Proverbs 18:12
in Proverbs 18Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Before destruction the heart of man is haughty; And before honor goeth humility.
KJV
Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility.
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This verse in Proverbs 18
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThere is nothing to be proud about. For to sink to the state of being proud has its consequences according to the text: "Before ruin the heart of man is exalted and before glory it is humble." These words [also] concern the text: "Hear and hearken, and do not be proud, because the Lord has spoken."
This site's exposition
Before destruction the heart of man is haughty
on Proverbs 18:12-14
A haughty heart goes before destruction, humility before honour, a pairing the book states more than once and here sets against answering a matter before hearing it, named folly and shame to the one who does it. A man's own spirit can sustain his infirmity, bearing him up under trouble, but a wounded spirit is asked as a question with no answer given, who can bear it, the bench reading the silence itself as the point.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Before destruction the heart of man is haughty,.... Lifted up with his riches.
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
ALMOST every event has its prophetic prelude. It is an old and common saying, that “coming events cast their shadows before them;” the wise man teaches us the same lesson in the verse before us. When destruction walks through the land, it casts its shadow; it is in the shape of pride. When honor visits a man’s house, it casts its shadow before it; it is in the fashion of humility. “Before destruction the heart of man is haughty;” pride is as surely the sign of destruction as the change of mercury in the weather-glass is the sign of rain, and far more infallibly so than that. “Before honor is humility,” even as before the summer, sweet birds return to sing in our land. Everything hath its prelude. The prelude of destruction is pride, and of honor, humility. There is nothing into which the heart of man so easily falls as pride, and yet there is no vice which is more frequently, more emphatically, and more eloquently condemned in Scripture. Against pride, prophets have lifted up their voices, evangelists have spoken and teachers have discoursed. Yea, more; the everlasting God has mounted to the very heights of eloquence when he would condemn the pride of man; and the full gushing of the Eternal’s mighty language has been most gloriously displayed in the condemnation of the pride of human nature. Perhaps the most eloquent passage of God’s Word is to be found toward the conclusion of the book of Job, where, in most splendid strains of unanswerable eloquence, God hides pride from many by utterly confounding him; and there is another very eloquent passage in the 14th chapter of Isaiah, where the Lord’s holy choler seems to have risen up, and his anger to have waxed hot against the pride of man, when he would utterly and effectually condemn it.
ALMOST every event has its prophetic prelude. It is an old and common saying, that “coming events cast their shadows before them;” the wise man teaches us the same lesson in the verse before us. When destruction walks through the land, it casts its shadow; it is in the shape of pride. When honor visits a man’s house, it casts its shadow before it; it is in the fashion of humility.
Before destruction - See on Pro 11:2 (note); Pro 16:18 (note).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Before - In the sense of priority of time.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
and like a strong wall his wealth is to him in his chambers. Since the house is paved with a floor of stones that cover the earth, it is called אבן משכית, a covering stone.
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. 4 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
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לִפְנֵי־ | lifneishe- | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| שֶׁ֭בֶר | shever | destruction | H7667 → | 45 times |
| יִגְבַּ֣הּ | yigbah | it is haughty | H1361 → | |
| לֵב־ | lev- | [the] heart of | H3820 → | 595 times |
| אִ֑ישׁ | ʾish | a person | H376 → | 1663 times |
| וְלִפְנֵ֖י | velifnei | and [is] <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| כָב֣וֹד | khavod | honor | H3519 → | 200 times |
| עֲנָוָֽה׃ | ʾanavah | humility | H6038 → | 5 times |
לִפְנֵי־<to> before
lifneishe-H6440 →2123 times
שֶׁ֭בֶרdestruction
sheverH7667 →45 times
יִגְבַּ֣הּit is haughty
yigbahH1361 →
לֵב־[the] heart of
lev-H3820 →595 times
אִ֑ישׁa person
ʾishH376 →1663 times
וְלִפְנֵ֖יand [is] <to> before
velifneiH6440 →2123 times
כָב֣וֹדhonor
khavodH3519 →200 times
עֲנָוָֽה׃humility
ʾanavahH6038 →5 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
1 Peter 5:5Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
it leads to
- James 4:6
But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
- Proverbs 3:34
He mocks the mockers, but gives grace to the humble.
- Ephesians 5:21
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
- Romans 12:10
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Outdo yourselves in honoring one another.
- Philippians 2:3
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves.
- James 4:6
Through
Proverbs 11:2When pride comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.
it leads to
- Proverbs 29:23
A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 29:23
Through
Proverbs 16:18Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
it leads to
- Proverbs 11:2
When pride comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.
- Isaiah 2:11–12
The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
- Proverbs 11:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
On this chapter
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 Spurgeon, The New Park Street Pulpit, Sermon No. 97: “Pride and Humility” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JEREMIAH 12:8.3.