Skip to content
QuotesFromBible.com

Does the Bible say…

about 2 min read

“Pride comes before a fall”

Paraphrase Misquoted Proverbs 16:18

This is a paraphrase. The actual text reads differently.

Proverbs 16:18 says 'Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.' The common saying compresses two clauses into one.

Prov 16:18
actual reference
2
parallel clauses in the actual verse
1
key word ('destruction') dropped in the common saying

Full reference

The actual text
Proverbs 16:18
Proverbs 16:18 — BSB

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 16:18 — KJV

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

Read in other translations (Proverbs 16:18)

NIV → ESV → NLT → NASB → CSB →
Full passage in context and origin

The actual verse

Proverbs 16:18 (BSB):

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

The KJV (1769):

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

What the paraphrase changes

The verse contains two clauses joined by parallelism:

  • First clause: “Pride goes before destruction”
  • Second clause: “a haughty spirit before a fall”

The common saying — “Pride comes before a fall” — compresses these two into one and drops the word “destruction.” The idea is preserved, but the verse’s parallel structure and stronger first image are not.

The surrounding passage

Proverbs 16 is a chapter of standalone proverbs, most addressing kings, justice, speech, and human conduct. The verses immediately surrounding 16:18 (BSB):

17 The highway of the upright leads away from evil; he who guards his way protects his life. 18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. 19 Better to be lowly in spirit among the humble than to divide the spoil with the proud.

Original language

The Hebrew text is structured as synonymous parallelism, in which the second clause restates the first using different words:

  • gā’ôn (גָּאוֹן, “pride, majesty”) and gōvah-rûaḥ (גֹּבַהּ־רוּחַ, “haughtiness of spirit”)
  • shever (שֶׁבֶר, “breaking, fracture, destruction”) and kishalon (כִּשָּׁלוֹן, “stumbling, falling”)

This is a standard pattern in the wisdom literature of the Hebrew Bible. The two clauses are not separate predictions — they are one idea expressed twice for emphasis.

Read on Bible1.org

Read the full chapter on our companion site: Proverbs 16 on Bible1.org → — BSB text in context, all verses.

Original language note

Original language

The Hebrew of the verse uses two paired terms: שֶׁבֶר (shever, 'breaking, fracture, destruction') in the first clause and כִּשָּׁלוֹן (kishalon, 'stumbling, falling') in the second. The verse is structured as Hebrew synonymous parallelism — two ways of saying the same idea — so the second clause restates and intensifies the first.

While you're here — others who read this also found

All things work together for good

Romans 8:28. KJV: 'all things work together'. BSB: 'God works all things together'. Greek manuscripts disagree on whether 'God' is the explicit subject.

Translation Dependent

The number 666 appears as 616 in some early manuscripts

Some early Greek manuscripts of Revelation read 616 instead of 666 for the number of the beast. Irenaeus noted the variant c. 180 AD.

Related entries

The lion shall lie down with the lamb

The actual verse pairs the wolf with the lamb, and the lion with the calf (Isaiah 11:6).

Paraphrase

Money is the root of all evil

The Bible says 'the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil' (1 Timothy 6:10). Two dropped words; one changed.

Paraphrase

Ask and you shall receive

The exact wording is in John 16:24 (KJV). Matthew 7:7 reads 'ask and it will be given to you.' Each passage qualifies the promise in different ways.

Paraphrase

External references