Proverbs 11:18
in Proverbs 11The wicked man earns an empty wage, but he who sows righteousness reaps a true reward.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The wicked earneth deceitful wages; But he that soweth righteousness hath a sure reward.
KJV
The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward.
⋯
This verse in Proverbs 11
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Deceitful work - Work which deceives and disappoints the worker; in contrast with the “sure reward” of the second clause. Omit “shall be” and render, “but he that soweth righteousness worketh a sure reward.”
This site's exposition
A kind man benefits himself
on Proverbs 11:17-19
“A kind man benefits himself, but a cruel man brings trouble on himself,” so kindness and cruelty pay wages to the one who deals them. “The wicked man earns an empty wage,” gain promised and loss delivered, while “he who sows righteousness reaps a true reward”.
This site's exposition
The wicked man earns an empty wage
The wicked man's wage looks real and then fails him, and Albert Barnes reads deceitful work as work that deceives the one doing it. The man who sows righteousness reaps a true reward. Sowing and reaping make the wage sure.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The wicked worketh a deceitful work,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Worketh a deceitful work - An unstable work; nothing is durable that he does, except his crimes.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
does himself good He does good to his kin. A kind man lit. a man of kindness, a man who is kind.
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. 1 further source is 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| רָשָׁ֗ע | rasha' | a wicked [person] | H7563 → | 263 times |
| עֹשֶׂ֥ה | ʾoseh | [is] making | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| פְעֻלַּת־ | feulat- | wage[s] of | H6468 → | |
| שָׁ֑קֶר | shaker | falsehood | H8267 → | 113 times |
| וְזֹרֵ֥עַ | vezorea' | and [one who] sows | H2232 → | |
| צְ֝דָקָ֗ה | tzedakah | righteousness | H6666 → | 157 times |
| שֶׂ֣כֶר | sekher | wage[s] of | H7938 → | |
| אֱמֶֽת׃ | ʾemet | truth | H571 → | 127 times |
רָשָׁ֗עa wicked [person]
rasha'H7563 →263 times
עֹשֶׂ֥ה[is] making
ʾosehH6213 →2628 times
פְעֻלַּת־wage[s] of
feulat-H6468 →
שָׁ֑קֶרfalsehood
shakerH8267 →113 times
וְזֹרֵ֥עַand [one who] sows
vezorea'H2232 →
צְ֝דָקָ֗הrighteousness
tzedakahH6666 →157 times
שֶׂ֣כֶרwage[s] of
sekherH7938 →
אֱמֶֽת׃truth
ʾemetH571 →127 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
James 3:18Peacemakers who sow in peace reap the fruit of righteousness.
it leads to
- Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
- Hosea 10:12
Sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of loving devotion; break up your unplowed ground. For it is time to seek the LORD until He comes and sends righteousness upon you like rain.
- Philippians 1:11
filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
- Isaiah 32:16–17
Then justice will inhabit the wilderness, and righteousness will dwell in the fertile field.
- Galatians 6:8
The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
- Matthew 5:9
Through
Ecclesiastes 10:8He who digs a pit may fall into it, and he who breaches a wall may be bitten by a snake.
it leads to
- Proverbs 26:27
He who digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.
- Psalms 7:15–16
He has dug a hole and hollowed it out; he has fallen into a pit of his own making.
- Amos 5:19
It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a…
- Proverbs 26:27
Where this verse is studied
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); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.