Bible Strands
Proverbs 24:21
My son, fear the LORD and the king, and do not associate with the rebellious.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The author addresses his son within a wisdom discourse that contrasts the doomed fate of the wicked with the consequences of rebellion. The instruction appears between warnings about the evil man's extinguished lamp and the sudden ruin brought by the rebellious.
The words — The Hebrew יְרָא (yir’ah) commands fear or reverence toward both Yahweh and the king, while שׁוֹנִים (shonim) denotes those who are fickle or changing their allegiance. The particle אַל (al) issues a strict prohibition against associating with them.
The thread — This dual command to revere God and civil authority echoes in Romans 13:1 and Titus 3:1, while the warning against rebellion aligns with the historical fracture recorded in 1 Kings 12:16.
Why it lands — The text demands immediate obedience to established authority and warns against aligning with those who destabilize order through fickle rebellion. Readers are left to recognize that fearing God and respecting the king are inseparable duties that prevent sudden ruin.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
My son, fear thou the Lord and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change:
Cross-references
- Romans 13:1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which is from God. The authorities that exist have been appointed by God.
- 1 Kings 12:16 When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, O David!” So the Israelites went home,
- Titus 3:1 Remind the believers to submit to rulers and authorities, to be obedient and ready for every good work,
- 1 Peter 2:13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to the king as the supreme authority,
- Exodus 14:31 When Israel saw the great power that the LORD had exercised over the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and believed in Him and in His servant Moses.
- Matthew 22:21 “Caesar’s,” they answered. So Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
- 1 Samuel 12:12 But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we must have a king to rule over us’—even though the LORD your God was your king.
- Ecclesiastes 8:2 Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.
- Numbers 16:1 Now Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath son of Levi, along with some Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—conducted
- 1 Samuel 8:5 “Look,” they said, “you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king to judge us like all the other nations.”