The man who strays from the path of understanding will rest in the assembly of the dead.
Parallel translations
- WEB The man who wanders out of the way of understanding shall rest in the assembly of the departed spirits.
- KJV The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.
- NKJV A man who wanders from the way of understanding Will rest in the assembly of the dead.
- NASB A person who wanders from the way of understanding Will rest in the assembly of the dead.
- NLT The person who strays from common sense will end up in the company of the dead.
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
Whoever strays from the way of understanding ends among the dead. It matters as a sober warning that abandoning wisdom leads to ruin.
Overview
To wander from wisdom is to walk the path to death and the company of the departed (Proverbs 2:18-19; 9:18). The verse underscores that wisdom is a matter of life and death. The way of understanding, rooted in the fear of the Lord, leads to life, while forsaking it leads to destruction.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Heb 10:38But My righteous one will live by faith; and if he shrinks back, I will take no pleasure in him.”
- Ps 125:5But those who turn to crooked ways the LORD will banish with the evildoers. Peace be upon Israel.
- Ps 49:14Like sheep they are destined for Sheol. Death will be their shepherd. The upright will rule them in the morning, and their form will decay in Sheol, far from their lofty abode.
- Zeph 1:6and those who turn back from following the LORD, neither seeking the LORD nor inquiring of Him.”
- 1 Jn 2:19They went out from us, but they did not belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But their departure made it clear that none of them belonged to us.
- Heb 10:26–27If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains,
- John 3:19–20And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.
- Heb 6:4–6It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
- Prov 7:26–27For she has brought many down to death; her slain are many in number.
- Eph 2:1And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
- Prov 13:20He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.
- Prov 2:18–19For her house sinks down to death, and her tracks to the departed spirits.
- Jude 1:12These men are hidden reefs in your love feasts, shamelessly feasting with you but shepherding only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried along by the wind; fruitless trees in autumn, twice dead after being uprooted.
- 2 Pet 2:21–22It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn away from the holy commandment passed on to them.
- Prov 9:18But they do not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 21:16 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.