Proverbs 2:12
in Proverbs 2to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perversity,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
To deliver thee from the way of evil, From the men that speak perverse things;
KJV
To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
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This verse in Proverbs 2
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThe man that speaketh froward things - תהפכות tahpuchoth, things of subverston; from תפך taphach, to turn or change the course of a thing. Men who wish to subvert the state of things, whether civil or religious; who are seditious themselves, and wish to make others so. These speak much of liberty and oppression, deal greatly in broad assertions, and endeavor especially to corrupt the minds of youth.
This site's exposition
to deliver you from the way of evil
on Proverbs 2:12-15
The words “to deliver you from the way of evil” name the first of the chapter's two deliverances, a man defined first by his speech. His company leave “the straight paths to walk in the ways of darkness,” men who knew the right paths and left them on purpose.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), and a blessed deliverance it will be, as from the very jaws of death, from the way in which he walks, and in which he would persuade thee to walk." The enemy is spoken of as one (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+odd-straight-quotes
To deliver thee from the way of the evil man,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The evil-doers here include not robbers and murderers only Pro 1:10-16, but all who leave the straight path and the open day for crooked ways, perverse counsels, deeds of darkness. “To delight etc.” Pro 2:14 is the lowest depth of all.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
who speaks perversity Those are the people who distort the thing. [Rashi as it appears in Lublin and Waxman ed.] Malbim ed. reads: who distorts the words of the Torah after his erroneous view.
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. 4 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
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לְ֭הַצִּ֣ילְךָ | lehatzilekha | to deliver you | H5337 → | 212 times |
| מִדֶּ֣רֶךְ | miderekh | from a way | H1870 → | 707 times |
| רָ֑ע | ra' | evil | H7451 → | 662 times |
| מֵ֝אִ֗ישׁ | meish | from anyone | H376 → | 1663 times |
| מְדַבֵּ֥ר | medaber | [who] speaks | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| תַּהְפֻּכֽוֹת׃ | tahpukhot | perverse things | H8419 → | 10 times |
לְ֭הַצִּ֣ילְךָto deliver you
lehatzilekhaH5337 →212 times
מִדֶּ֣רֶךְfrom a way
miderekhH1870 →707 times
רָ֑עevil
ra'H7451 →662 times
מֵ֝אִ֗ישׁfrom anyone
meishH376 →1663 times
מְדַבֵּ֥ר[who] speaks
medaberH1696 →1141 times
תַּהְפֻּכֽוֹת׃perverse things
tahpukhotH8419 →10 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 Corinthians 15:33Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
it leads to
- Proverbs 13:20
He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.
- Matthew 24:4
Jesus answered, “See to it that no one deceives you.
- 1 Corinthians 5:6
Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough?
- Proverbs 13:20
Through
Proverbs 13:20He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.
it leads to
- Proverbs 9:6
Leave your folly behind, and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 15:33–34
Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
- Proverbs 15:31
He who listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise.
- 2 Corinthians 6:14–18
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
- Proverbs 9:6
Through
2 Corinthians 6:17“Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 52:11
Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing; come out from it, purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the LORD.
- Isaiah 52:11
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); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.