Proverbs 16:18

18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 16:18 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
English Standard Version (ESV)
18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
New Living Translation (NLT)
18 Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.
The Message Bible (MSG)
18 First pride, then the crash - the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.
American Standard Version (ASV)
18 Pride [goeth] before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
18 Pride precedes a disaster, and an arrogant attitude precedes a fall.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
18 Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
18 If you are proud, you will be destroyed. If you are proud, you will fall.

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 ) .


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 How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver!
17 The highway of the upright avoids evil; those who guard their ways preserve their lives.
18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
19 Better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud.
20 Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers,and blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD.

Related Articles

Cross References 3

  • 1. S 1 Samuel 17:42
  • 2. Psalms 18:27; Isaiah 13:11; Jeremiah 48:29
  • 3. S Esther 5:12; Proverbs 11:2; S Proverbs 15:33; Proverbs 18:12; Proverbs 29:23
Scripture quoted by permission.  Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.  NIV®.  Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica.  All rights reserved worldwide.