What Does Proverbs 14:13 Mean in the King James?
Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness.
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
A laughing mouth does not prove that the heart is free of pain.
THE MEANING
Laughter can be real while your heart still aches. A joyful moment does not guarantee that grief has disappeared, and grief may follow a season of mirth. The verse holds both feelings together without calling either one false.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that if you can laugh, you must be fine.
THE ROOT
שְׂחוֹק
śeḥoq
GROWS FROM
שחק
To laugh, play, or make sport.
This root holds laughter and play together, placing real merriment beside the heart’s ache without making the laughter counterfeit. The word lets joy be present without claiming that pain is absent.
ALSO GROWS
śāḥaq: To laugh or play.
שָׂחַק
The verb behind the laughter keeps delight and play within the same word family.
miśḥaq: Play, game, or sport.
מִשְׂחָק
Its sense of play shows that laughter can be a genuine moment even when the heart carries sorrow.
יִכְאַב
yikhʾav
GROWS FROM
כאב
To ache or feel pain.
“sorrowful” in this verse is yikhʾav. The Hebrew says the heart aches: sorrow here is an inward pain, not proof that the laughter is false. The verse gives the ache and the laughter room in the same moment.
ALSO GROWS
keʾev: Pain or ache.
כְּאֵב
This noun makes clear that the verse’s sorrow has the texture of pain within the heart.
makhʾov: Pain or suffering.
מַכְאוֹב
This related word carries the same root’s sense of felt hurt, adding weight to the heart’s ache.
וְאַחֲרִיתָהּ
veʾaḥaritah
GROWS FROM
אחר
To be behind or come after.
The word for “end” can also point to what comes after, the latter part or outcome. It traces a movement from mirth into grief without declaring grief the permanent final state.
ALSO GROWS
aḥarit: The latter part, aftermath, or outcome.
אַחֲרִית
It shows that the verse is naming what may follow a season of joy.
aḥaron: Last or latter.
אַחֲרוֹן
This related form reinforces the sense of what comes afterward.
THE PATTERN
A grieving heart can coexist with outward joy, and one feeling can give way to another over time.
Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.THE THREAD
Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.Ecclesiastes uses the same Hebrew word, שְׂחוֹק (śeḥoq, laughter), found in Proverbs 14:13. Proverbs shows laughter beside an aching heart; Ecclesiastes adds that sorrow itself can work upon the heart.
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