Proverbs 14:14

14 The faithless will be fully repaid for their ways, and the good rewarded for theirs.

Proverbs 14:14 in Other Translations

14 The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself.

14 The backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways, and a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways.

14 Backsliders get what they deserve; good people receive their reward.

14 A mean person gets paid back in meanness, a gracious person in grace.

14 The disloyal will get what their conduct deserves, and a good man, what his [deeds deserve.]

Proverbs 14:14 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 14:14

The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways,
&c.] One that is a backslider at heart, whose heart departeth from the Lord; in whom there is an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; and indeed apostasy begins at the heart, and shows itself in the life and conversation: there may be a backsliding when the heart does not wickedly depart from God; but is through the infirmity of the flesh and the force of temptation; from which backslidings the Lord's people are recovered, and which are healed by his grace; but here such an one is meant who willingly and heartily backslides; and such shall have the reward of their hands and actions given them, or the full and due punishment of their sins; they shall have their bellyful of their own wicked ways and works, the just recompense of reward for them; and a good man [shall be satisfied] from himself;
shall eat the fruit of his own doings, shall be blessed in his deeds, and have peace and satisfaction therein; though not salvation by them, or for them: he shall be satisfied with the grace of God bestowed on him and wrought in him; and, from a feeling experience of the grace of God within him, shall be satisfied that he has in heaven a better and an enduring substance; or he shall be satisfied "from above himself" ^F13, from the grace that is in Christ, out of the fulness which is in him; and shall be filled with all the fulness of God he is capable of; and especially in the other world, when he shall awake in his likeness. The Targum is,

``a good man shall be satisfied with his fear;''

and so the Syriac version, with the fear of his soul; it may be rendered, as by the Vulgate Latin version, "a good man shall be above him" ^F14; that is, above the backslider; shall be better tilled, and be more happy than he.

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 (wylem) "de super eo", Montanus; "de super semet", Schultens.
F14 "Et super cum erit vir bonus", V. L. De Dieu.

Proverbs 14:14 In-Context

12 There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.

13 Even in laughter the heart may ache, and rejoicing may end in grief.

14 The faithless will be fully repaid for their ways, and the good rewarded for theirs.

15 The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps.

16 The wise fear the LORD and shun evil, but a fool is hotheaded and yet feels secure.

Cross References

• 1. S Proverbs 1:31
• 2. S 2 Chronicles 15:7; Proverbs 12:14