Proverbs 29:23
in Proverbs 29A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
A man’s pride shall bring him low; But he that is of a lowly spirit shall obtain honor.
KJV
A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.
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This verse in Proverbs 29
Commentary
8 notes on this versePride and arrogance have subverted many. Through pride Adam went forth from paradise, and dust became the serpent's meat. Through pride Cain killed his brother and became a trembler and a straggler on the earth. And Ham, because he was uplifted and mocked his father, became accursed and a servant of servants to his brothers. Because of his pride Esau lost the birthright of his primogeniture; and Pharaoh, because he was hardened and uplifted, was drowned in the Red Sea, he and his host.
This site's exposition
An angry man stirs up dissension
on Proverbs 29:22-24
"An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression," one outburst multiplying sin. Verse 23 restates the book's constant reversal. Verse 24 closes on complicity, for the partner to a thief "receives the oath, but does not testify."
This site's exposition
pride will bring him low
Aphrahat traces pride through Scripture: Adam leaving paradise, Esau losing his birthright, and Pharaoh drowned in the sea. Gill also begins with Adam, whose pride brought him low. The humble spirit will obtain the honor pride sought.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Give me someone professing perpetual continence, and free from these and all similar vices and blemishes of conduct. For her I fear pride; for her I dread the swelling of self-conceit from so great a blessing. The more there is in her from which she finds self-complacence, the more I fear lest by pleasing herself she will displease him who "resists the proud but gives grace to the humble."
The Medieval Church1 voice
That we ourselves may become worthy of following in his footsteps and ascending to heaven, let us in the meantime become humble on earth for our own good, always mindful that, as Solomon says, "Humiliation follows the proud, and honor follows the humble in spirit."
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
A man's pride shall bring him low,.... As the pride of Adam, in affecting to be as gods, knowing good and evil; he lost the image of God; was brought into a state of darkness and ignorance, into debt and to a dunghill, to beggary and rags; filled with loathsome diseases, and left in thraldom and bondage to sin and Satan; and so all his posterity were brought into the same low estate.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A man’s pride shall bring him low - A proud man is universally despised, and such are often exposed to great mortifications.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Honour shall uphold the humble in spirit - Better: The lowly in spirit shall lay hold on honor.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| גַּאֲוַ֣ת | gaavat | [the] pride of | H1346 → | |
| אָ֭דָם | ʾadom | a person | H120 → | 551 times |
| תַּשְׁפִּילֶ֑נּוּ | tashpilenu | it will bring low him | H8213 → | 31 times |
| וּשְׁפַל־ | ushefal- | and a [person] lowly of | H8217 → | |
| ר֝֗וּחַ | ruach | spirit | H7307 → | 378 times |
| יִתְמֹ֥ךְ | yitmokh | he will attain | H8551 → | 21 times |
| כָּבֽוֹד׃ | kavod | honor | H3519 → | 200 times |
גַּאֲוַ֣ת[the] pride of
gaavatH1346 →
אָ֭דָםa person
ʾadomH120 →551 times
תַּשְׁפִּילֶ֑נּוּit will bring low him
tashpilenuH8213 →31 times
וּשְׁפַל־and a [person] lowly of
ushefal-H8217 →
ר֝֗וּחַspirit
ruachH7307 →378 times
יִתְמֹ֥ךְhe will attain
yitmokhH8551 →21 times
כָּבֽוֹד׃honor
kavodH3519 →200 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 14:11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
it leads to
- 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.”
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 23:12
For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
- Luke 18:14
Through
Matthew 23:12For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 5:5
Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- James 4:6
But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Peter 5:5
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.
- Isaiah 57:15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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); Aphrahat the Persian Sage, DEMONSTRATIONS 14:10; Augustine of Hippo, On Holy Virginity 34; Bede, Homilies on the Gospels 2:15; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).