What Does Proverbs 6:31 Mean in the King James?
But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.
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 measures theft by the cost of repair: repayment reaches sevenfold and the whole wealth of the thief’s house.
THE MEANING
When a thief is found, the debt is not treated as the stolen object alone: the verse names sevenfold repayment and the surrender of all the wealth of his house. The cost of repair falls on the one who took, reaching beyond the thing taken.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that returning the stolen item alone erases the harm is undone here: the verse names repayment beyond the original value, even reaching the thief’s whole household wealth.
THE ROOT
יְשַׁלֵּם
yeshallēm
GROWS FROM
שׁלם
sh-l-m
To be whole or complete; in this form, to repay or make good.
“restore” in this verse is yeshallēm. The verb carries the sense of repayment, while its wider word family also names wholeness. Here, repair is concrete and costly: the taker answers the loss with more than the thing taken.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: wholeness, peace
שָׁלוֹם
This branch shows the root’s connection to a state of wholeness; restitution is the act of answering a breach.
shillem: he repaid, made compensation
שִׁלֵּם
This is the repayment sense heard directly in the verse: the thief must answer for what he took.
THE PATTERN
Restitution answers taking with an accountable return that can exceed the original loss.
If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.Or all that about which he hath sworn falsely; he shall even restore it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto, and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth, in the day of his trespass offering.And Zacchæus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.THE THREAD
Or all that about which he hath sworn falsely; he shall even restore it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto, and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth, in the day of his trespass offering.Both “restore” verbs come from שׁלם (shalam, repay or make whole). Leviticus names the principal plus a fifth, while Proverbs names sevenfold repayment; the shared root holds restitution as an answer to a breach.
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