What Does Proverbs 16:13 Mean in the King James?
Righteous lips are the delight of kings; and they love him that speaketh right.
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 verse makes royal favor a response to speech that holds its line with justice.
THE MEANING
When words stay aligned with what is just and straight, they become a delight even to those who hold power. The verse places love in the speaker whose words do not bend away from that line.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that truthful speech has no welcome near power: aligned lips are named as a king’s delight.
THE ROOT
צֶדֶק
tsedeq
GROWS FROM
צדק
Justice, rightness, alignment with what is due.
The lips are described not simply as morally good but as aligned. English can make “righteous” sound like a private virtue; the Hebrew brings alignment into what is spoken aloud.
ALSO GROWS
tsaddiq: A just or aligned person; righteous.
צַדִּיק
The same seed describes the person whose character and words hold to what is right.
tzedakah: Justice or righteousness expressed in action.
צְדָקָה
It shows alignment taking form in the world, as these lips give alignment a voice.
יְשָׁרִים
yesharim
GROWS FROM
ישר
To be straight, level, or upright.
“Speaketh right” is literally speech of straight things. Paired with lips of alignment, it pictures speech that keeps a clear line rather than bending away from what is true.
ALSO GROWS
yashar: Straight or upright.
יָשָׁר
The adjective behind “right” makes the speaker’s words sound like a straight path.
yosher: Straightness or uprightness.
יֹשֶׁר
This related noun names the quality the verse hears in the speaker’s words.
רָצוֹן
ratzon
GROWS FROM
רצה
To accept, favor, or take pleasure in.
The king’s “delight” carries the sense of favor and acceptance. The verse presents straight speech as something welcomed by power, not merely admired from a distance.
ALSO GROWS
ratsah: To accept or take pleasure in.
רָצָה
The verb shows the favorable response contained in the king’s delight.
ratzui: Accepted or favored.
רָצוּי
This branch makes the welcome in the verse explicit: aligned speech finds acceptance.
THE PATTERN
Words that stay aligned with truth become the basis of favor and trustworthy relationships.
Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight.He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend.Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.THE THREAD
The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.This verse shares the image of lips and the root of “righteous,” then links aligned speech with what is acceptable. Proverbs 16:13 carries that same line into the king’s delight.
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