What Does Proverbs 11:18 Mean in the King James?
The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward.
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 “sure reward” is literally a “reward of truth,” setting truth’s firm yield against the deceit named earlier in the verse.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks now: work built on deceit produces deception, while what is planted in alignment carries a reliable return. The contrast is between a false yield and a reward described as truth itself.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that deceit can secure lasting gain is undone here: deceitful work yields deception, while alignment bears a reward marked by truth.
THE ROOT
אֱמֶת
ʾemet
GROWS FROM
אמן
ʾ-m-n
To be firm, steady, reliable.
“sure” in this verse is ʾemet. The Hebrew phrase is שְׂכַר אֱמֶת (sekhar ʾemet), “reward of truth.” אֱמֶת (ʾemet, truth) answers the verse’s שֶׁקֶר (sheqer, deceit): one yield is false, the other has the quality of what stands firm.
ALSO GROWS
amen: Truly; a firm affirmation.
אָמֵן
The familiar affirmation comes from the same root of firmness, echoing the reliability of the reward.
neʾeman: Steady, trustworthy, reliable.
נֶאֱמָן
This branch describes what can be relied upon, giving “sure” the sense of something firm rather than merely expected.
צְדָקָה
tsedaqah
GROWS FROM
צדק
ts-d-q
To be right or just; alignment.
“righteousness” in this verse is tsedaqah. What the verse pictures being sown is alignment, not a title or badge. The root also names rightness and the person who is aligned, so the harvest grows from the quality planted.
ALSO GROWS
tsedeq: Rightness, justice, alignment.
צֶדֶק
This branch shows the quality of the seed: what is planted is a way of being set right.
tsaddiq: A righteous or aligned person.
צַדִּיק
The same root describes the person shaped by this quality, linking the planted alignment with the life that grows from it.
THE PATTERN
What is planted in conduct develops into a fitting harvest.
Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.THE THREAD
Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.Hosea uses the same sowing word, זָרַע (zaraʿ, to sow), alongside צְדָקָה (tsedaqah, alignment), the same righteousness word found here. Proverbs names the reward as truth; Hosea opens the image into a field that receives rain and yields a harvest.
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