Proverbs 12 · Verse 3

Proverbs 12:3

A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.
Proverbs 12:3, King James Version

Proverbs 12:3 in other translations

BSBA man cannot be established through wickedness, but the righteous cannot be uprooted.
WEBA man shall not be established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.
ASVA man shall not be established by wickedness; But the root of the righteous shall not be moved.
YLTA man is not established by wickedness, And the root of the righteous is not moved.
DARBYA man shall not be established by wickedness; but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.
BBENo man will make himself safe through evil-doing; but the root of upright men will never be moved.
WebsterA man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.

What does Proverbs 12:3 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
3. Wickedness cannot give permanent prosperity. root ... not be moved--firm as a flourishing tree--(Psa 1:3; 15:5; Jr 17:8).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 3 A man shall not be established by wickedness - Evil is always variable: it has no fixed principle, except the root that is in the human heart; and even that is ever assuming new forms. Nothing is permanent but goodness; and that is unchangeable, because it comes from God. The produce of goodness is permanent, because it has God's blessing in it: the fruit of wickedness, or the property procured by wickedness, is transitory, because it has God's curse in it. The righteous has his root in God; and therefore he shall not be moved.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
Though men may advance themselves by sinful arts, they cannot settle and secure themselves. But those who by faith are rooted in Christ, are firmly fixed.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Proverbs 12:3 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

לֹא\־lo'-notH3808
יִכּ֣וֹןyi.Konhe is establishedH3559
אָדָ֣ם'a.DamanyoneH120
בְּרֶ֑שַׁעbe.Re.sha'by wickednessH7562
וְשֹׁ֥רֶשׁve.Sho.reshand [the] root ofH8328
צַ֝דִּיקִ֗יםtza.di.Kimrighteous [people]H6662
בַּל\־bal-notH1077
יִמּֽוֹט\׃yi.Motit is movedH4131

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Proverbs 12:3

  • Proverbs 10:25

    As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation.

  • Ephesians 3:17

    That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

  • Colossians 2:7

    Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

  • Proverbs 12:12

    The wicked desireth the net of evil men: but the root of the righteous yieldeth fruit.

  • Psalms 125:1-2

    A Song of degrees. They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.

  • Job 27:16-18

    Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay; He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver. He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh.

  • Psalms 15:5

    He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.

  • Job 5:3-5

    I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation. His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them. Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.

  • 1 Samuel 25:33

    And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.

  • Job 20:5-9

    That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment? Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds; Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he? He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night. …

  • Job 15:29

    He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
shall not be established.
10:25; Job 5:3-5; 15:29; 20:5-9; 27:16-18
the root.
12; Ps 15:5; 125:1,2; 1Sa 25:33; Eph 3:17; Col 2:7

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Proverbs 12:2

    A good man obtaineth favour of the Lord: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn.

  • Proverbs 12:3

    A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.

  • Proverbs 12:4

    A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.

Read all of Proverbs 12

Proverbs 12:3 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		El hombre no se afirmará por medio de la impiedad: mas la raíz de los justos no será movida.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		L’homme n’est point affermi par la méchanceté, mais la racine des justes n’est pas ébranlée.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Ein Mensch wird nicht bestehen durch Gesetzlosigkeit, aber die Wurzel der Gerechten wird nicht erschüttert werden.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Non roborabitur homo ex impietate, et radix justorum non commovebitur.