What Does Proverbs 20:11 Mean in the King James?
Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be 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
A child’s nature is not hidden behind youth; it becomes recognizable in the shape of each deed.
THE MEANING
You are discernible through what you do: even in someone still growing, actions reveal whether the work is clear and straight. Purity and rightness show up in practice, not only in what a person claims about themselves.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that character remains unreadable until someone is old enough to explain it: even a child’s actions already make their way discernible.
THE ROOT
יִתְנַכֶּר
yitnakkēr
GROWS FROM
נכר
n-k-r
Recognize, distinguish, make discernible.
“known” in this verse is yitnakkēr. The verb pictures the child becoming recognizable through his actions. The verse points to conduct as the means by which character comes into view.
ALSO GROWS
hikkir: Recognize, identify.
הִכִּיר
It echoes the verse’s idea that a person can be identified through what they do.
nokhrī: Stranger, foreigner.
נָכְרִי
The same root can mark someone as distinct; here, a child’s actions make their character distinctive and readable.
מַעֲלָלָיו
maʿalalav
GROWS FROM
עלל
ʿ-l-l
Act, do, deal.
“doings” in this verse is maʿalalav. The verse connects recognition to enacted life: the child is discerned through deeds, not merely through a label. This same word for deeds appears in Isaiah as something that bears fruit.
ALSO GROWS
maʿalal: Deed, action.
מַעֲלָל
It names the kind of act through which the child becomes recognizable.
maʿalalim: Deeds, actions.
מַעֲלָלִים
The plural form gathers a pattern of actions, showing character across what a person does.
יָשָׁר
yashar
GROWS FROM
ישר
y-sh-r
Be straight, level, upright.
“right” in this verse is yashar. Rightness here carries the image of a straight course. Alongside purity, it describes a deed that is clear in quality and straight in direction.
ALSO GROWS
yosher: Uprightness, straightness.
יֹשֶׁר
It makes clear that rightness concerns the shape and direction of the act.
mishor: Level ground, plain.
מִישׁוֹר
The image of a level surface deepens the sense of a course without twists or crookedness.
THE PATTERN
What is within becomes discernible through what a life produces.
Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.THE THREAD
Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.Isaiah’s מַעַלְלֵיהֶם (maʿalaleihem, their deeds) shares the root ע־ל־ל (ʿ-l-l, act or do) with Proverbs’ מַעֲלָלָיו (maʿalalav, his doings). Proverbs shows deeds making a child recognizable; Isaiah extends the image, showing those deeds bearing fruit.
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