Proverbs 14 · Verse 34

Proverbs 14:34

Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.
Proverbs 14:34, King James Version

Proverbs 14:34 in other translations

BSBRighteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.
WEBRighteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.
ASVRighteousness exalteth a nation; But sin is a reproach to any people.
YLTRighteousness exalteth a nation, And the goodliness of peoples is a sin-offering.
DARBYRighteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to peoples.
BBEBy righteousness a nation is lifted up, but sin is a cause of shame to the peoples.
WebsterRighteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.

What does Proverbs 14:34 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
34. Righteousness--just principles and actions. exalteth--raises to honor. is a reproach--brings on them the ill-will of others (compare Pr 13:6).

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 34 But sin is a reproach to any people - I am satisfied this is not the sense of the original, וחסד לאמים חטאת vechesed leummim chattath; which would be better rendered, And mercy is a sin-offering for the people. The Vulgate has, Miseros autem facit populos peccatum, "sin makes the people wretched." Ελασσονουσι δε φυλας ἁμαρτιαι; "But sins lessen the tribes." - Septuagint. So also the Syriac and Arabic. The plain meaning of the original seems to be, A national disposition to mercy appears in the sight of God as a continual sin-offering. Not that it atones for the sin of the people; but, as a sin-offering is pleasing in the sight of the God of mercy, so is a merciful disposition in a nation. This view of the verse is consistent with the purest doctrines of free grace. And what is the true sense of the words, we should take at all hazards and consequences: we shall never trench upon a sound creed by a literal interpretation of God's words. No nation has more of this spirit than the British nation. It is true, we have too many sanguinary laws; but the spirit of the people is widely different. If any one will contend for the common version, he has my consent; and I readily agree in the saying, Sin is the reproach of any people. It is the curse and scandal of man. Though I think what I have given is the true meaning of the text.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
Piety and holiness always promote industry, sobriety, and honesty.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Proverbs 14:34 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.

צְדָקָ֥הtze.da.KahrighteousnessH6666
תְרֽוֹמֵֽם\־te.ro.mem-it exaltsH7311
גּ֑וֹיGoya nationH1471
וְחֶ֖סֶדve.Che.sedand [is] a shameH2617
לְאֻמִּ֣יםle.'u.Mimto a peopleH3816
חַטָּֽאת\׃cha.TatsinH2403

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

Cross references for Proverbs 14:34

  • Psalms 107:34

    A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.

  • Deuteronomy 28:1-68

    And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. …

  • Deuteronomy 29:18-28

    Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood; And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst: The Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven. And the Lord shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law: …

  • Deuteronomy 4:6-8

    Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?

  • Ezekiel 16:1-63

    Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, And say, Thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite. And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. …

  • Hosea 13:1

    When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.

  • Judges 2:6-14

    And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land. And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord, that he did for Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old. And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath–heres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. …

  • Jeremiah 2:2-25

    Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. Israel was holiness unto the Lord, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the Lord. Hear ye the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain? …

  • Ezekiel 22:1-23

    Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations. Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord God, The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself. Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries. …

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Righteousness.
De 4:6-8; 28:1-14; Jud 2:6-14; Jer 2:2-25; Ho 13:1
but.
De 28:15-68; 29:18-28; Ps 107:34; Eze 16:1-63; 22:1-23:49
any people. Heb. nations.

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

Context

  • Proverbs 14:33

    Wisdom resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding: but that which is in the midst of fools is made known.

  • Proverbs 14:34

    Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.

  • Proverbs 14:35

    The king’s favour is toward a wise servant: but his wrath is against him that causeth shame.

Read all of Proverbs 14

Proverbs 14:34 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
La justicia engrandece la nación: mas el pecado es afrenta de las naciones.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
La justice élève une nation, mais le péché est la honte des peuples.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Gerechtigkeit erhöht eine Nation, aber Sünde ist der Völker Schande.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Justitia elevat gentem; miseros autem facit populos peccatum.