The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation 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.
- BSB The man who strays from the path of understanding will rest in the assembly 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 10:38Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
- Ps 125:5As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the LORD shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity: but peace shall be upon Israel.
- Ps 49:14Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.
- Zeph 1:6And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor enquired for him.
- 1 Jn 2:19They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
- Heb 10:26–27For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
- John 3:19–20And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
- Heb 6:4–6For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
- Prov 7:26–27For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.
- Eph 2:1And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
- Prov 13:20He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
- Prov 2:18–19For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
- Jude 1:12These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
- 2 Pet 2:21–22For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
- Prov 9:18But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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.