Proverbs 8:13
in Proverbs 8To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The fear of Jehovah is to hate evil: Pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, And the perverse mouth, do I hate.
KJV
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
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This verse in Proverbs 8
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Desert FathersThe Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks · Written before 500.
One of the hermits said, 'Unless you first hate, you cannot love. Unless you hate sin, you cannot live sinlessly. As it is written, "Depart from evil and do good" (Ps. 37:27). But perseverance is needed for this. Adam, even though he was in Paradise, …
This site's exposition
I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence
on Proverbs 8:12-16
Wisdom keeps company: prudence, counsel, understanding, strength. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil plants the book's motto inside her self-description. By me kings reign, which Henry applies in both directions: rulers rule well by her, and rule at all by God's providence.
This site's exposition
To fear the LORD is to hate evil
Henry puts it in one line: where there is an awe of God there is a dread of sin. The things Wisdom hates here, arrogant pride and perverse speech, echo the list of things the LORD hates at 6:16 to 19. Her hatred matches His.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Arrogance and pride, etc. Arrogance and pride in those who consider themselves better than others; the perverse way in those who openly do evil; the double-tongued mouth in those who in the good they follow have nothing stable, but change their words according to the …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The redeemer is the eternal Word and wisdom, the Logos. He is the Wisdom that speaks to the children of men in the former part of the chapter. All divine revelation passes through his hand, and centres in him; but of him as the personal Wisdom, the second person in the Godhead, in the judgment of many of the ancients, Solomon here speaks,
True religion, consisting in the fear of the Lord, which is the wisdom before recommended, teaches men, 1. To hate all sin, as displeasing to God and destructive to the soul: The fear of the Lord is to hate evil, the evil way, to hate sin as sin, and therefore to hate every false way. Wherever there is an awe of God there is a dread of sin, as an evil, as only evil.
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil - As it is impossible to hate evil without loving good; and as hatred to evil will lead a man to abandon the evil way; and love to goodness will lead him to do what is right in the sight of God, under the influence of that Spirit which has given the hatred to evil, and inspired the love of goodness: hence this implies the sum and substance of true religion, which is here termed the fear of the Lord.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Fear of the Lord is to hate evil This is the discipline that wisdom announces to the people.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
I dwelt [beside] cunning Beside cunning, for since a man has learned Torah, cunning about every matter enters into him.
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
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יִֽרְאַ֣ת | yirat | [the] fear of | H3374 → | 45 times |
| יְהוָה֮ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| שְֽׂנֹ֫את | senot | [is] to hate | H8130 → | 146 times |
| רָ֥ע | ra' | evil | H7451 → | 662 times |
| גֵּ֘אָ֤ה | geah | pride | H1344 → | |
| וְגָא֨וֹן׀ | vegaon | and arrogance | H1347 → | |
| וְדֶ֣רֶךְ | vederekh | and a way | H1870 → | 707 times |
| רָ֭ע | ra' | evil | H7451 → | 662 times |
| וּפִ֨י | ufi | and a mouth of | H6310 → | 498 times |
| תַהְפֻּכ֬וֹת | tahpukhot | perversities | H8419 → | 10 times |
| שָׂנֵֽאתִי׃ | saneti | I hate | H8130 → | 146 times |
יִֽרְאַ֣ת[the] fear of
yiratH3374 →45 times
יְהוָה֮Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
שְֽׂנֹ֫את[is] to hate
senotH8130 →146 times
רָ֥עevil
ra'H7451 →662 times
גֵּ֘אָ֤הpride
geahH1344 →
וְגָא֨וֹן׀and arrogance
vegaonH1347 →
וְדֶ֣רֶךְand a way
vederekhH1870 →707 times
רָ֭עevil
ra'H7451 →662 times
וּפִ֨יand a mouth of
ufiH6310 →498 times
תַהְפֻּכ֬וֹתperversities
tahpukhotH8419 →10 times
שָׂנֵֽאתִי׃I hate
sanetiH8130 →146 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 Thessalonians 5:22Abstain from every form of evil.
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 6:3
We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no one can discredit our ministry.
- Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things.
- 2 Corinthians 6:3
Through
Psalms 97:10Hate evil, O you who love the LORD! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
it leads to
- Romans 12:9
Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.
- Jeremiah 15:21
I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”
- Psalms 34:14
Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
- Psalms 145:20
The LORD preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.
- Romans 12:9
Through
Proverbs 16:6By loving devotion and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD one turns aside from evil.
it leads to
- Proverbs 14:16
A wise man fears and turns from evil, but a fool is careless and reckless.
- Proverbs 14:16
Through
Proverbs 4:24Put away deception from your mouth; keep your lips from perverse speech.
it leads to
- James 1:26
If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless.
- James 1:26
Where this verse is studied
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About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Desert Fathers, The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.