Proverbs 21 · Verse 16

Proverbs 21:16

The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.
Proverbs 21:16, King James Version

Proverbs 21:16 in other translations

BSBThe man who strays from the path of understanding will rest in the assembly of the dead.
WEBThe man who wanders out of the way of understanding shall rest in the assembly of the departed spirits.
ASVThe man that wandereth out of the way of understanding Shall rest in the assembly of the dead.
YLTA man who is wandering from the way of understanding, In an assembly of Rephaim resteth.
DARBYThe man that wandereth out of the way of wisdom shall abide in the congregation of the dead.
BBEThe wanderer from the way of knowledge will have his resting-place among the shades.
WebsterThe man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.

What does Proverbs 21:16 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
16. the way of understanding--(Compare Pr 12:26; 14:22). remain--that is, rest as at a journey's end; death will be his unchanging home.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 16 The man once enlightened, that wandereth out of the way of understanding, in which he had walked, shall remain - have a permanent residence - in the congregation of the dead; רפאים rephaim, the lost; either separate spirits in general, or rather the assembly of separate spirits, which had fallen from primitive rectitude; and shall not be restored to the Divine favor; particularly those sinners who were destroyed by the deluge. This passage intimates that those called rephaim are in a state of conscious existence. It is difficult to assign the true meaning of the word in several places where it occurs: but it seems to mean the state of separate spirits, i.e., of those separated from their bodies, and awaiting the judgment of the great day: but the congregation may also include the fallen angels. My old MS. Bible translates, The man that errith fro the wei of doctrine, in the felowschip of geantis schal wonnen.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
Of all wanderers in the ways of sin, those are in the most dangerous condition who turn aside into the ways of darkness. Yet there is hope even for them in the all-sufficient Saviour; but let them flee to him without delay.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Proverbs 21:16 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.

אָדָ֗ם'a.Dama personH120
תּ֭וֹעֶהTo.'eh[who] wandersH8582
מִדֶּ֣רֶךְmi.De.rekhfrom [the] way ofH1870
הַשְׂכֵּ֑לhas.KelinsightH7919
בִּקְהַ֖לbik.Halin [the] assembly ofH6951
רְפָאִ֣יםre.fa.'Im[the] shadesH7496
יָנֽוּחַ\׃ya.Nu.achhe will restH5117

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

Cross references for Proverbs 21:16

  • Hebrews 10:38

    Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

  • Psalms 125:5

    As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity: but peace shall be upon Israel.

  • Hebrews 10:26-27

    For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

  • Zephaniah 1:6

    And them that are turned back from the Lord; and those that have not sought the Lord, nor enquired for him.

  • Psalms 49:14

    Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.

  • 1 John 2:19

    They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

  • John 3:19-20

    And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

  • Jude 1:12

    These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

  • Proverbs 13:20

    He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.

  • Ephesians 2:1

    And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

  • Proverbs 2:18-19

    For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.

  • Proverbs 7:26-27

    For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
wandereth.
13:20; Ps 125:5; Zep 1:6; Joh 3:19,20; Heb 6:4-6; 10:26,27,38
2Pe 2:21,22; 1Jo 2:19
remain.
2:18,19; 7:26,27; 9:18; Eph 2:1; Jude 1:12

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

Context

  • Proverbs 21:15

    It is joy to the just to do judgment: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.

  • Proverbs 21:16

    The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.

  • Proverbs 21:17

    He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.

Read all of Proverbs 21

Proverbs 21:16 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		El hombre que se extravía del camino de la sabiduría, vendrá á parar en la compañía de los muertos.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		L’homme qui s’égare du chemin de la sagesse demeurera dans l’assemblée des trépassés.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Ein Mensch, der von dem Wege der Einsicht abirrt, wird ruhen in der Versammlung der Schatten.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Vir qui erraverit a via doctrinæ in cœtu gigantum commorabitur.