What Does Proverbs 17:27 Mean in the King James?
He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.
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
Knowing becomes visible in the words held back, while understanding keeps the breath cool.
THE MEANING
In you now, knowledge can appear as words you leave unspoken, while understanding carries the composure of a cool breath. The verse joins restraint and inner steadiness as one expression of wisdom.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that knowing must prove itself by saying more; here, knowledge is visible in restraint.
THE ROOT
חֹשֵׂךְ
ḥōśēḵ
GROWS FROM
חשך
ḥ-ś-k
To hold back, withhold, or spare.
“spareth” in this verse is ḥōśēḵ. The verb pictures an active holding back, not an absence of words. The verse makes that restraint a sign of knowledge: what is withheld can reveal what is understood.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāśaḵ: To withhold, keep back, or spare.
חָשַׂךְ
This verb form makes clear that the restraint in the verse is deliberate.
ḥāśaḵtā: You withheld or spared.
חָשַׂכְתָּ
This form uses the same root for holding something back, echoing the verse’s picture of words kept in reserve.
דָּעַת
daʿat
GROWS FROM
ידע
y-d-ʿ
To know or recognize through encounter.
The Hebrew pairs יוֹדֵעַ דָּעַת (yōdēaʿ daʿat), literally a knower of knowledge, with both forms drawn from ידע. Knowing here can carry the sense of recognition through encounter, so restraint appears as the fruit of what has been perceived, not a lack of words.
ALSO GROWS
yādaʿ: To know, recognize, or become acquainted with.
יָדַע
This verb shows knowledge as an act of recognition, the capacity behind the restrained speech in the verse.
yĕdîʿāh: Knowledge or awareness.
יְדִיעָה
This noun carries the same root into what is known, linking lived recognition with the knowledge the verse names.
רוּחַ
rûaḥ
GROWS FROM
רוח
r-w-ḥ
Breath or wind in motion.
רוּחַ (rûaḥ) holds wind, breath, and inward disposition in one word. The phrase behind “excellent spirit” is “cool of breath,” so composure is pictured as inner weather that has not heated into reaction.
ALSO GROWS
rûaḥ: Wind or moving air.
רוּחַ
This sense keeps the word connected to physical movement in the air, alongside its inward meaning.
rûḥôt: Winds or breaths; also spirits.
רוּחוֹת
The plural carries the same word across moving air and inward disposition, connections English usually separates.
THE PATTERN
Wisdom takes the shape of measured speech: discernment can leave words unspoken.
In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:THE THREAD
In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.The Hebrew root חשך (ḥ-ś-k) behind “refraineth” is the same root behind “spareth” here. In both verses, wisdom becomes visible as something held back at the mouth.
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