Proverbs 30:6
in Proverbs 30Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you and prove you a liar.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Add thou not unto his words, Lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
KJV
Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
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This verse in Proverbs 30
Commentary
11 notes on this verseYou shall hate all hypocrisy; and whatever is pleasing to the Lord, that shall you do. By no means forsake the commands of the Lord. But you shall observe what things you have received from him, neither adding to them nor taking away from them. "For you shall not add unto his words, lest he convict you and you become a liar."
This site's exposition
Every word of God is flawless
on Proverbs 30:5-6
"Every word of God is flawless" states a doctrine of Scripture inside Scripture. "He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him" ties the purity of the word to its use. The warning "Do not add to His words" states the caution of Deuteronomy 4:2 and Revelation 22:18.
This site's exposition
Do not add to His words
Clarke likens the words of God to gold, which no added metal can improve. To add, he says, is to do what the word forbids. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown read the rebuke as proof that the man who adds is a liar.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
You shall hate all hypocrisy; and whatever is pleasing to the Lord, that shall you do. By no means forsake the commands of the Lord. But you shall observe what things you have received from him, neither adding to them nor taking away from them. …
The Medieval Church1 voice
Do not add anything to his words, etc. Do not corrupt the conversations of the holy Scriptures, which some heretics are known to have done so that they would not be convicted by them.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
It is sure, and therefore we must trust to it and venture our souls upon it. God in his word, God in his promise, is a shield, a sure protection, to all those that put themselves under his protection and put their trust in him. The word of God, applied by faith, will make us easy in the midst of the greatest dangers, Ps. xlvi.
"Lord, give me pardon, and peace, and grace, before I die, before I go hence and be no more; for, if I be not renewed and sanctified before I die, the work will not be done after; if I do not prevail in prayer before I die, prayers afterwards will not prevail, no, not Lord, Lord. There is none of this wisdom or working in the grave.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Add thou not unto his words,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Add not thou unto his words - You can no more increase their value by any addition, than you can that of gold by adding any other metal to it. Take care that you do not any thing that this word forbids, nor leave undone any thing that it commands: for this is adding and diminishing in Scripture phrase.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Add . . . words--implying that his sole reliance was on God's all-sufficient teaching. reprove thee--or, "convict thee"--and so the falsehood will appear.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Men are not to mingle revealed truth with their own imaginations and traditions. In speculating on the unseen, the risk of error is indefinitely great, and that error God reproves by manifesting its falsehoods.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תּ֥וֹסְףְּ | tosp | you add | H3254 → | 212 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| דְּבָרָ֑יו | devarav | words his | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| פֶּן־ | pen- | lest | H6435 → | 133 times |
| יוֹכִ֖יחַ | yokhiach | he should rebuke | H3198 → | 59 times |
| בְּךָ֣ | bekha | <in> you | ||
| וְנִכְזָֽבְתָּ׃ פ | venikhzaveta | and you will be proved a liar | H3576 → |
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תּ֥וֹסְףְּyou add
tospH3254 →212 times
עַל־to
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
דְּבָרָ֑יוwords his
devaravH1697 →1440 times
פֶּן־lest
pen-H6435 →133 times
יוֹכִ֖יחַhe should rebuke
yokhiachH3198 →59 times
בְּךָ֣<in> you
bekha
וְנִכְזָֽבְתָּ׃ פand you will be proved a liar
venikhzavetaH3576 →
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
Deuteronomy 4:2You must not add to or subtract from what I command you, so that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving you.
it leads to
- Revelation 22:18–19
I testify to everyone who hears the words of prophecy in this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Joshua 1:7
Above all, be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe all the law that My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 12:32
See that you do everything I command you; do not add to it or subtract from it.
- Matthew 5:18
For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
- Galatians 3:15
Brothers, let me put this in human terms. Even a human covenant, once it is ratified, cannot be canceled or amended.
- Revelation 22:18–19
Through
Deuteronomy 12:32See that you do everything I command you; do not add to it or subtract from it.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:2
You must not add to or subtract from what I command you, so that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving you.
- Deuteronomy 13:18
because you obey the LORD your God, keeping all His commandments I am giving you today and doing what is right in the eyes of the LORD your God.
- Deuteronomy 4:2
Through
1 Corinthians 15:15In that case, we are also exposed as false witnesses about God. For we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead, but He did not raise Him if in fact…
it leads to
- Acts 2:24
But God raised Him from the dead, releasing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for Him to be held in its clutches.
- Acts 2:24
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); Apostolic Constitutions, CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Nilus of Sinai, CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 7:1.14.