Proverbs 21:16

The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
man	אָדָ֗ם 'a.Dam	H120	ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · noun, common masculine singular absolute
wandereth	תּ֭וֹעֶה To.'eh	H8582	to vacillate · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
way	מִדֶּ֣רֶךְ mi.De.rekh	H1870	a road (as trodden) · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct
understanding	הַשְׂכֵּ֑ל has.Kel	H7919	to be (causatively · verb, hiphil infinitive absolute
remain	יָנֽוּחַ ya.Nu.ach	H5117	to rest · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
congregation	בִּקְהַ֖ל bik.Hal	H6951	assemblage (usually concretely) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
dead	רְפָאִ֣ים re.fa.'Im	H7496	properly · noun, common masculine plural 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

Hebrews 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
Psalms 125:5 As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the LORD shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity: but peace shall be upon Isra…
Psalms 49:14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their bea…
Zephaniah 1:6 And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor enquired for him.
Hebrews 10:26-27 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, t…
Proverbs 2:18-19 For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
Proverbs 7:26-27 For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 21:16

Here is, 1. The sinner upon his ramble: He wanders out of the way of understanding, and when once he has left that good way he wanders endlessly. The way of religion is the way of understanding; those that are not truly pious are not truly intelligent; those that wander out of this way break the hedge which God has set, and follow the conduct of the world and the flesh; and they go astray like lost sheep. 2. The sinner at his rest, or rather his ruin: He shall remain (quiescet - he shall rest, but not in pace - in peace) in the congregation of the giants, the sinners of the old world, that were swept away by the deluge; to that destruction the damnation of sinners is compared, as sometimes t…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 21:16

the way of understanding--(Compare Pro 12:26; Pro 14:22). remain--that is, rest as at a journey's end; death will be his unchanging home.

John Gill on Proverbs 21:16

The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding,.... The way of getting understanding, the good ways and word of God; that wanders from the house of God, the assembly of the saints, where the Gospel is preached, and the ordinances are administered; that, instead of attending on them, where he might gain the understanding of divine and spiritual things, wanders about in the fields, gets into bad company, walks with them in their ways, and turns to his own, as a sheep that goes astray: he shall remain in the congregation of the dead; among those that are spiritually dead, dead in trespasses and sins; such an one he himself is, and such he is like to continue, and not be written among t…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 21:16

16 A man who wanders from the way of understanding, Shall dwell in the assembly of the dead. Regarding השׂכּל, vid., Pro 1:3; and regarding רפאים, Pro 2:18. The verb נוּח means to repose, to take rest, Job 3:13, and to dwell anywhere, Pro 14:33; but originally like (Arab.) nâkh and hadd, to lay oneself down anywhere, and there to come to rest; and that is the idea which is here connected with ינוּח, for the figurative description of יאבד or ימוּת is formed after the designation of the subject, 16a: he who, forsaking the way of understanding, walks in the way of error, at length comes to the assembly of the dead; for every motion has an end, and every journey a goal, whether it be one that i…

The Church Fathers

The man who strays from the way of doctrine, etc. He says that the giants are unclean spirits, about which the blessed Job says, "Behold, the giants groan beneath the waters, and those who dwell with them" (Job 26:5), that is, proud and malevolent strong spirits of demons, together with the men whom they have deceived, tormented by inflicted punishments. For to this company will be joined those who have strayed from the way of truth, with the judge himself attesting, who predicted that he would say to them: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41).
— 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

Giants — (1.) Heb. nephilim, meaning “violent” or “causing to fall” (Gen. 6:4). These were the violent tyrants of those days, those who fell upon others. The word may also be derived from a root signifying…
Hell — Derived from the Saxon helan, to cover; hence the covered or the invisible place. In Scripture there are three words so rendered: (1.) Sheol, occurring in the Old Testament sixty-five times. This…
Dead (People) · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Hades · 2. The realm (state) of the — 2. The realm (state) of the

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 21:16

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 21:16

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 21:16

John Gill on Proverbs 21:16

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 21:16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 21:16

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 21:16

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 21:16

John Gill on Proverbs 21:16

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 21:16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 21:16

Rashi on Proverbs 21:16