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Proverbs 11 · a question people ask

"Behold, the righteous shall be repaid on the earth" (11:31). Repaid with what?

In the text

The whole verse is, "Behold, the righteous shall be repaid on the earth, how much more the wicked and the sinner!" (11:31). Repaid is a form of shalam, which Brown-Driver-Briggs gives in this form as "be repaid, requited" (tap repaid). The very same Hebrew form is will be rewarded in "he who respects a command will be rewarded" (Proverbs 13:13). The verse doesn't say what the righteous are repaid with. It reasons from the righteous to "the wicked and the sinner": if the one is repaid on the earth, how much more the other. 1 Peter has words that reason the same way (see Go deeper).

The verses

“Behold, the righteous shall be repaid on the earth, how much more the wicked and the sinner!”
Proverbs 11:31 · World English Bible
“Whoever despises instruction will pay for it, but he who respects a command will be rewarded.”
Proverbs 13:13 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Proverbs 11

Proverbs 11: Accurate weights

One frame holds a pair of scales and a heart: "A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but accurate weights are his delight" (11:1), and the perverse in heart are "an abomination to the LORD", the blameless "his delight" (11:20). And the Hebrew word for righteousness, tsedaqah, comes five times in this chapter, more than in any other chapter of Proverbs.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions