What Does Proverbs 19:27 Mean in the King James?
Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words 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
Some instruction does not deepen your knowing; it trains your hearing to wander away from it.
THE MEANING
You are addressed as a son: some instruction pulls your hearing away from words of knowing. The danger is directional; a voice can sound like guidance while moving you away from what you perceive as true.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that anything called instruction necessarily leads toward wisdom is undone: teaching can train the ear away from knowledge.
THE ROOT
לִשְׁגוֹת
lishgot
GROWS FROM
שגה
to wander, stray, or go astray
“err” in this verse is lishgot. The verse frames error as a path taken, not merely an incorrect idea. Instruction can move your hearing away from the words of knowledge and set you wandering.
ALSO GROWS
shagah: to wander or go astray
שָׁגָה
This is the verb’s basic movement: the instruction described here redirects the listener.
shegagah: an inadvertent error
שְׁגָגָה
The same root also names a deviation that can happen without intent, showing that being led astray need not begin with a deliberate choice.
לִשְׁמֹעַ
lishmoa
GROWS FROM
שמע
to hear, listen, and respond
“hear” in this verse is lishmoa. Hearing carries the sense of receiving and responding, not merely taking in sound. The verse is concerned with what your listening trains you to follow.
ALSO GROWS
shama: to hear, listen, or respond
שָׁמַע
This root makes hearing an active reception that can shape a person’s direction.
shemuah: a report or message heard
שְׁמוּעָה
The branch names what reaches the ear as a message, linking the act of listening with the teaching that can redirect it.
דַּעַת
da'at
GROWS FROM
ידע
to know, recognize, or perceive
“knowledge” in this verse is da'at. Da’at grows from yada: knowing and perceiving by encounter, not merely collecting information. The verse warns that instruction can draw your hearing away from that living recognition.
ALSO GROWS
yada: to know or perceive
יָדַע
This verb supplies the root beneath da’at, tying knowledge to the act of knowing.
moda: an acquaintance or known relation
מוֹדָע
This branch carries knowing into relationship, underscoring that knowledge can be personal and encountered.
THE PATTERN
Listening is directional: instruction is discerned by whether it keeps a person near knowledge or leads them away from it.
Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge.To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.THE THREAD
Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.Both verses use the Hebrew words for instruction and for “words of knowledge.” Here, instruction can draw the ear away; there, the heart and ears are turned toward knowledge, revealing that the direction of the teaching matters.
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