What Does Proverbs 20:22 Mean?
Do not say, I will repay the evil; stretch yourself taut toward the LORD, and he will bring you out.
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
Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.THE KEY
The verse reveals retaliation as an attempt to make the wound whole by hand, while deliverance belongs to the One who can bring you out.
THE MEANING
The urge to repay evil feels like a way to settle what has been broken. This verse names another source of wholeness: the LORD, who delivers you as you wait for him. Waiting here is expectation, not an empty pause.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that if you do not repay harm yourself, the harm gets the final word; the verse places the outcome in the LORD’s hands and names him as your deliverer.
THE ROOT
אֲשַׁלְּמָה
ʾashallemah
GROWS FROM
שלם
sh-l-m
To be whole or complete; by extension, to make good or repay what is due.
“repay the evil” in this verse is ʾashallemah. The verb for “I will repay” shares its root with the word for wholeness. Retaliation can feel like restoring what was broken, but the verse redirects that claim to the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: Wholeness, well-being
שָׁלוֹם
Its shared root connects settling what is broken with the desire for wholeness.
shillem: To pay, repay, or make restitution
שִׁלֵּם
This verb belongs to the same family as the speaker’s vow to repay.
קַוֵּה
qavveh
GROWS FROM
קוה
q-w-h
To wait for, hope for, or look eagerly toward.
“stretch yourself taut toward” in this verse is qavveh. The verse sets waiting in expectation against the first-person vow to repay. This root also gives words for hope and for a gathered collection, lending “wait” a sense of attention held toward what is expected.
ALSO GROWS
tiqvah: Hope, expectation
תִּקְוָה
This related noun shows that waiting carries a horizon: it is oriented toward what is hoped for.
miqveh: A gathering or collection, especially of water
מִקְוֵה
The same consonant family can name what is gathered; here, expectation gathers around the LORD rather than around retaliation.
וְיֹשַׁע
weyosha
GROWS FROM
ישע
y-sh-ʿ
To deliver or bring out of danger into safety.
“bring you out” in this verse is weyosha. The verse ends with the LORD bringing you out. The related noun for deliverance names a concrete way through the harm, not merely a command to hold back.
ALSO GROWS
yeshuah: Deliverance, rescue
יְשׁוּעָה
This noun names the outcome the verse promises: being brought out.
moshia: A deliverer, one who brings rescue
מוֹשִׁיעַ
This related word puts the action with the deliverer, not with the person tempted to repay.
THE PATTERN
When harm provokes a demand to settle the score, scripture redirects the response from self-appointed repayment toward entrusting the outcome to the LORD.
Hush before the LORD, and wait for him in labor. Do not burn yourself because of the one who pushes through on his way, because of the man who makes schemes.Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but give room to wrath. For it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will give back, says the LORD.Who, when he was insulted, hurled no insult back; when he suffered, he threatened not; but handed himself over to the one who judges by alignment.THE THREAD
And in that day it will be said, "Look, this is our God; we have stretched toward him, and he will deliver us. This is the LORD; we have stretched toward him, let us leap and let us rejoice in his deliverance."Isaiah places קָוָה (qavah, wait in expectation) beside יָשַׁע (yasha, deliver), then names the outcome יְשׁוּעָה (yeshuah, deliverance). The same roots show what Proverbs’ waiting is turned toward: the LORD bringing you out.
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