Proverbs 28:14
in Proverbs 28Blessed is the man who is always reverent, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Happy is the man that feareth alway; But he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.
KJV
Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.
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This verse in Proverbs 28
Commentary
11 notes on this verseHe who in all things stands in awe out of reverent timidity is called blessed, and he stands firm in the truth who is able to say, "I set the Lord always in my sight; for he is at my right hand that I shall not be moved."
This site's exposition
He who conceals his sins will not prosper
on Proverbs 28:13-14
"He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy" is the collection's clearest gospel-shaped sentence. Renouncing stands beside confessing, so mercy answers a change of direction. Verse 14 closes on the reverence, while "he who hardens his heart falls into trouble."
This site's exposition
Blessed is the man who is always reverent
Basil calls blessed the man who is always reverent and stands in awe in all things. He joins the verse to the psalm of the man who keeps the LORD always before him. The man who hardens his heart falls.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
A commentator
Salvian the PresbyterFOUR BOOKS OF TIMOTHY TO THE CHURCH 2:3 · Written before 500.
proposed
Someone asks, "Is there, therefore, no difference between saints and sinners?" Certainly, there is a great and almost immeasurable difference. Scripture says, "Blessed is the man who is always fearful." The mind of a wise person is ever uneasy about his own salvation. Although there …
Let your requests be spiritual … let your mind be alert, let your attention be concentrated on the words. Ask for the kind of things it is usual to ask of God so that you may gain what you ask. To the same end maintain your constant vigil, alert, keeping your attention undimmed, no yawning or switching your mind in one direction and another, but working out your salvation in fear and trembling. "Blessed is the person," Scripture says, remember, "whose piety puts him in awe of everything."
The Medieval Church3 voices
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistRegister of Epistles, Book 7, Epistle XXV · Written before 604.
proposed
Thou oughtest not, then, in this life to have security, whereby thou mayest be rendered careless. For it is written, "Happy is the man that is always afraid." And again it is written, "Serve the Lord in fear, and rejoice unto him with trembling." In short, then, it must needs be that in the time of this life trembling possess your soul, to the end that it may hereafter rejoice without end through the joy of security.
"Blessed is the man who is always fearful," etc. The wrath of the upcoming judgment will then be so much stricter as it is now scarcely feared amidst sins. Hence, it is said elsewhere, "In the day of prosperity, do not be unmindful of adversity; …
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 18 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
In the same manner, there are four acts of justice: to do good, to flee evil, to beware of prosperity, and to withstand misfortune. Of the third: "Happy the man who is always on his guard" when things go well with him. Hence the just …
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Happy is the man that feareth alway,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Happy is the man that feareth alway - That ever carries about with him that reverential and filial fear of God, which will lead him to avoid sin, and labor to do that which is lawful and right in the sight of God his Savior.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The “fear” here is not so much reverential awe, as anxious, or “nervous” sensitiveness of conscience. To most men this temperament seems that of the self-tormentor. To him who looks deeper it is a condition of blessedness, and the callousness which is opposed to it ends in misery.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
who is always afraid He is concerned with punishment, and therefore distances himself from sin.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
but he who confesses and abandons He confesses his sins and abandons them, never to return to them.
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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַשְׁרֵ֣י | ʾashrei | how blessed! | H835 → | 45 times |
| אָ֭דָם | ʾadom | [is] a person | H120 → | 551 times |
| מְפַחֵ֣ד | mefached | [who] fears | H6342 → | |
| תָּמִ֑יד | tamid | continually | H8548 → | 104 times |
| וּמַקְשֶׁ֥ה | umaksheh | and [one who] hardens | H7185 → | |
| לִ֝בּ֗וֹ | libo | heart his | H3820 → | 595 times |
| יִפּ֥וֹל | yipol | he will fall | H5307 → | 435 times |
| בְּרָעָֽה׃ | beraah | in calamity | H7451 → | 662 times |
אַשְׁרֵ֣יhow blessed!
ʾashreiH835 →45 times
אָ֭דָם[is] a person
ʾadomH120 →551 times
מְפַחֵ֣ד[who] fears
mefachedH6342 →
תָּמִ֑ידcontinually
tamidH8548 →104 times
וּמַקְשֶׁ֥הand [one who] hardens
umakshehH7185 →
לִ֝בּ֗וֹheart his
liboH3820 →595 times
יִפּ֥וֹלhe will fall
yipolH5307 →435 times
בְּרָעָֽה׃in calamity
beraahH7451 →662 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
Isaiah 66:2Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles…
it leads to
- Isaiah 57:15
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit,…
- Psalms 34:18
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.
- Psalms 51:17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
- Matthew 5:3–4
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- 2 Chronicles 34:27–28
because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its people, and because you have humbled yourself before Me and you have…
- Isaiah 57:15
Through
Psalms 2:11Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
it leads to
- Philippians 2:12
Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Philippians 2:12
Through
Jeremiah 32:40I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put My fear in their hearts, so that they will never turn away…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 31:31–33
Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
- Jeremiah 31:31–33
Through
Proverbs 23:17Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always continue in the fear of the LORD.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 1:17
Since you call on a Father who judges each one’s work impartially, conduct yourselves in reverent fear during your stay as foreigners.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Peter 1:17
Where this verse is studied
About Proverbs
This page draws on 11 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); Basil of Caesarea, THE LONG RULES, PREFACE; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 18; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Gregory the Dialogist, Register of Epistles, Book 7, Epistle XXV; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 30:15; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Salvian the Presbyter, FOUR BOOKS OF TIMOTHY TO THE CHURCH 2:3.