The man who wanders out of the way of understanding shall rest in the assembly of the departed spirits.
Parallel Translations
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The man who wanders out of the way of understanding shall rest in the assembly of the departed spirits.
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The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.
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The man that strayeth out of the way of understanding shall rest in the congregation of the shades.
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to Proverbs 21:16 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Hebrews 10:38 But the righteous will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
- Psalms 125:5 But as for those who turn away to their crooked ways, Yahweh will lead them away with the workers of iniquity. Peace be on Israel.
- Psalms 49:14 They are appointed as a flock for Sheol. Death shall be their shepherd. The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning. Their beauty shall decay in Sheol, far from their mansion.
- Zephaniah 1:6 those who have turned back from following Yahweh, and those who haven’t sought Yahweh nor inquired after him.
- Hebrews 10:26-27 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries.
- 1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they didn’t belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have continued with us. But they left, that they might be revealed that none of them belong to us.
- Proverbs 2:18-19 for her house leads down to death, her paths to the departed spirits. None who go to her return again, neither do they attain to the paths of life.
- Proverbs 7:26-27 for she has thrown down many wounded. Yes, all her slain are a mighty army. Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the rooms of death.
- Proverbs 13:20 One who walks with wise men grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
- John 3:19-20 This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed.
- Ephesians 2:1 You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins,
- Hebrews 6:4-6 For concerning those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put him to open shame.
- Jude 1:12 These are hidden rocky reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you, shepherds who without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
- Proverbs 9:18 But he doesn’t know that the departed spirits are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
- 2 Peter 2:21-22 For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, “The dog turns to his own vomit again,” and “the sow that has washed to wallowing in the mire.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (19 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 21:16 The man that wandereth out of the…
Pro 21:16 The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.
Ver. 16. The man that wandereth out of the way.] Let him wander while he will that deviateth from the truth according to godliness - he cannot possibly wander so far as to miss hell. God hath sworn in his wrath that no such vagrants shall enter into his rest; {Psa 95:8-11} nay, "This shall they have of my hand, they shall lie down in sorrow," {Isa 50:11} they shall rest with Rephaims - if at least they can rest in that restless resting place of hell fire, in that congregation house of giants of Gehenna, where is punishment without pity, misery without mercy, sorrow without succour (help), crying without comfort, mischief without measure, torments without end and past imagination. {Pro 2:18} {See Trapp on "Pro 2:18"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The man that wandereth out of the way of…
The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding; that forsaketh the rule of God’s word, and walketh after his own lusts;
shall remain in the congregation of the dead; shall, without repentance, be condemned to eternal death or damnation.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Here is, 1. The sinner upon his ramble: He…
Here is, 1. The sinner upon his ramble: He wanders out of the way of understanding, and when once he has left that good way he wanders endlessly. The way of religion is the way of understanding; those that are not truly pious are not truly intelligent; those that wander out of this way break the hedge which God has set, and follow the conduct of the world and the flesh; and they go astray like lost sheep. 2. The sinner at his rest, or rather his ruin: He shall remain (quiescet - he shall rest, but not in pace - in peace) in the congregation of the giants, the sinners of the old world, that were swept away by the deluge; to that destruction the damnation of sinners is compared, as sometimes to the destruction of Sodom, when they are said to have their portion in fire and brimstone. Or in the congregation of the damned, that are under the power of the second death. There is a vast congregation of damned sinners, bound in bundles for the fire, and in that those shall remain, remain for ever, who are shut out from the congregation of the righteous. He that forsakes the way to heaven, if he return not to it, will certainly sink into the depths of hell.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain The man that wandereth out of the way of…
The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding,.... The way of getting understanding, the good ways and word of God; that wanders from the house of God, the assembly of the saints, where the Gospel is preached, and the ordinances are administered; that, instead of attending on them, where he might gain the understanding of divine and spiritual things, wanders about in the fields, gets into bad company, walks with them in their ways, and turns to his own, as a sheep that goes astray: he
shall remain in the congregation of the dead; among those that are spiritually dead, dead in trespasses and sins; such an one he himself is, and such he is like to continue, and not be written among the living in Jerusalem; or among those who die the second and eternal death, among the damned in hell; so Jarchi interprets it of the congregation of hell; and a large congregation that will be, but dreadful to have an abode with them. The words are rendered by the Septuagint, and the versions that follow that, "shall rest in the congregation of the giants"; which some interpret of devils, and others of the giants of the old world (b), damned spirits: resting with them does not design peace and quietness, for there will be none there; but a fixed settled abode, in opposition to wandering, in the preceding clause.
