverbs of fundamentally different doctrines: 24 The man of understanding goeth upwards on a way of life, To depart from hell beneath. The way of life is one, Pro 5:6; Psa 16:11 (where, notwithstanding the want of the article, the idea is logically determined), although in itself forming a plurality of ארחות, Pro 2:19. "A way of life," in the translation, is equivalent to a way which is a way of life. למעלה, upwards (as Ecc 3:21, where, in the doubtful question whether the spirit of a man at his death goes upwards, there yet lies the knowledge of the alternative), belongs, as the parallel משּׁאול מטּה shows, to ארח חיּים as virtual adj.: a way of life which leads upwards. And the ל of…

The Church Fathers

The path of life is above the wise, etc. He calls the wise one perfected not only in knowledge, but also in practice. For to him indeed the paths of life from above are rightly opened; to him the gate of heaven is open. But the last hell, from which he is delivered, is the final punishment of damnation. For the first hell is the blindness of the sinning soul, and the lack of knowledge of true light, of which it is said in the Psalms, And they descend into hell alive (Ps. 54), that is, they knowingly fall into sin.
— Bede, Commentary on Proverbs

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

Hades · 2. The realm (state) of the — 2. The realm (state) of the
Hell · scriptures — scriptures

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 15:24

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 15:24

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 15:24

John Gill on Proverbs 15:24

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 15:24

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 15:24

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 15:24

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 15:24

John Gill on Proverbs 15:24

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 15:24

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 15:24

Rashi on Proverbs 15:24