Proverbs 24:21

My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change:

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
son	בְּנִ֣י be.Ni	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
fear	יְרָֽא ye.ra'-	H3372	to fear · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
LORD	יְהוָ֣ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
king	וָמֶ֑לֶךְ va.Me.lekh	H4428	a king · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
meddle	תִּתְעָרָֽב tit.'a.Rav	H6148	to braid · verb, hithpael jussive, 2nd person masculine singular
change	שׁ֝וֹנִ֗ים Sho.Nim	H8138	to fold · verb, qal active participle, 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

Romans 13:1-7 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
1 Kings 12:16 So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither h…
Titus 3:1 Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
1 Peter 2:13-17 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;
Exodus 14:31 And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant…
Matthew 22:21 They say unto him, Cæsar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s; and unto God the things that…
1 Samuel 12:12-19 And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when t…
Ecclesiastes 8:2-5 I counsel thee to keep the king’s commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God.

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 24:21-22

Note, 1. Religion and loyalty must go together. As men, it is our duty to honour our Creator, to worship and reverence him, and to be always in his fear; as members of a community, incorporated for mutual benefit, it is our duty to be faithful and dutiful to the government God has set over us, Rom 13:1, Rom 13:2. Those that are truly religious will be loyal, in conscience towards God; the godly in the land will be the quite in the land; and those are not truly loyal, or will be so no longer than is for their interest, that are not religious. How should he be true to his prince that is false to his God? And, if they come in competition, it is an adjudged case, we must obey God rather than men…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 24:21

A warning against impiety and resistance to lawful rule (Rom 13:1-7; Pe1 2:17). meddle . . . change--(Compare Margin), literally, "mingle not yourself," avoid the society of restless persons.

John Gill on Proverbs 24:21

My son, fear thou the Lord, and the king,.... First the Lord, and then the king; and such as fear the Lord are generally loyal to their king; the fear of God includes love to him, reverence of him, faith in him, submission to him, and the whole worship of him, inward and outward, attended with holiness of life and conversation: and the king, who is under God, is to be feared also, with a fear suitable to him; he is to be loved and reverenced, to be trusted in and submitted to, in everything consistent with the fear of God and obedience to him; in whatever is not contrary to his laws, commands, and ordinances; see 1 Peter 2:13; and meddle not with them that are given to change; in political…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 24:21-22

A warning against rebellious thoughts against God and the king: 21 My son, honour Jahve and the king, And involve not thyself with those who are otherwise disposed; 22 For suddenly their calamity ariseth, And the end of their years, who knoweth it? The verb שׁנה, proceeding from the primary idea of folding (complicare, duplicare), signifies transitively to do twice, to repeat, Pro 17:9; Pro 26:11, according to which Kimchi here inappropriately thinks on relapsing; and intransitively, to change, to be different, Est 1:7; Est 3:8. The Syr. and Targ. translate the word שׁטיי, fools; but the Kal (טעמו) שׁנה occurs, indeed, in the Syr., but not in the Heb., in the meaning alienata est (mens ejus)…

The Church Fathers

Fear the Lord, my son, and the king. Rightly as he himself said, "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's" (Matt. 22). Neither is there any obstacle in the Lord and king to understand the Father and the Son being designated, who are to be worshipped with one and the same honor of divinity. For he who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him (John 5). And do not join with the detractors. Meaning those who, claiming to know God the Father, refused to receive the Son of God appearing in the flesh.
— Bede, Commentary on Proverbs

"Fear God, my son, and the king," that is, fear Christ, the true God and king. Or by "king" [Solomon] means the one who, before ruling over others, rules himself. "Do not be disobedient to any of them." Indeed, the one who denies respect to the king elected by God dishonors God. The impious will be immediately punished: certainly nobody knows that hour or day. Often for those still living an unexpected punishment is taken. Therefore only the judge knows the opportunity and reason of the punishment to be inflicted, or somebody who is a very close friend. So never have a friend except for the Lord and the king: certainly if they are not friends of the Lord and the king, they are their enemies. In truth, do not consider as friends those who are not the friends of the king and the Lord.
— John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON, FRAGMENT 24:21

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

Children · Should: Fear God — Should: Fear God
Citizens · DUTIES OF — DUTIES OF
Instability · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Kings · Should be: Feared — Should be: Feared
Loyalty · Enjoine — Enjoine
Reverence · 4:10;5:29;6:2,13;10:12,20,21;13:4;14:23;28:49,58; — 4:10;5:29;6:2,13;10:12,20,21;13:4;14:23;28:49,58;
Young Men · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

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 24:21

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 24:21-22

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 24:21

John Gill on Proverbs 24:21

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 24:21-22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 24:21

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 24:21-22

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 24:21

John Gill on Proverbs 24:21

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 24:21-22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 24:21-22

Rashi on Proverbs 24:21