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(b) See Mede's Discourse 7. p. 32.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Shall remain - Shall, without repentance, be condemned to…
Shall remain - Shall, without repentance, be condemned to eternal death.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 16. The man once enlightened, that wandereth out…
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 favour; 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's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Pro 21:16. The man that wandereth out of the…
Pro 21:16. The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding — That forsaketh the rule of God’s word, and walketh after his own lusts; shall remain in the congregation of the dead — Shall, without repentance, be condemned to eternal death and destruction; Hebrew, בקהל רפאים, In the congregation of the Rephaim; his lot shall be among those wicked souls hereafter, namely, in the depths of Sheol; or the lowest and most wretched parts of it, where the lewd and dissolute go, Pro 9:18. See this considered at large in the note on Job 26:5.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain congregation of the dead - The Rephaim (compare the…
congregation of the dead - The Rephaim (compare the Pro 2:18 note).
Remain - i. e., “He shall find a resting place, but it shall be in Hades.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Charles Bridges 1846 · Public Domain This seems to describe the fearful and irretrievable ruin…
This seems to describe the fearful and irretrievable ruin of apostates. (Psa 125:5 .) God has opened the way of understanding. The wandering out of it implies, that the man was once in it; at least that he was instructed, and professed to walk in it. The end of willful wandering is eternal death. Such was the character and end of the wicked son of Jehoshaphat;†1 and the rebellious children of godly Josiah;†2 apostates from the religion "received by tradition from their fathers."
But — not to go to olden times — It is no rare sight to see the children of godly parents cast off the privileges of their birthright, as despised in their eyes. Though early instructed in "the Holy Scriptures;" instead of "continuing in the things which they have learned and been assured of" (2Ti 3:14-15 ), they have "loved to wander." (Jer 14:10 .) They have never proved a real apprehension of the substance of truth, or a just appreciation of its value. The way has been too straight, and too humbling. Novelties have been preferred: self-confidence indulged; self-pleasing delusions cherished; the want of godly sincerity has darkened the path (Mat 6:23 ); conscientious error, varnished with external holiness, is readily admitted; and the man, destitute of a solid scriptural standard, wanders out of the way of understanding.
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This state of death is often connected (and stands out more strongly by the connection) with external observance of religion, the practice of many moral duties, and with a certain measure of moral taste, partially formed according to the scriptural standard. But there are also occasional emotions of conviction under the oppressive consciousness that the heart was wanting; and whatever might be the temporary excitement — like Saul under the soothing notes of the harp of the son of Jesse (1Sa 16:14-23 ), there is no movement from the state of hardened rebellion against God. The true cause of the death, is that in the full blaze of religious knowledge, a living faith is absent. Hence there is no reality of prayer; therefore no genuine desire, no vital effort, no hearty perseverance. With all his light, knowledge, and privileges, the man is still a wanderer out of the way of understanding.
Indeed wandering is the character of man’s fallen nature. (Isa 53:6 .) But light, conviction, advantages of instruction, awfully aggravate the responsibility. (Isa 28:12-13 . Zep 1:4-6 .) Beware of the first wandering step, whether it may be in doctrine or in practice. It may fix in a state of apostasy, like Bunyan’s blinded wanderers out of the strait path, who were found among the tombs, remaining in the congregation of the dead. A special mercy will it be, if the wayward wanderer does not find his last and final abode among ’the mighty dead,’ "to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever."†3 "It had been better for him not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after he has known it, to turn from the holy commandments delivered unto him." (2Pe 2:21 .) Let such as he remember, that remaining among the congregations of the dead shews their character, their state, and their home; and that though they be by birth Abraham’s children, born of godly parents, yet, wandering out of the way of understanding, they are out of the way of life.
One can only wish to view such sad apostates, as Faithful and Hopeful did, with tears gushing out of our eyes, silently pondering. Do they not stand as warnings to us, that we should tremble — yea — "rejoice with trembling"? (Psa 2:11 .) While we "stand by faith," must we not remember the needful caution — "Be not high-minded, but fear"? (Rom 11:20 .) Ever let us combine self-distrust with our Christian confidence; "fearing, lest, a promise being left us of entering into rest, any of us should seem to come short of it" (Heb 4:1 ); thankful alike for the warnings to make us fear, and for the encouragements to preserve us from despondency.
