What Does Proverbs 2:20 Mean in the King James?
That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
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 joins walking to watchfulness: the way of the good becomes a lived course, while the aligned path is kept in view.
THE MEANING
Your way takes shape through the company whose course you enter. Alignment becomes visible as a path you walk and keep in view in the life you are living now.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief this undoes is that your direction is untouched by the people you walk beside.
THE ROOT
תֵּלֵךְ
telekh
GROWS FROM
הלך
h-l-k
to go, walk, or move along
“walk” in this verse is telekh. The word names movement, so this is a direction lived in motion. The good way is a course you enter step by step.
ALSO GROWS
holekh: one going or walking
הוֹלֵךְ
The same root describes a person in motion, making the verse’s way a lived course rather than a label.
vayithallekh: and he walked about or walked with
וַיִּתְהַלֵּךְ
This is the verb used when Genesis says Enoch walked with God, linking walking with the company one moves alongside.
תִּשְׁמֹר
tishmor
GROWS FROM
שמר
sh-m-r
to guard, watch over, or keep
“keep” in this verse is tishmor. The verb carries watching and guarding within keeping. The path is not only followed; it is held in view with care.
ALSO GROWS
shomer: watcher or keeper
שֹׁמֵר
The same root names a watcher, showing the attentiveness contained in keeping the righteous paths.
mishmeret: charge, guard, or watch
מִשְׁמֶרֶת
This branch presents what is kept as something entrusted to ongoing attention.
צַדִּיקִים
tsaddiqim
GROWS FROM
צדק
ts-d-q
rightness, justice, alignment with what is right
English can make “righteous” sound like a status a person possesses; this root ties the person to rightness and alignment. The paths of the righteous are courses where that alignment takes form.
ALSO GROWS
tsedeq: rightness, justice, or alignment
צֶדֶק
The shared root links the people named here to the quality their paths express.
tsedaqah: righteousness or justice
צְדָקָה
This branch carries the same root into lived rightness, joining a person’s character to the course they walk.
THE PATTERN
A person’s way is formed by the company joined and the direction repeatedly walked.
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:THE THREAD
And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.The same Hebrew root הלך (h-l-k), meaning “to walk” or “go,” carries both this verse’s “walk” and Genesis’s “walked.” The shared verb makes walking a lived course shaped by the company beside you.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us