For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.

PROVERBS 4:16KJV
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Proverbs 4:16 (KJV)

What does Proverbs 4:16 mean?

Proverbs 4:16 describes people so devoted to doing harm that they cannot rest until they have acted. The verse presents wrongdoing as a driving desire, not merely an occasional mistake.

A father is speaking to his son, warning him about the path of wicked people. Following the warning to stay off that path in verse 15, he pictures these people lying awake until someone has suffered because of them.

The Hebrew behind Proverbs 4:16

  • “mischief” — רָעַע (raʿaʿ): This word can mean doing evil or harm. Here, “mischief” points to harmful wrongdoing, not just a harmless prank.
  • “fall” — כָּשַׁל (kashal): This word can mean to stumble or fall. In the verse, causing someone to fall pictures bringing another person into trouble or ruin.

Why Proverbs 4:16 matters

  • The verse connects wrongdoing with harm to other people. The phrase “cause some to fall” gives a human target to the “mischief” the verse describes.
  • The warning concerns a pattern of behavior. The repeated language of sleep and sleeplessness portrays these people as persistently occupied with doing harm.
  • The passage places two ways of living side by side. Verse 18 contrasts the path of the just, meaning people who do what is right, with the path described here.

Where else these words appear

“sleep” Hebrew H3462 · used in 19 verses

  • Genesis 2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
  • 1 Kings 19:5 And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.
  • Psalms 121:4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

“sleep” Hebrew H8142 · used in 23 verses

  • Genesis 28:16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.
  • Psalms 90:5 Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up.
  • Proverbs 24:33 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

“away” Hebrew H1497 · used in 30 verses

  • Genesis 21:25 And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away.
  • 1 Chronicles 11:23 And he slew an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits high; and in the Egyptian's hand was a spear like a weaver's beam; and he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and slew him with his own spear.
  • Jeremiah 21:12 O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

“fall” Hebrew H3782 · used in 59 verses

  • Leviticus 26:37 And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies.
  • Isaiah 5:27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:
  • Jeremiah 50:32 And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him.