Proverbs 18:3
in Proverbs 18With a wicked man comes contempt as well, and shame is accompanied by disgrace.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
When the wicked cometh, there cometh also contempt, And with ignominy cometh reproach.
KJV
When the wicked cometh, then cometh also contempt, and with ignominy reproach.
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This verse in Proverbs 18
Commentary
16 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
So surely are sin and punishment connected (Pr 16:4). wicked, for "wickedness," answers to ignominy, or the state of such; and contempt, the feeling of others to them; and to reproach, a manifestation of contempt.
This site's exposition
A fool does not delight in understanding
on Proverbs 18:2-5
A fool does not delight in understanding but "only in airing his opinions," and where the wicked man comes, contempt and disgrace come with him. Showing partiality to the wicked and depriving the innocent of justice name the corruption the chapter keeps circling back to.
This site's exposition
With a wicked man comes contempt
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the verse as sin and punishment joined. Contempt is the feeling others hold toward the wicked man, and disgrace is that contempt shown openly. Shame comes with him wherever he goes.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
Confession dies with a dead man, but is always possible for one who is alive. There is this saying, "When a sinner shall have come into the depth of evil things, he despises [them]." For it is one thing to long for, another thing to fight against righteousness. It is one thing to desire to be delivered from evil, another thing to defend one's evil doings rather than to confess.
Not only slight sins but even greater offenses try to overtake us day and night. So let us not hold back repentance until the end of life, but while we are living let us endeavor to do penance daily. This practice should be observed continuously, …
Believe this devoutly and firmly: God never abandons a person unless he himself has already deserted God. Although a person may have committed serious sins once, twice and a third time, God still looks for him, as he says through the prophet, "that by his …
Just as men who plunge into the deep, the deeper they go down, they descend into darker and deeper places, so it is with humankind. For they did not keep to idolatry in a simple form, nor did they abide in that with which they began. But the longer they went on in their first condition, the more new superstitions they invented, and, not satiated with the first evils, they again filled themselves with others, advancing further in utter shamefulness and surpassing themselves in impiety. But to this divine Scripture testifies when it says, "When an ungodly man comes into a depth of evils, he despises them."
The proud and recalcitrant who despair of the forgiveness of sins repudiate forgiveness. Not only do they with pitiable blindness reject the care for their own salvation, but they also do not rest from upsetting other faithful souls with deadly words, if they are unable …
8 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers1 voice
"When the godless fall to the depths of evil, they lose all sense of respect." It is a terrible thing, you see, dearly beloved, a terrible thing to fall into the clutches of the devil. I mean, the soul then, as though caught in a net, and like a boar trapped in the mire, is likewise caught up in pleasure and, swept along by its evil habits, it loses all sense of the foul odor of its sins. Consequently, we must be awake and on our guard so as never to allow the evil demon any entrance at the outset, lest he cloud our reasoning, blind the sharp vision of our mind, and thus as if robbing us of sunlight render us unable to see the rays of the sun of justice and cause us to fall into the abyss.
The Medieval Church4 voices
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Septem Donis, Collation 3 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
The impious are those who do not acknowledge divine piety. "But the impious man, when he has come into the depth of sins, shows contempt." The impious man is he who defends his own impiety, namely sin.
The evil mind is always set in pains and labours, since it is either contriving mischiefs that it may bring down, or fearing lest these be brought down upon it by others; and whatever plot it hatches against neighbours, it is afraid of being hatched by neighbours against itself. It is on every side full of suspicions, on every side full of alarms. Everyone that occurs to mind is supposed to be making out things hostile to him, and so he, to whom the repose of security is wanting, has surely 'a dreadful sound in his ears' always. And it often happens that his neighbour, whoever he be, speaks to him with a single intention, and designs nothing hostile, but 'when there is peace, he suspecteth plots;' in that he, who is always dealing craftily, calculates that there is not single dealing towards himself. And whereas it is written, When the wicked man cometh into the pit of sinners, he contemneth, he being encompassed with the darkness of his iniquity henceforth despairs of light.
The impious man, when he has come into the depth of sins, despises, etc. He who, being wrapped in the long darkness of sins, despairs of the light, already out of desperation, loosens the reins for himself to sin everywhere. But such a one by …
The more those greater sins grow on them, the more does the soul become accustomed to them and think light of them. For it is said, "When the wicked comes to the depth of evil things, he thinks light of them."
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
When the wicked cometh, then cometh also contempt,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
When the wicked cometh, etc. - would it not be better to read this verse thus? “When the wicked cometh contempt cometh; and with ignominy cometh reproach.” A wicked man is despised even by the wicked. He who falls under ignominy falls under reproach.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
With ignominy - Better, “together with baseness comes reproach.” The outer shame follows close upon the inner.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּֽבוֹא־ | bevo'- | when comes | H935 → | 2568 times |
| רָ֭שָׁע | rasho' | a wicked [person] | H7563 → | 263 times |
| בָּ֣א | ba' | it comes | H935 → | 2568 times |
| גַם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| בּ֑וּז | buz | contempt | H937 → | |
| וְֽעִם־ | veim- | and with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| קָל֥וֹן | kalon | shame | H7036 → | 17 times |
| חֶרְפָּֽה׃ | cherpah | reproach | H2781 → |
בְּֽבוֹא־when comes
bevo'-H935 →2568 times
רָ֭שָׁעa wicked [person]
rasho'H7563 →263 times
בָּ֣אit comes
ba'H935 →2568 times
גַם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
בּ֑וּזcontempt
buzH937 →
וְֽעִם־and with
veim-H5973 →1050 times
קָל֥וֹןshame
kalonH7036 →17 times
חֶרְפָּֽה׃reproach
cherpahH2781 →
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 Peter 4:4Because of this, they consider it strange of you not to plunge with them into the same flood of reckless indiscretion, and they heap abuse on you.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 3:16
keeping a clear conscience, so that those who slander you may be put to shame by your good behavior in Christ.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Peter 2:12
Conduct yourselves with such honor among the Gentiles that, though they slander you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.
- 1 Peter 3:16
Through
Proverbs 11:2When pride comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.
it leads to
- Proverbs 29:23
A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.
- Proverbs 16:18–19
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
- Luke 18:14
I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
- Proverbs 15:33
The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom, and humility comes before honor.
- Proverbs 18:12
Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.
- Proverbs 29:23
Through
1 Peter 4:14If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 3:14
But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be shaken.”
- 1 Peter 3:14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
On this chapter
About Proverbs
This page draws on 16 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Athanasius of Alexandria, Against the Heathen 8:4; Augustine of Hippo, EXPLANATIONS OF THE PSALMS 68:7; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Bonaventure, Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 3; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 61:1; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 101:2; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; Fulgentius of Ruspe, LETTER TO VENANTIA 3; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job 12.44; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 22:12; John Damascene, BARLAAM AND JOSEPH 19:172 and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).