What Does Proverbs 17:19 Mean in the King James?
He loveth transgression that loveth strife: and he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction.
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 lifted opening points toward breakage: self-exaltation is already an entrance into the fracture it seeks.
THE MEANING
“He loveth transgression that loveth strife: and he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction.” The proverb joins cherished strife to rebellion. Its final word, שָׁבֶר (shever, “breakage”), makes destruction concrete: the raised entrance is already oriented toward fracture.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that strife can be enjoyed as harmless while ruin stays outside your life is undone here: the verse joins love of contention to rebellion and self-exaltation to sought breakage.
THE ROOT
שָׁבֶר
shever
GROWS FROM
שבר
sh-b-r
To break or shatter; breakage, fracture, ruin.
English “destruction” can sound abstract; שָׁבֶר (shever, “breakage”) keeps the image concrete. What is sought is a fracture.
ALSO GROWS
shavar: To break or shatter.
שָׁבַר
The verb makes the outcome a breaking, not merely a vague disaster.
shever: Breakage, fracture, ruin.
שֶׁבֶר
This is the noun used for the destruction the verse says the self-exalting person seeks.
פֶּשַׁע
peshaʿ
GROWS FROM
פשע
p-sh-ʿ
To rebel, break away.
“transgression” in this verse is peshaʿ. The noun פֶּשַׁע (peshaʿ, “rebellion”) grows from פָּשַׁע (pashaʿ, “to rebel, break away”). The verse presents strife as belonging to a posture of chosen rupture.
ALSO GROWS
pashaʿ: To rebel, break away.
פָּשַׁע
The verb exposes the active separation carried within the noun.
posheaʿ: A rebel, one who breaks away.
פֹּשֵׁעַ
This branch names the person shaped by the same rebellious root.
פֶּתַח
petaḥ
GROWS FROM
פתח
p-t-ḥ
To open; an opening or entrance.
“gate” in this verse is petaḥ. The verb מַגְבִּיהַּ (magbiah, “raises high”) lifts this פֶּתַח (petaḥ, “opening, doorway”), making the raised entrance the image that leads directly into שָׁבֶר (shever, “breakage”).
ALSO GROWS
pataḥ: To open.
פָּתַח
The verb shows the action contained in the word for an entrance.
poteaḥ: One who opens; opening.
פּוֹתֵחַ
This form keeps the doorway connected to the act of opening.
THE PATTERN
Cherished strife and self-exaltation open a path toward fracture.
Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.THE THREAD
Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility.Both verses use שֶׁבֶר (shever, “breakage”) for destruction, from שבר (sh-b-r, “to break”). Here the raised doorway seeks that fracture; the connected proverb places haughtiness before the same break.
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