Grace Answers
Proverbs of Solomon
Proverbs › Chapter 15 › Proverbs 15:25

What Does Proverbs 15:25 Mean?

The LORD will destroy the house of the proud,But He will establish the boundary of the widow.Proverbs 15:25 · NKJV

Quick answer

God takes down the households built on pride and holds the property line of the woman with no one to defend it. He is not an impartial observer of power imbalances.

Read both lines

The two lines are one act of justice viewed from both ends. A "house" here is the whole household project, name and holdings and future, and the LORD is said to pull it down when pride is what built it. The second line is the tender half, and its specificity is the point: a boundary marker was a widow's only legal protection, a stone that could be quietly moved at night by a neighbor confident that nobody would take her side. The verse says Someone takes her side. God is pictured doing the small, precise, unglamorous work of putting a stone back where it belongs, which is exactly the sort of protection He claims elsewhere as a defender of widows (Psalm 68:5).

Related: Proverbs 22:28 · Proverbs 23:10–11 · Psalm 68:5

New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. Full copyright information. Scripture provided by API.Bible.

Go Deeper

If this verse has been used to put weight on you that it was never carrying, ask about it directly.