Proverbs 19:16
in Proverbs 19He who keeps a commandment preserves his soul, but he who is careless in his ways will die.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his soul; But he that is careless of his ways shall die.
KJV
He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his own soul; but he that despiseth his ways shall die.
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This verse in Proverbs 19
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Laziness brings on deep sleep
on Proverbs 19:15-16
Slothfulness casts a man into deep sleep, and the idle soul suffers hunger, the book's steady picture of laziness as a self-inflicted wound. Keeping the commandment is named the keeping of one's soul, the two verses setting bodily neglect and spiritual neglect as the same kind of failure.
This site's exposition
keeps a commandment preserves his soul
Keeping the commandment is named the keeping of the soul itself. Verse 15 set bodily idleness beside it, and the careless man here dies of the same neglect in his ways. The two verses treat both failures alike.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
He that keepeth the commandment,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Keepeth his own soul - i. e., His life in the truest and highest sense.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
He who keeps a commandment keeps his soul; he who despises his ways will die He does not take heed to weigh them.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Laziness causes one to fall into a deep sleep Laziness causes one to fall asleep. This is the figure, but the allegory is that it concerns one who neglects his studies; it will ultimately come about that people will ask him words of wisdom, and he will be sound asleep.
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. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שֹׁמֵ֣ר | shomer | [one who] keeps | H8104 → | 468 times |
| מִ֭צְוָה | mitzvah | a commandment | H4687 → | 181 times |
| שֹׁמֵ֣ר | shomer | [is] guarding | H8104 → | 468 times |
| נַפְשׁ֑וֹ | nafsho | life his | H5315 → | 754 times |
| בּוֹזֵ֖ה | bozeh | [the] [one who] despises | H959 → | 44 times |
| דְרָכָ֣יו | derakhav | <of> ways his | H1870 → | 707 times |
| יָמֽוּת׃ | yumat | he will die | H4191 → | 839 times |
שֹׁמֵ֣ר[one who] keeps
shomerH8104 →468 times
מִ֭צְוָהa commandment
mitzvahH4687 →181 times
שֹׁמֵ֣ר[is] guarding
shomerH8104 →468 times
נַפְשׁ֑וֹlife his
nafshoH5315 →754 times
בּוֹזֵ֖ה[the] [one who] despises
bozehH959 →44 times
דְרָכָ֣יו<of> ways his
derakhavH1870 →707 times
יָמֽוּת׃he will die
yumatH4191 →839 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
Luke 11:28But He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
it leads to
- Luke 6:47–48
I will show you what he is like who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them:
- Luke 8:21
But He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and carry it out.”
- Psalms 112:1
Hallelujah! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in His commandments.
- James 1:21–25
Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and every expression of evil, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save your souls.
- John 13:17
If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
- Luke 6:47–48
Through
1 John 5:3For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome,
it leads to
- John 14:15
If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
- John 15:10
If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.
- Deuteronomy 7:9
Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion for a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.
- John 14:15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on 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.