What Does Proverbs 14:7 Mean in the King James?
Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge.
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
In Hebrew, “perceivest” and “knowledge” share the root ידע, so the absence of knowledge in someone’s words is itself something you can know.
THE MEANING
When you hear speech and perceive no knowledge in it, this verse treats that absence as legible. It names leaving that presence as a clear response to what the words reveal.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that mere presence makes a voice worth staying near: speech without knowledge is enough to recognize the need for distance.
THE ROOT
יָדַעְתָּ
yādaʿtā
GROWS FROM
ידע
To know, recognize, or perceive through encounter.
“perceivest / knowledge” in this verse is yādaʿtā. The verb translated “perceivest” and the noun translated “knowledge” come from the same root. The verse links discernment with knowledge: what is spoken makes its presence or absence perceptible.
ALSO GROWS
yādaʿ: To know, recognize, or perceive.
יָדַע
This is the verb in the verse: the absence of knowledge is something you can recognize.
daʿat: Knowledge or knowing.
דַּעַת
This is the word the verse places in the fool’s lips, echoing the root of “perceivest.”
שִׂפְתֵי
siftei from safah
GROWS FROM
שפה
Lip; also language, edge, or bank.
The Hebrew word for “lips” also names language and the edge of something. Speech is the audible edge of what a person knows, so the verse locates discernment in what comes across the lips.
ALSO GROWS
safah: Lip; speech or language.
שָׂפָה
“Lips of knowledge” means knowledge expressed in speech.
safah: Edge, bank, or shore.
שָׂפָה
The word’s sense of an edge echoes how speech is the boundary where what is within becomes perceptible.
THE PATTERN
A person’s speech discloses whether wisdom is present, and that discernment shapes who remains near.
He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.THE THREAD
For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.The word translated “knowledge” is דַּעַת (daʿat), built from the same root ידע as “perceivest” here. Proverbs 2:6 says knowledge comes from a mouth; this verse makes speech the place where its presence, or absence, can be recognized.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us