What Does Proverbs 16:5 Mean?
Everyone whose heart is lifted high is loathed by the LORD, and though hand joins hand, he does not come away clear.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.THE KEY
No alliance can turn an exalted heart into an acquitted one.
THE MEANING
A heart that raises itself above others is abhorrent to the LORD, and joined hands do not make it go free. The verse names pride as something that cannot be cleared by agreement or alliance.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
If enough people stand with me, our shared confidence can make a self-exalting heart acceptable and keep it clear of consequence.
THE ROOT
גבה לב
gōbah lev
GROWS FROM
גבה
to be high, to rise
The Hebrew pictures pride as a heart lifted high. The word’s spatial image shows what English “proud” can hide: the heart raises itself above others.
ALSO GROWS
gabah: be high, rise
גָּבַהּ
The verb makes the heart’s elevation an action, not merely a label.
gavoah: high, elevated
גָּבֹהַּ
This adjective shares the root’s direct image of height, echoing the heart raised above its proper place.
יִנָּקֶה
yinnaqeh
GROWS FROM
נקה
to be clean, clear, or free
“come away clear” in this verse is yinnaqeh. The Hebrew says the proud person will not be cleared or go free. The line reaches beyond punishment to the failure of any alliance to produce an acquittal.
ALSO GROWS
naki: clean, innocent
נָקִי
This branch shows the clean standing the proud person does not receive.
niqqah: be cleared, be released from guilt
נִקָּה
This verb form makes the verse’s verdict explicit: the person does not simply avoid a penalty; they are not cleared.
תּוֹעֲבַת
to’avat
GROWS FROM
תעב
to abhor or detest
“abomination” in this verse is to’avat. The Hebrew names the high-hearted person as something the LORD detests. The word carries rejection within it, not just a description of a mistaken attitude.
ALSO GROWS
ta’av: abhor, detest
תָּעַב
The verb shows the force carried by the noun: this is what the LORD rejects.
to’evah: something abhorrent or detestable
תּוֹעֵבָה
This noun shares the verse’s word family and preserves the sense of deep aversion.
THE PATTERN
A heart that raises itself remains exposed before God, however many hands join to shield it.
Hand to hand, the wicked does not come out clean, but the seed of the aligned slips free.Though the LORD is lifted high, he sees the low ones, and the lofty he perceives from afar.But he gives greater favor. Therefore it says, God sets himself against those who lift themselves high, and gives favor to those made low.THE THREAD
The LORD is slow to flare, and great in strength, and will by no means clear the wicked. The LORD walks his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.Proverbs’ יִנָּקֶה (yinnaqeh, “be cleared or go free”) and Nahum’s יְנַקֶּה (yenakkeh, “acquit”) share נקה (naqah, “be clean or be cleared”). Nahum makes the verdict explicit: joined hands cannot produce a clean acquittal.
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