Proverbs 20 · Verse 30

Proverbs 20:30

The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly.
Proverbs 20:30, King James Version

Proverbs 20:30 in other translations

BSBLashes and wounds scour evil, and beatings cleanse the inmost parts.
WEBWounding blows cleanse away evil, and beatings purge the innermost parts.
ASVStripes that wound cleanse away evil; And strokes reach the innermost parts.
YLTThe bandages of a wound thou removest with the evil, Also the plagues of the inner parts of the heart!
DARBYWounding stripes purge away evil, and strokes purge the inner parts of the belly.
BBEBy the wounds of the rod evil is taken away, and blows make clean the deepest parts of the body.
WebsterThe blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly.

What does Proverbs 20:30 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
30. blueness--literally, "joining," the process of uniting the edges of a wound throws off purulent matter. stripes ... belly--So punishment provides healing of soul (Pr 18:8), by deterring from evil courses.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 30 The blueness of a wound - חברות chabburoth, from חבר chabar, to unite, to join together. Does it not refer to the cicatrice of a wound when, in its healing, the two lips are brought topether? By this union the wound is healed; and by the previous discharge the lace-rated ends of fibres and blood-vessels are purged away. So stripes, though they hurt for the time, become the means of correcting and discharging the moral evil of the inmost soul, the vice of the heart, the easily-besetting sin. In this chapter, verses fourteen to nineteen, inclusive, are wanting in the Septuagint and Arabic; and the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth, come in after the twenty-second. It is difficult to account for these variations, unless they were occasioned by the change of leaves in MSS.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
Severe rebukes sometimes do a great deal of good. But such is the corruption of nature, that men are loth to be rebuked for their sins. If God uses severe afflictions, to purify our hearts and fit us for his service, we have cause to be very thankful.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Proverbs 20:30 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.

חַבֻּר֣וֹתcha.bu.Rotwounds ofH2250
פֶּ֭צַעPe.tza'bruise[s]H6482
תַּמְר֣וּקtam.rik[are] a cleansingH8562
בְּרָ֑עbe.Ra'<in> evilH7451
וּ֝מַכּ֗וֹתu.ma.Kotand blowsH4347
חַדְרֵי\־chad.rei-[the] chambers ofH2315
בָֽטֶן\׃Va.ten[the] bellyH990

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

Cross references for Proverbs 20:30

  • Hebrews 12:10

    For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

  • Proverbs 22:15

    Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.

  • Proverbs 19:25

    Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware: and reprove one that hath understanding, and he will understand knowledge.

  • Isaiah 53:5

    But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

  • Isaiah 27:9

    By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
cleanseth away evil. Heb. is a purging medicine againstevil. stripes.
19:25; 22:15; Isa 27:9; Heb 12:10

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

Context

  • Proverbs 20:29

    The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head.

  • Proverbs 20:30

    The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly.

Read all of Proverbs 20

Proverbs 20:30 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Las señales de las heridas son medicina para lo malo: y las llagas llegan á lo más secreto del vientre.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Les meurtrissures et les plaies nettoient le mal, et les coups, les profondeurs de l’âme.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Wundstriemen scheuern das Böse weg, und Schläge scheuern die Kammern des Leibes.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Livor vulneris absterget mala, et plagæ in secretioribus ventris.