But the great mass are also here described. They never profess; they never have professed. They know that "wisdom crieth without," yet they refuse to hear the voice of the charmer."†4 Many will occasionally hear, yet "they go their way, and straightway forget what manner of men they were."†5 Noah’s mighty generation was of this character; and they remained in the congregation of the dead.†6 And will not every one, who, with the opportunities to attain wisdom, refuses, departs, turns away, be found to have "died in their trespasses and sins" (Eph 2:1 ) eternally?
Footnotes:
†1 2Ch 21:1, 2Ch 21:4-6, 2Ch 21:18-19 .
†2 2Ch 36:1-17 . Jer 22:17-19, Jer 22:28-30 .
†3 Jud 1:12-13. ’Mighty dead.’ See Dr. Good’s Note on Job 26:5 . ’In cæta gigantum.’ — Melancthon. Parkhurst, and most critics consider intensity to be implied. Compare Isa 14:9 . See on Pro 2:18, n. Dr. Graves quotes this text with several others in this Book (Pro 4:18-19 ; Pro 8:35-36 ; Pro 12:28 ; Pro 14:32 ) in evidence of the knowledge of the future state under the old dispensation. — Lectures on Pentateuch, Part iii. Lect. iv.
†4 Pro 1:20. Psa 58:5 .
†5 Jas 1:24.
†6 1Pe 3:19-20 . 2Pe 2:5 . Gen 6:4 .
Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Giants, in hell, chap xv. 11., Job xxvi. 5.,…
Giants, in hell, chap xv. 11., Job xxvi. 5., and Ezechiel xxii. 21.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain the way of understanding--(Compare Pro 12:26; Pro 14:22).
the way of understanding--(Compare Pro 12:26; Pro 14:22).
remain--that is, rest as at a journey's end; death will be his unchanging home.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 16. In the congregation of the dead — בקכל…
16. In the congregation of the dead — בקכל רפאים, (bikhal rephaim,) in the congregation or assembly of the rephaim, ghosts, shades, whose dwellingplace is sheol, the underworld, or infernal regions. The righteous expect to be delivered out of sheol, but of these “wanderers,” the proverb says they shall remain or abide there. On first clause compare Pro_2:18; Pro_4:14, et seq.: on second clause, Pro_2:18; Pro_19:18.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 16. remain] Rather, rest; find his resting-place, the end…
16. remain] Rather, rest; find his resting-place, the end of his wanderings, among the dead (Heb. Rephaim. See Pro_9:18 note). ἐν συναγωγῇ γιγάντων ἀναπαύσεται, LXX.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (16) Shall remain in the congregation of the dead.—Described…
(16) Shall remain in the congregation of the dead.—Described in Isa_14:9; he shall not take part in the resurrection of Isa_26:19. A prophecy of retribution after death.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The man that wandereth out of the way of…
The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding. (For lKech, "understanding," see note on Pro_1:3) He who forsakes the way of wisdom, the path of virtue, the religious life, and thus becomes in proverbial language "a fool," he shall remain (rest, dwell) in the congregation of the dead; in coetu gigantum commorabitur. "The dead" is, in the Hebrew, rephaim, for which see note on Pro_2:18. The denunciation means primarily that the sinner shall soon be with the shades of the dead, shall meet with a speedy death. Wordsworth considers that the writer is saying in bitter irony that the evil man shall rest as a guest at a banquet, shall lie down and be regaled, but it will be in the company of the dead. The contrast seems to lie between the wandering and the rest, and this rest is regarded as penal; so that one must needs see here an intimation of retribution after death; and setup, Pro_24:14, Pro_24:20. The Fathers regarded the Rephaim, "the giants," as the descendants of the rebel angels, in accordance with their interpretation of Gen_6:1-4. Thus St. Gregory writes ("Moral." 17:30), quoting our passage, "For whosoever forsakes the way of righteousness, to whose number does he join himself, saving to the number of the proud spirits?"
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain The man that wandereth out of the way of…
Pro_21:16
The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.
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The wanderers gloomy state
I. What is meant by wandering out of the way of understanding? The book of nature and of providence is the way of understanding. This book was opened to all the heathen world, but from it they most shamefully wandered. Their philosophers erred most grossly. They wandered in following the vile affections of their own depraved hearts. Another way of understanding is the book of revelation. This was committed to the Jews as a separate and distinct people. But how much they wandered from it! Their teachers wandered from the doctrines and duties which they knew. We have the book of revelation complete, but there are those who never read the Scriptures, and there are many who wander from their precepts, preferring their own flattering conceits to the truth of God. The Bible may properly be called the way of understanding, because it contains all we need to know of God our maker, of Jesus Christ our Saviour, and of the Holy Ghost our teacher, sanctifier, guide, and comforter. Where pure and public worship is performed, there is the way of understanding.
