What Does Proverbs 10:27 Mean in the King James?
The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew sets days being added under awe against the wicked’s years being cut short, making them opposite movements through time.
THE MEANING
Awe of the LORD adds to the span of your life; wickedness cuts its years short. The verse holds out two trajectories: one opens into more days, while the other contracts.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Awe of the LORD does not shrink life by restricting it; this verse presents it as the way days are added.
THE ROOT
יִרְאַת
yir’at
GROWS FROM
ירא
To fear, revere, or stand in awe.
The Hebrew noun carries a range from fear to reverent awe, so the verse’s “fear of the LORD” holds both seriousness and reverence. The English word can leave that fuller range hidden.
ALSO GROWS
yare: To fear or revere.
יָרֵא
This related form shows the stance toward the LORD as more than a passing feeling.
mora: Fear or dread.
מוֹרָא
This branch preserves the gravity within awe; reverence here is not casual regard.
תּוֹסִיף
tosif
GROWS FROM
יסף
To add or increase.
“prolongeth” in this verse is tosif. The Hebrew verb says that awe of the LORD “adds days,” making extended life sound like an increase rather than a vague duration. This is the language of addition, set directly against the cutting short in the second half.
ALSO GROWS
yasaf: To add or increase.
יָסַף
This is the verb at the root of the verse’s claim that days are added.
yosef: He adds; also the name Joseph.
יוֹסֵף
The same root carries the idea of addition into a familiar biblical name.
תִּקְצֹרְנָה
tiqtsornah
GROWS FROM
קצר
To cut short or reap.
“shortened” in this verse is tiqtsornah. The Hebrew verb can mean to reap as well as to be short or cut short, so the wicked’s years are pictured as cut down, not merely counted as fewer. Against the days added in the first half, this is a sharp image of life cut back.
ALSO GROWS
qatsar: To reap or cut short.
קָצַר
This verb preserves the physical force behind the line’s “shortened.”
qatsir: Harvest or reaping.
קָצִיר
This related noun makes the image of years being cut down more visible.
THE PATTERN
In wisdom’s grammar, reverence and wise conduct accompany an enlarged life, while destructive conduct cuts it short.
Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:THE THREAD
For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.The Hebrew root יסף (y-s-f; yasaf, “to add or increase”) appears in both verses: it underlies “prolongeth” here and “shall be increased” there. Proverbs 9:11 gives wisdom the voice of one through whom days are added, opening this verse as part of a recurring wisdom pattern.
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