Proverbs 14:13
in Proverbs 14Even in laughter the heart may ache, and joy may end in sorrow.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; And the end of mirth is heaviness.
KJV
Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness.
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This verse in Proverbs 14
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
There is a way which seemeth right unto a man
on Proverbs 14:12-13
There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death: the book repeats this sentence word for word at 16:25, a doubling that states the danger twice because self-deceived confidence is the hardest error to catch from inside. The verse warns against trusting a feeling of rightness in place of the fear of the Lord that opened the book. Verse 13 extends the same warning to pleasure: even in laughter the heart can be sorrowful, and mirth can end in heaviness the laughing face never showed.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful - Many a time is a smile forced upon the face, when the heart is in deep distress. And it is a hard task to put on the face of mirth, when a man has a heavy heart.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Sorrow of some kind either mingles itself with outward joy, or follows hard upon it.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Even with laughter that the Holy One, blessed be He, laughs with the heathens in this world. Their heart will ache in the future, and so Scripture says (Isa.:14): “And you shall cry out from sorrow of heart.”
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
There is a way that seems right to a man He commits a transgression and says, “There is no transgression in it.
The one with an impure heart shall have his fill from his ways Esau.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| בִּשְׂח֥וֹק | bischok | in laughter | H7814 → | |
| יִכְאַב־ | yikhav- | it is in pain | H3510 → | |
| לֵ֑ב | lev | a heart | H3820 → | 595 times |
| וְאַחֲרִיתָ֖הּ | veacharitah | and end its | H319 → | 61 times |
| שִׂמְחָ֣ה | simchah | joy | H8057 → | 94 times |
| תוּגָֽה׃ | tugah | [may be] grief | H8424 → | 4 times |
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
בִּשְׂח֥וֹקin laughter
bischokH7814 →
יִכְאַב־it is in pain
yikhav-H3510 →
לֵ֑בa heart
levH3820 →595 times
וְאַחֲרִיתָ֖הּand end its
veacharitahH319 →61 times
שִׂמְחָ֣הjoy
simchahH8057 →94 times
תוּגָֽה׃[may be] grief
tugahH8424 →4 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ecclesiastes 11:9Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes,…
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 12:14
For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
- 1 John 2:15–16
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- Ecclesiastes 12:1
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of adversity come and the years approach of which you will say, “I find no pleasure in them,”
- Lamentations 3:27
It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is still young.
- Ecclesiastes 3:17
I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed.”
- Ecclesiastes 12:14
Through
James 4:9Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.
it leads to
- Matthew 5:4
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
- 2 Corinthians 7:10–11
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
- Matthew 5:4
Through
Luke 16:25But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.
it leads to
- Luke 6:24
But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.
- Luke 6:24
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).