Proverbs 16:18

18 Before destruction [comes] pride, and before a fall, a haughty spirit.

Proverbs 16:18 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 16:18

Pride [goeth] before destruction
As it did in the angels that sinned, who, through pride, fell into condemnation, not being able to bear the thought that the human nature, in the person of the Son of God, should be advanced above theirs; and as it did in our first parents, who, not content with their present state and circumstances, and ambitious of being as gods, knowing good and evil, ruined themselves and all their posterity; and as it has done in many of their sons, as in Haman, Nebuchadnezzar, and others; and a haughty spirit before a fall;
or, "a high spirit", or "height of spirit" ^F9; a man that carries his head high; looks upwards, and not to his goings, sees not at what he may stumble, and so falls: moreover, the bigger a person or thing is, the greater is the fall; and very often when a man has got to the height of his riches and honour, and is swelling with pride and vanity on account of it, he is on the precipice of ruin, and his fall is immediate; which was the case of Nebuchadnezzar, who while he was expressing himself in the haughtiness of his spirit, being in the height of his glory, his kingdom departed from him, ( Daniel 4:30 Daniel 4:31 ) ; and this will be the case of the man of sin, or antichrist, ( Revelation 18:7 Revelation 18:8 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 (xwr hbg) "elitio spiritus", Pagninus, Montanus, Mercerus, Gejerus, Michaelis; "altitudo spiritus", Piscator; "celstudo aniimi", Cocceius; "altifrons elatio spiritus", Schultens.

Proverbs 16:18 In-Context

16 Getting wisdom: {how much} better than gold! And getting understanding: it is chosen {over} silver.

17 The highway of the upright, it turns from evil, he who guards himself keeps his way.

18 Before destruction [comes] pride, and before a fall, a haughty spirit.

19 Better a lowly spirit with the poor than dividing the spoil with the proud.

20 He who is attentive to a matter will find goodness, and he who trusts in Yahweh, his own happiness.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew "a haughty of spirit"