What Does Proverbs 3:29 Mean in the King James?
Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.
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 word translated “devise” means “plow,” picturing harm worked deliberately into the ground of a neighbor’s security.
THE MEANING
You are addressed as the one who can conceive harm while another person rests securely beside you. The verse exposes the betrayal already present in the split between your neighbor’s trust and your hidden intent.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this undoes is that a concealed plan is harmless until the neighbor finds out or is hurt.
THE ROOT
תַּחֲרֹשׁ
tacharosh
GROWS FROM
חָרַשׁ
charash
To plow or cultivate; the verb also means to plot or devise.
The verb behind “devise” is literally a plowing verb, so the image is of intent worked into a field until it takes shape. Here, the neighbor’s security is the ground being secretly disturbed.
ALSO GROWS
choresh: A person who plows.
חֹרֵשׁ
The literal plowman keeps the field-work audible inside the word for devising.
choreshei: Those who plow; Job 4:8 uses this form for people who plow wrongdoing.
חֹרְשֵׁי
Job makes the cultivation image explicit: harmful intent is worked like a field before its harvest appears.
לָבֶטַח
la-vetach
GROWS FROM
בָּטַח
batach
To trust, feel secure, or be confident.
The word translated “securely” comes from the root used for trusting. The verse places your neighbor’s settled trust beside you, making concealed harm a breach of shared security before it becomes visible.
ALSO GROWS
batach: To trust or feel secure.
בָּטַח
The neighbor’s secure dwelling is bound to the language of trust.
mivtach: A place or source of confidence; Proverbs 14:26 uses it for “strong confidence.”
מִבְטָח
This branch shows security as something placed in another’s care, which sharpens the betrayal in plotting against someone who rests beside you.
THE PATTERN
Hidden intent against a neighbor breaks the trust that love is meant to preserve.
He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.THE THREAD
Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.The same Hebrew root חָרַשׁ (charash, to plow or plot) appears in “deviseth,” and this verse pairs it with mischief. The plowing image makes hidden intent visible as something continually cultivated until it spreads discord.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us