Proverbs 16:17
in Proverbs 16The highway of the upright leads away from evil; he who guards his way protects his life.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: He that keepeth his way preserveth his soul.
KJV
The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul.
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This verse in Proverbs 16
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
How much better to acquire wisdom than gold
on Proverbs 16:16-17
“How much better to acquire wisdom than gold!” restates the comparison chapter 8 made at length, now in the shorter form of the sayings. “The highway of the upright leads away from evil,” a road to keep to, and “he who guards his way protects his life”.
This site's exposition
The highway of the upright
The upright man's way is pictured as a built highway, a road a man keeps to day after day. John Gill reads the verse as holiness protecting the life of the man who guards his way. Staying on the road keeps him safe.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The highway of the upright is to depart from evil,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The highway--A common, plain road represents the habitual course of the righteous in departing from evil. keepeth--observes. Haughtiness and pride imply self-confidence which produces carelessness, and hence a fall--literally, "sliding."
The highway of the upright - The upright man is ever departing from evil; this is his common road: and by keeping on in this way, his soul is preserved.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מְסִלַּ֣ת | mesilat | [the] highway of | H4546 → | |
| יְ֭שָׁרִים | yesharim | upright [people] | H3477 → | 119 times |
| ס֣וּר | sur | [is] to turn aside | H5493 → | 299 times |
| מֵרָ֑ע | mera' | from evil | H7451 → | 662 times |
| שֹׁמֵ֥ר | shomer | [is] protecting | H8104 → | 468 times |
| נַ֝פְשׁ֗וֹ | nafsho | life his | H5315 → | 754 times |
| נֹצֵ֥ר | notzer | [one who] guards | H5341 → | 63 times |
| דַּרְכּֽוֹ׃ | darko | way his | H1870 → | 707 times |
מְסִלַּ֣ת[the] highway of
mesilatH4546 →
יְ֭שָׁרִיםupright [people]
yesharimH3477 →119 times
ס֣וּר[is] to turn aside
surH5493 →299 times
מֵרָ֑עfrom evil
mera'H7451 →662 times
שֹׁמֵ֥ר[is] protecting
shomerH8104 →468 times
נַ֝פְשׁ֗וֹlife his
nafshoH5315 →754 times
נֹצֵ֥ר[one who] guards
notzerH5341 →63 times
דַּרְכּֽוֹ׃way his
darkoH1870 →707 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
Revelation 3:10Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the…
it leads to
- 2 Peter 2:9
if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.
- Revelation 14:12
Here is a call for the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
- Daniel 12:10
Many will be purified, made spotless, and refined, but the wicked will continue to act wickedly. None of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand.
- Zechariah 13:9
This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They…
- 2 Peter 2:9
Through
Isaiah 35:8And there will be a highway called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel it—only those who walk in the Way—and fools will not stray onto it.
it leads to
- Matthew 7:13–14
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
- Isaiah 42:16
I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These…
- John 14:6
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
- Matthew 7:13–14
Through
Jude 1:21keep yourselves in the love of God as you await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life.
it leads to
- 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.
- 1 John 4:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies11
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).