What Does Proverbs 24:12 Mean in the King James?
If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?
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 excuse “we knew it not” fails because the one who weighs the heart sees what the hands have done.
THE MEANING
The claim of ignorance meets the one who weighs the heart and guards the living self: what is hidden is known. Each person’s deed returns to them according to that work.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that saying “I did not know” makes a hidden choice unseen or removes its consequence.
THE ROOT
תֹּכֵן
tochen
GROWS FROM
תכן
t-k-n
To measure, weigh, or assess.
The verb translated “pondereth” carries the sense of measuring or weighing. The heart is under real assessment, so the spoken excuse does not change what is seen.
ALSO GROWS
tokhen: Measure, weight, or substance.
תֹּכֶן
This noun makes the root’s measuring sense tangible: the heart is assessed for what it holds.
matkonet: Measure, quantity, or prescribed pattern.
מַתְכֹּנֶת
This branch links the weighing of the heart to a measure by which it is assessed.
וְהֵשִׁיב
weheshib
GROWS FROM
שוב
shuv
To turn back or return.
The verb rendered “render” comes from the root for turning or returning. Consequence is pictured as a return to each person, with the deed setting the measure of what comes back.
ALSO GROWS
shuv: Turn back or return.
שׁוּב
The root itself frames the outcome as something returning to the person.
teshuvah: Return or turning.
תְּשׁוּבָה
This related noun echoes the movement back that underlies the verse’s account of each person’s deeds.
THE PATTERN
The heart remains visible to the one who measures it, and each deed returns to its doer.
Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.Who will render to every man according to his deeds:THE THREAD
Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.Proverbs 21:2 uses the same verb, תכן (tochen, to measure or weigh), for the LORD’s assessment of hearts. Here, that inward measure answers the claim of ignorance and stands beside the return of each person’s work.
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