What Does Proverbs 30:5 Mean in the King James?
Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
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 binds a refined word to a refuge-giving God, so trust means sheltering in the One whose speech has been proved true.
THE MEANING
God’s word stands refined, like metal tested until its dross is gone. God is a shield for those who take refuge in him; trust here is sheltering in God, not merely agreeing with a claim.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that trust is only agreement with God’s words: here, trust means taking refuge in God, whose proven word stands true.
THE ROOT
צְרוּפָה
tserufah
GROWS FROM
צרף
ts-r-p
To smelt or refine, especially metal, testing it as dross is removed.
The word translated “pure” carries the image of metal refined and tested, not merely something that looks clean. Psalm 12:6 uses this same root to describe the LORD’s words as silver tried in a furnace, presenting their purity as proven integrity.
ALSO GROWS
tsaraph: To refine or smelt metal.
צָרַף
This verb reveals the refining image carried by the word translated “pure.”
tsoreph: A refiner or smelter.
צֹרֵף
The refiner’s work clarifies that purity is what remains after testing removes what does not belong.
לַחֹסִים
laḥosim
GROWS FROM
חסה
ḥ-s-h
To seek refuge or take shelter.
The Hebrew behind “put their trust” pictures people taking shelter in God. Trust here is more than an inward opinion: it is the act of finding refuge in the One named as a shield.
ALSO GROWS
ḥasah: To seek refuge or take shelter.
חָסָה
This verb shows the active, shelter-seeking sense behind “trust.”
maḥaseh: A refuge or shelter.
מַחְסֶה
This noun names the shelter that the verb’s action seeks, echoing the verse’s image of God as a shield.
THE PATTERN
What proves sound under testing becomes shelter for those who take refuge in it.
The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.THE THREAD
As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.Psalm 18:30 repeats the pairing of a refined word and God as shield. Its Hebrew also uses the root חָסָה (ḥasah), “to seek refuge,” behind “trust,” making the shared pattern especially clear.
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