What Does Proverbs 29:16 Mean in the King James?
When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increaseth: but the righteous shall see their fall.
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 same Hebrew root describes both the wicked multiplying and rebellion increasing, tying their rise together while making their fall visible.
THE MEANING
When wrongdoing multiplies around you, the verse names rebellion as part of what is spreading. Those aligned with what is right see the fall of what once looked ascendant.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A growing crowd does not make rebellion right or secure; its rise can already contain its fall.
THE ROOT
בִּרְבוֹת
birvōt
GROWS FROM
רבה
To become many or increase.
“multiplied / increaseth” in this verse is birvōt. The verse repeats this root for both the wicked becoming numerous and rebellion increasing. English separates the two events; Hebrew binds them with one seed, so the spread of the crowd and the spread of rebellion rise together.
ALSO GROWS
hirbah: Increased or made many.
הִרְבָּה
This form shows the root describing an increase in what is present, as in rebellion increasing here.
marbeh: Increasing or causing to become many.
מַרְבֶּה
This form echoes the verse’s repeated movement toward greater numbers.
פֶּשַׁע
peshaʿ
GROWS FROM
פשע
To rebel or break away.
“transgression” in this verse is peshaʿ. The word carries the force of rebellion, a break that spreads as the wicked multiply. The verse describes more than a growing tally of offenses: it names an expanding rupture.
ALSO GROWS
pashaʿ: To rebel or break away.
פָּשַׁע
The verb makes the rebellion within “transgression” active: it is a break in allegiance or relation.
posheaʿ: A rebel; one who breaks away.
פֹּשֵׁעַ
This word names the person by the same action that the verse says is increasing.
צַדִּיקִים
tsaddiqim
GROWS FROM
צדק
To be right or just; alignment.
The Hebrew names the righteous as people aligned with what is right. The verse sets that alignment beside rebellion’s spread and gives it the vantage to see the fall.
ALSO GROWS
tsedeq: Rightness or justice.
צֶדֶק
It shares the root that names the aligned people in this verse.
tsedaqah: Justice or righteousness.
צְדָקָה
It carries the same root into the condition or practice of alignment.
THE PATTERN
A surge of wrongdoing can dominate the scene without becoming permanent; its instability is eventually seen in its collapse.
Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.THE THREAD
Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.Jeremiah 5:6 pairs the same Hebrew roots: רבה (ravah, increase) and פשע (pashaʿ, rebellion). The line then gives the spreading rebellion a brutal physical consequence, sharpening the fall that Proverbs says the aligned will see.
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