Proverbs 12:3
in Proverbs 12A man cannot be established through wickedness, but the righteous cannot be uprooted.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
A man shall not be established by wickedness; But the root of the righteous shall not be moved.
KJV
A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.
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This verse in Proverbs 12
Commentary
5 notes on this verseWhat is the care and aim of a good man: His root yields fruit, and is his strength and stability, and that is it that he desires, to do good and to be fixed and confirmed in doing good. The wicked desires only a net wherewith to fish for himself; the righteous desires to yield fruit for the benefit of others and God's glory, Rom. xiv.
This site's exposition
Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge
on Proverbs 12:1-3
The one who hates correction is called “stupid,” a Hebrew word that pictures a man reduced below his own humanity. The good man “obtains favor from the LORD,” but the LORD condemns “a man who devises evil”. Verse 3 restates the contrast as foundations, “the righteous cannot be uprooted”.
This site's exposition
the righteous cannot be uprooted
The saying pictures the righteous man as a tree with deep roots, the image verse 12 returns to. Matthew Henry says that root yields fruit and gives the good man his stability. Wickedness is shifting ground.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
A man shall not be established by wickedness,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A man shall not be established by wickedness - Evil is always variable: it has no fixed principle, except the root that is in the human heart; and even that is ever assuming new forms. Nothing is permanent but goodness; and that is unchangeable, because it comes from God. The produce of goodness is permanent, because it has God’s blessing in it: the fruit of wickedness, or the property procured by wickedness, is transitory, because it has God’s curse in it. The righteous has his root in God; and therefore he shall not be moved.
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 |
| יִכּ֣וֹן | yikon | he is established | H3559 → | 217 times |
| אָדָ֣ם | ʾadam | anyone | H120 → | 551 times |
| בְּרֶ֑שַׁע | beresha' | by wickedness | H7562 → | 30 times |
| וְשֹׁ֥רֶשׁ | veshoresh | and [the] root of | H8328 → | |
| צַ֝דִּיקִ֗ים | tzadikim | righteous [people] | H6662 → | 206 times |
| בַּל־ | bal- | not | H1077 → | 73 times |
| יִמּֽוֹט׃ | yimot | it is moved | H4131 → | 38 times |
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יִכּ֣וֹןhe is established
yikonH3559 →217 times
אָדָ֣םanyone
ʾadamH120 →551 times
בְּרֶ֑שַׁעby wickedness
beresha'H7562 →30 times
וְשֹׁ֥רֶשׁand [the] root of
veshoreshH8328 →
צַ֝דִּיקִ֗יםrighteous [people]
tzadikimH6662 →206 times
בַּל־not
bal-H1077 →73 times
יִמּֽוֹט׃it is moved
yimotH4131 →38 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
Colossians 2:7rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
it leads to
- Ephesians 3:17
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love,
- Jeremiah 17:8
He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not…
- Ephesians 2:20–22
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.
- John 15:4–5
Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.
- Colossians 1:23
if indeed you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope of the gospel you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul,…
- Ephesians 3:17
Through
Ephesians 3:17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love,
it leads to
- Colossians 2:7
rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
- John 14:23
Jesus replied, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
- 1 John 4:16
And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
- Colossians 2:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.