Proverbs 29:23 (KJV) A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.
The King James translation is fine. It is accurate. I noticed, though, when I looked at the NIV that there was a play on words that didn’t come through in the KJV.
Proverbs 29:23 (NIV) Pride brings a person low, but the lowly in spirit gain honor.The KJV uses “low” and “humble”. Both are basically the same word; one a noun, the other an adjective. That’s fine for grammar, but what struck me was the same concept and one place was praised and the other was condemned.
It is always interesting when you see a place where the same word can have totally different meanings based on context. It is like the two sides of a coin. I don’t think any of us have any trouble telling the difference here, but someone who doesn’t know the language and was trying to translate might shake his head. The KJV does a good job in breaking down the confusion by using a different word, which has a similar meaning but makes it richer.
So? As I’ve said, before, always read the Bible with your brain turned on. Expect to see things that you didn’t see before. That’s one of the miracles of having the Holy Spirit in our lives, he pointed things out to us.
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