Proverbs 11:4
in Proverbs 11Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Riches profit not in the day of wrath; But righteousness delivereth from death.
KJV
Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death.
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This verse in Proverbs 11
Commentary
7 notes on this verse[Solomon] leads toward understanding especially when he says, "Possessions are of no advantage in the day of wrath." For he infused your heart with the knowledge that an abundance of money will be of no help to you in that day, nor will it remove eternal punishment. And when he says, "The innocent will inherit the earth," he clearly means the earth of which the meek are also heirs, for first the psalmist said, "But the meek will inherit the earth," and then the Lord, when preaching about beatitude, said, "Blessed are the meek, for they will possess the earth."
This site's exposition
Riches are worthless in the day of wrath
on Proverbs 11:4-8
“Riches are worthless in the day of wrath” states what money cannot buy, and righteousness stands as the one deliverance named. The four proverbs that follow work the same ground: “the wicked fall by their own wickedness,” and the two courses end apart even in trouble.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
I know why it is written: "Wealth will not profit in the day of wrath." This was said about the one who does not employ his wealth for mercy. Is not the power of wealth to be brought forth and used at a time of …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
In the day of public judgments riches often expose men rather than protect them, Ezek. vii. It is righteousness only that will deliver from the evil of death. A good conscience will make death easy, and take off the terror of it; it is the privilege of the righteous only not to be hurt of the second death, and so not much hurt by the first.
Riches profit not in the day of wrath,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Riches profit not in the day of wrath - Among men they can do all things; but they cannot purchase the remission of sins, nor turn aside the wrath of God when that is poured out upon the opulent transgressor.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The day of wrath - Words true in their highest sense of the great “diesirae” of the future, but spoken in the first instance (compare Zep 1:15-18) of any “day of the Lord,” any time of judgment, when men or nations receive the chastisement of their sins. At such a time “riches profit not.”
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יוֹעִ֣יל | yoil | it profits | H3276 → | |
| ה֭וֹן | hon | wealth | H1952 → | 26 times |
| בְּי֣וֹם | beyom | in [the] day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| עֶבְרָ֑ה | ʾevrah | fury | H5678 → | 34 times |
| וּ֝צְדָקָ֗ה | utzedakah | and righteousness | H6666 → | 157 times |
| תַּצִּ֥יל | tatzil | it delivers | H5337 → | 212 times |
| מִמָּֽוֶת׃ | mimavet | from death | H4194 → | 156 times |
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יוֹעִ֣ילit profits
yoilH3276 →
ה֭וֹןwealth
honH1952 →26 times
בְּי֣וֹםin [the] day of
beyomH3117 →2304 times
עֶבְרָ֑הfury
ʾevrahH5678 →34 times
וּ֝צְדָקָ֗הand righteousness
utzedakahH6666 →157 times
תַּצִּ֥ילit delivers
tatzilH5337 →212 times
מִמָּֽוֶת׃from death
mimavetH4194 →156 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 Timothy 4:8For physical exercise is of limited value, but godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for the present life and for the one to come.
it leads to
- Matthew 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
- 1 Timothy 6:6
Of course, godliness with contentment is great gain.
- Psalms 37:3–4
Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
- Proverbs 19:23
The fear of the LORD leads to life, that one may rest content, without visitation from harm.
- Proverbs 22:4
The rewards of humility and the fear of the LORD are wealth and honor and life.
- Matthew 6:33
Through
Genesis 7:1Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.
it leads to
- Matthew 24:37–39
As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.
- 2 Peter 2:5–9
if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among the eight;
- Genesis 6:9
This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God.
- Matthew 24:37–39
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); Basil of Caesarea, HOMILY ON THE BEGINNING OF PROVERBS 14; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Shenoute the Archimandrite, ON LANGUAGE.