The Meaning of Proverbs 8:36 Explained

Proverbs 8:36

KJV: But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.

YLT: And whoso is missing me, is wronging his soul, All hating me have loved death!

Darby: but he that sinneth against me doeth violence to his own soul: all they that hate me love death.

ASV: But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: All they that hate me love death.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

But he that sinneth  against me wrongeth  his own soul:  all they that hate  me love  death. 

What does Proverbs 8:36 Mean?

Context Summary

Proverbs 8:22-36 - Finding Wisdom, Finding Life
The world did not come into being by chance. It was created by an intelligent Creator. Nothing is arbitrary or by accident. Law is the expression of the perfect will of God. It is founded on the inherent necessity which is at the heart of all things; and it is according to unchanging law that all things subsist. Yet never forget that God is Redeemer, as well as Creator, and reserves to Himself the right of suffering the infliction of a broken law, that He may step in to redeem those who are penitent and believing.
It would seem as if in Luke 7:35 our Lord appropriated these sublime words as applicable to Himself. How glorious it is that He appropriates Proverbs 8:31! He does not delight in us after we are redeemed, but before; and it is on this that He bases His appeal: Blessed are they that keep My ways, Proverbs 8:32. Let us watch daily at His gates, and wait at the posts of His doors. For to find Him is to find eternal life, 1 John 4:19. [source]

Chapter Summary: Proverbs 8

1  the fame
6  and evidence of wisdom
10  The excellence
12  the nature
15  the power
18  the riches
22  and the eternity of wisdom
32  Wisdom is to be desired for the blessedness it brings

What do the individual words in Proverbs 8:36 mean?

But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul all those who hate me love death -
וְֽ֭חֹטְאִי חֹמֵ֣ס נַפְשׁ֑וֹ כָּל־ מְ֝שַׂנְאַ֗י אָ֣הֲבוּ מָֽוֶת פ

וְֽ֭חֹטְאִי  But  he  who  sins  against  me 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: חָטָא 
Sense: to sin, miss, miss the way, go wrong, incur guilt, forfeit, purify from uncleanness.
חֹמֵ֣ס  wrongs 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: חָמַס 
Sense: to wrong, do violence to, treat violently, do wrongly.
נַפְשׁ֑וֹ  his  own  soul 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: נֶפֶשׁ  
Sense: soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion.
מְ֝שַׂנְאַ֗י  those  who  hate  me 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Participle, masculine plural construct, first person common singular
Root: שָׂנֵא  
Sense: to hate, be hateful.
אָ֣הֲבוּ  love 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: אָהַב  
Sense: to love.
מָֽוֶת  death 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מָוֶת  
Sense: death, dying, Death (personified), realm of the dead.
פ  - 
Parse: Punctuation