He who loves transgression loves strife; he who builds his gate high invites destruction.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who loves disobedience loves strife. One who builds a high gate seeks destruction.
- KJV He loveth transgression that loveth strife: and he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction.
- ESV Whoever loves transgression loves strife; he who makes his door high seeks destruction.
- NKJV He who loves transgression loves strife, And he who exalts his gate seeks destruction.
- NASB One who loves wrongdoing loves strife; One who makes his doorway high seeks destruction.
- NLT Anyone who loves to quarrel loves sin; anyone who trusts in high walls invites disaster.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Loving quarrels and self-exalting pride both invite ruin. The verse warns that a contentious, proud disposition leads to its own downfall.
Overview
The first line links a love of strife with a love of transgression, since contention so often springs from sin in the heart. The 'high gate' pictures proud self-display or overreach, which 'seeks destruction.' Scripture consistently teaches that pride precedes a fall (Prov. 16:18), and the gospel answers it by exalting the humility of Christ, who made peace rather than strife (Eph. 2:14-16).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Prov 16:18Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
- Prov 18:12Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.
- 1 Sam 25:36–38When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.
- Jas 3:14–16But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth.
- 1 Kgs 1:5At that time Adonijah, David’s son by Haggith, began to exalt himself, saying, “I will be king!” And he acquired chariots and horsemen and fifty men to run ahead of him.
- Jas 1:20for man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness that God desires.
- Prov 29:22–23An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression.
- 2 Sam 15:1Some time later, Absalom provided for himself a chariot with horses and fifty men to run ahead of him.
- Prov 29:9If a wise man goes to court with a fool, there will be raving and laughing with no resolution.
- Prov 24:27Complete your outdoor work and prepare your field; after that, you may build your house.
- Prov 17:14To start a quarrel is to release a flood; so abandon the dispute before it breaks out.
- 2 Cor 12:20For I am afraid that when I come, I may not find you as I wish, and you may not find me as you wish. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, rage, rivalry, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.
- Jer 22:13–15“Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms without justice, who makes his countrymen serve without pay, and fails to pay their wages,
- Dan 4:20–21The tree you saw that grew large and strong, whose top reached the sky and was visible to all the earth,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 17:19 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.