What Does Proverbs 4:15 Mean in the King James?
Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.
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 Hebrew repeats the same verb for “pass” twice: refuse to cross into this path, turn aside, then cross onward.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks now in four movements: leave the harmful path, refuse to cross through it, turn away, and move on. Wisdom is not only refusal; it is a changed direction.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the idea that you can stay near a dangerous path and remain untouched by it; turning away and moving on belong to the same act of wisdom.
THE ROOT
עָבַר
ʿāḇar
GROWS FROM
ע־ב־ר
ʿ-b-r
To cross over or pass through.
The Hebrew uses this same root in both “pass not by it” and “pass away.” English can make those sound like separate instructions, but the repeated root keeps crossing itself in view: refuse this crossing, turn aside, and cross onward.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāḇar: To cross or pass through.
עָבַר
This root appears twice in the verse, first as a crossing to refuse and then as movement onward.
ʿēver: Beyond, across, or the region on the other side.
עֵבֶר
The root carries the sense of crossing into what lies beyond, making the verse’s final movement feel like passing beyond the path one turns from.
maʿāvar: A crossing, passage, or ford.
מַעֲבָר
This branch makes crossing a route or threshold, echoing the verse’s concern with which path the reader enters.
THE PATTERN
Wisdom protects a life by interrupting movement toward a destructive path and redirecting it elsewhere.
Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.THE THREAD
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.The Hebrew behind “passest through” is עָבַר (ʿāḇar, to cross or pass through), the same root repeated in this proverb. Here the crossing is through waters and fire with God’s presence; in Proverbs, the reader is told not to cross through a destructive path, showing how the route changes what a crossing means.
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