II. The wanderers gloomy state. The congregation of the dead means that vast assembly which is made up of all who are dead in trespasses and sins. This is called spiritual death. It implies the prevalence of sin in the soul. Eternal death is the separation of soul and body, the whole man, from all heavenly possessions and enjoyments for ever; and the sensation of all misery in hell--misery in full measure, without mixture, intermission, or end. (Edward Phillips.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_21:16
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_21:16
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I. The way of understanding. What is this way? In other parts of this book it is called the “path of the just” (chap. Pro_4:18. See page 58). “A way of righteousness” (chap. Pro_12:28, page 291), and a “way of life” (chap. Pro_15:24, page 430). It is a way of understanding, because it is the path or method of life which is followed by those who have well considered their way—who regard both their present and future welfare in the highest sense of the word. The way of righteousness is a way of understanding, because it leads to spiritual life and blessedness, both here and hereafter; therefore those who walk in it give a proof of their wisdom. If we count a man to have no understanding who persists in walking on a road which those who know tell him leads to a precipice over which he must fall, and if the truth of what they say is confirmed by his own knowledge, how much more shall we count those of no understanding who persist in following the path of moral ruin? And by contrast the way of present moral light and life which is ever leading on to more light and life is well named “the way of understanding.”
II. The doom of the wanderer from it. He becomes one of an assembly with whom it is most undesirable to be numbered—the congregation of the dead. The graveyard is a place in which living men never take up their abode. Those who are there are there because they can no longer remain in the dwellings of the living and healthy. They would pollute the homes of those who are in life, and must therefore be separated from them. There is a spiritual graveyard—a place to which those who are destitute of moral life must be banished, because they are unfit for any other dwelling. And there they must remain, for it is the only place suited to their character and disposition. Judas, when he left this world, went to his “own place” (Act_1:25)—to the place to which he belonged, because it was the abode of those like-minded with himself. From the parable of the rich man and Lazarus we infer that those who become numbered with that congregation will remain there until the great gulf fixed between them and the living is removed (Luk_16:26).
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
The original word here translated remains, signifieth to rest and be quiet. It is rest that giveth understanding, and it is understanding that giveth rest. A disquieted mind doth not readily understand things, and it is the understanding of things that quieteth the mind. In the way, therefore, of understanding, there be many resting-places. He that is wearied with the cares of the world, when he understandeth that man is born to cares, resteth himself therein. He that is toiled in getting the things of this world, when he understandeth how little sufficeth nature, and that when he dieth all shall be taken from him, resteth himself there. He that tireth his brains to search out knowledge, when he understandeth that the greatest part of men’s knowledge is the least of his ignorance, and that to know Jesus Christ is life everlasting, resteth himself there. But he that wandereth from the way of understanding meeteth with no rest in all the ways he goes—his thoughts are in no quietness, his heart hath no contentment, his mind no peace. It is the grave alone that is the bed of his rest; and when he cometh to the congregation of the dead, to the general assembly of all mankind, then he shall be quiet. Or else, to consider the verse as our translation hath it: everyone that understandeth his way is not in the way of understanding. The crafty politician understands his way well enough, and goes on readily in it; the covetous worldling understandeth his way well enough, and goes and gets apace in it; the cunning cheater understandeth his way well enough, and passeth through with it. But none of these are in the way of understanding: that is but one, and is the enlightening of the understanding by the word and grace of God. That is the way of understanding, because thereby we understand ourselves to be in the right way indeed. The man, therefore, that wandereth out of this way, when he hath wandered all his ways, shall end them at last in the congregation of the dead—that is the rendezvous to which all are gathered—and being once there, he shall remain for ever amongst them. For when that change is come, they that have passed the way of understanding shall pass from death to life, but they that have gone out of the way shall only go from one death to another.—Jermin.
Pro_21:17 has been treated with Pro_21:5-7.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain v. 16. The man that wandereth out of the…
v. 16. The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding, deliberately choosing the way of error, shall remain in the congregation of the dead, shall rest there, as in his everlasting home.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 21:16 Those who have common sense can avoid life’s…
21:16 Those who have common sense can avoid life’s dangers.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.