What Does Proverbs 25:28 Mean in the King James?
He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.
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 makes inner governance a boundary: when it gives way, life is exposed like a city breached open.
THE MEANING
When your inner breath has no governance, your life is exposed like a city with a breach in its wall. The verse names self-rule as a living boundary that keeps an opening from becoming the condition of the whole city.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that power is measured only by outward conquest; the verse places governance of the inner life at the center of security.
THE ROOT
מֹשֵׁל
moshel
GROWS FROM
משל
mashal
to rule, govern, exercise dominion
מֹשֵׁל (moshel) names one who governs, giving “rule” the sense of active direction over what is within. Beside the image of a breached city, the word makes inner governance part of what keeps a life from exposure.
ALSO GROWS
mashal: to rule or govern
מָשַׁל
The verb shares the root’s sense of directing or exercising authority.
memshalah: dominion or governance
מֶמְשָׁלָה
This noun shows the same root describing authority as an ongoing domain.
פְּרוּצָה
perutzah
GROWS FROM
פרץ
parats
to break through, burst out, make a breach
The word rendered “broken down” depicts a breached city: an opening made through its boundary. Joined to “without walls,” it makes vulnerability concrete as exposure through a breach rather than a vague weakness.
ALSO GROWS
parats: to break through or burst out
פָּרַץ
The verb names the action that makes an opening in a boundary.
perets: a breach or break-through
פֶּרֶץ
This noun names the opening itself, echoing the city’s exposed condition.
THE PATTERN
Inner governance and guarded boundaries preserve a life from exposure.
He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.THE THREAD
He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.The word behind “ruleth” shares the root משל (mashal), meaning to govern, with the rule in this verse. This verse sharpens the city image: governing the inner life is set above taking a city.
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