What Does Proverbs 13:13 Mean in the King James?
Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.
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 verb יְשֻׁלָּם (yeshullam, “be repaid”) comes from the same root as שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “wholeness”), so the command’s return is pictured as recompense that brings life toward completeness.
THE MEANING
This verse names a present consequence: treating a word as contemptible leaves you exposed to loss, while the one who holds a command in awe receives recompense. The verb rendered “rewarded” belongs to the root family of wholeness, so that return carries the shape of life being made complete.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that dismissing instruction leaves you untouched: contempt carries loss, while reverence is met with recompense.
THE ROOT
יְשֻׁלָּם
yeshullam
GROWS FROM
ש־ל־ם
sh-l-m
To be complete or whole; in related verb forms, to make good or repay.
The verb translated “rewarded” means being repaid or recompensed. Its root also gives שָׁלוֹם (shalom, wholeness or well-being), so the return described here carries more than the sense of receiving a prize.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: Wholeness, well-being, peace
שָׁלוֹם
This branch shows the root’s sense of completeness behind the recompense promised to the one who reveres the command.
shillem: Repaid, recompensed, made good
שִׁלֵּם
This verb form makes the payment sense explicit and illuminates the return contained in yeshullam.
דָּבָר
davar
GROWS FROM
ד־ב־ר
d-b-r
To speak or declare; the related noun can mean a word, matter, or thing.
English “word” can sound like a unit of speech, but davar also names a matter or thing. The verse links contempt for what is spoken with real consequences in the reader’s life.
ALSO GROWS
dibber: Spoke, declared
דִּבֵּר
This verb branch connects the “word” to active speech, something communicated rather than an abstract idea.
davar: Word, matter, thing
דָּבָר
This noun branch shows that what is spoken can also be a matter with consequences.
THE PATTERN
Receiving instruction with reverence is repaid in wholeness, while contempt exposes a person to loss.
Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:THE THREAD
Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.Proverbs’ יְשֻׁלָּם (yeshullam, “be repaid”) comes from ש־ל־ם (sh-l-m), the root behind שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “wholeness”). Psalm 119:165 pairs love for instruction with great shalom, making the root connection visible: the promised return carries the shape of wholeness.
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