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Proverbs 22:4

in Proverbs 22

The rewards of humility and the fear of the LORD are wealth and honor and life.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

The reward of humility and the fear of Jehovah Is riches, and honor, and life.

KJV

By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life.

This verse in Proverbs 22

Commentary

4 notes on this verse
By humility and the fear of the Lord,.... Some render it, "the reward of humility, which is the fear of the Lord" (r); so the Targum; an humble man is blessed with it.

This site's exposition

A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself

on Proverbs 22:3-5

A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself, while the simple walk straight into the same danger and pay for it, a proverb repeated word for word at 27:12. By humility and the fear of the Lord names the true source of riches, honour and life that the chapter opened by preferring to wealth for its own sake, humility and the fear of the Lord answering the good name of verse 1 with the root that produces it. Thorns and snares in the way of the froward closes the trio with the same foresight theme, the man who keeps his soul staying clear of dangers a careless man walks straight through.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Proverbs · Written before 735.

proposed

The reward of humility is the fear of the Lord, etc. By humility, he means the steadfastness of good works; by the fear of the Lord, he means that fear which remains forever. Since indeed the perfection of virtues is to ascend to this state …

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Better, (compare the margin) The reward of humility (is) the fear of the Lord, “riches, and honor, and life.

The words behind it

7 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • עֵ֣קֶב[the] consequence of

    ʾekevH6118

  • עֲ֭נָוָהhumility

    ʾanavahH60385 times

  • יִרְאַ֣ת[the] fear of

    yiratH337445 times

  • יְהוָ֑הYahweh

    yahwehH30686520 times

  • עֹ֖שֶׁר[is] wealth

    ʾosherH623937 times

  • וְכָב֣וֹדand honor

    vekhavodH3519200 times

  • וְחַיִּֽים׃and life

    vechaiyimH2416498 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Matthew 6:33

    But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 5:6

      Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Luke 12:31

      But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added unto you.

    • John 6:27

      Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of…

    • Psalms 34:9–10

      Fear the LORD, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing.

    • Psalms 84:11–12

      For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.

  • Through

    James 4:10

    Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 147:6

      The LORD sustains the humble, but casts the wicked to the ground.

    • Matthew 23:12

      For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

    • 1 Peter 5:6

      Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, so that in due time He may exalt you.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

About Proverbs

King Solomon in Old Age, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
King Solomon in Old Age, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament.