He loveth transgression that loveth strife: and he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction.

PROVERBS 17:19KJV
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Proverbs 17:19 (KJV)

What does Proverbs 17:19 mean?

Proverbs 17:19 links a love of quarrelling with a love of wrongdoing. The proverb then uses the picture of someone raising a gate to warn that such self-exalting behavior can lead to ruin.

A large, high gateway could display the wealth or importance of a household. The proverb uses that image to picture a person making an impressive show of status.

The Hebrew behind Proverbs 17:19

  • “transgression” — פֶּשַׁע (peshaʿ): The word means an offense or act of rebellion. Here, it gives “strife” a moral weight: the proverb treats the love of conflict as more than a troublesome habit.
  • “exalteth” — גָּבַהּ (gavah): The word means to make high or raise up. With “gate,” it can picture both a physically imposing entrance and the pride suggested by such a display.

Why Proverbs 17:19 matters

  • The proverb speaks about an appetite for conflict, not simply being caught in a disagreement. Its target is the person who “loveth strife.”
  • “Seeketh destruction” describes the end toward which the gate-raiser’s behavior is leading. The phrase gives the warning force: a show meant to impress can bring ruin instead.

Where else these words appear

“strife” Hebrew H4683 · used in 3 verses

  • Proverbs 13:10 Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.
  • Isaiah 58:4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.

“exalteth” Hebrew H1361 · used in 33 verses

  • 1 Samuel 10:23 And they ran and fetched him thence: and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward.
  • Psalms 113:5 Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high,
  • Ezekiel 17:24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the LORD have spoken and have done it.

“destruction” Hebrew H7667 · used in 41 verses

  • Leviticus 21:19 Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded,
  • Isaiah 51:19 These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee?
  • Jeremiah 30:15 Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.

“transgression” Hebrew H6588 · used in 90 verses

  • Genesis 31:36 And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? what is my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me?
  • Psalms 51:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
  • Lamentations 1:14 The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are wreathed, and come up upon my neck: he hath made my strength to fall, the Lord hath delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up.