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Proverbs 24:10

in Proverbs 24

If you faint in the day of distress, how small is your strength!

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

If thou faint in the day of adversity, Thy strength is small.

KJV

If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.

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This verse in Proverbs 24

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

If thou faint - If thou give way to discouragement and despair in the day of adversity - time of trial or temptation. Thy strength is small - צר כחכה tsar cochachah, thy strength is contracted. So the old MS. Bible excellently: Gif sliden thou dispeire, in the dai of anguyfs, schal be made litil thy strengthe. In times of trial we should endeavor to be doubly courageous; when a man loses his courage, his strength avails him nothing.

This site's exposition

If you faint in the day of distress

"If you faint in the day of distress, how small is your strength" stands as its own terse proverb. Distress is the test that reveals a strength never proven until then. The fainting exposes a weakness that easy days had never called upon.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Proverbs · Written before 735.

proposed

If you despair, being wearied in the day of distress, etc. Nothing is more detestable than despair, which those who have, lose the constancy of fortitude both in the general labors of this life and, which harms most, in the fight of faith.

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

If thou faint in the day of adversity,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Literally, "If thou fail in the day of straits (adversity), strait (or, small) is thy strength," which is then truly tested. Neglect of known duty is sin (Jas 4:17). ready--literally, "bowing down" to be slain--that is, unjustly.

The words behind it

5 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • הִ֭תְרַפִּיתָyou have shown yourself without courage

    hitrapitaH7503 →46 times

  • בְּי֥וֹםin a day of

    beyomH3117 →2304 times

  • צָרָ֗הtrouble

    tzarahH6869 →73 times

  • צַ֣ר[is] narrow

    tzarH6862 →

  • כֹּחֶֽכָה׃strength your

    kochekhahH3581 →126 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

15 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Isaiah 40:28–31Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching out.38 worksEphesians 3:13So I ask you not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.30 worksJeremiah 51:46Do not let your heart grow faint, and do not be afraid when the rumor is heard in the land; for a rumor will come one year—and then another the next year—of violence in the land and of ruler against ruler.25 worksHebrews 12:3–5Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.19 works1 Samuel 27:1David, however, said to himself, “One of these days now I will be swept away by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will stop searching for me all over Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”19 worksJob 4:5But now trouble has come upon you, and you are weary. It strikes you, and you are dismayed.18 works
The other 9 cross-references, with their words ▾
Jeremiah 12:5“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, how will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?18 works2 Corinthians 4:1Therefore, since God in His mercy has given us this ministry, we do not lose heart.15 worksRevelation 2:3Without growing weary, you have persevered and endured many things for the sake of My name.15 worksRevelation 2:13I know where you live, where the throne of Satan sits. Yet you have held fast to My name and have not denied your faith in Me, even in the day when My faithful witness Antipas was killed among you, where Satan dwells.10 worksPsalms 49:5Why should I fear in times of trouble, when wicked usurpers surround me?3 worksColossians 1:11being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have full endurance and patience, and joyfully3 worksJeremiah 45:3You have said, ‘Woe is me because the LORD has added sorrow to my pain! I am worn out with groaning and have found no rest.’”2 worksProverbs 3:11My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD, and do not loathe His rebuke;2 worksJohn 4:8(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)-3 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Ephesians 3:13

    So I ask you not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.

    it leads to

    • 2 Thessalonians 3:13

      But as for you, brothers, do not grow weary in well-doing.

    • Colossians 1:24

      Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, which is the church.

    • 2 Corinthians 1:6

      If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which accomplishes in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we experience.

    • Isaiah 40:30–31

      Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.

    • Ephesians 3:1

      For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles...

  • Through

    1 Samuel 27:1

    David, however, said to himself, “One of these days now I will be swept away by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the…

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 40:27–31

      Why do you say, O Jacob, and why do you assert, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my claim is ignored by my God”?

    • Isaiah 51:12

      “I, even I, am He who comforts you. Why should you be afraid of mortal man, of a son of man who withers like grass?

  • Through

    Jeremiah 51:46

    Do not let your heart grow faint, and do not be afraid when the rumor is heard in the land; for a rumor will come one year—and then another the next year—of violence in…

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 19:2

      “So I will incite Egyptian against Egyptian; brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About Proverbs

The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Proverbs: the study guide →Read Proverbs 24 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Proverbs 24 →