The Meaning of Proverbs 10:16 Explained

Proverbs 10:16

KJV: The labour of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin.

YLT: The wage of the righteous is for life, The increase of the wicked for sin.

Darby: The labour of a righteous man tendeth to life; the revenue of a wicked man, to sin.

ASV: The labor of the righteous tendeth to life; The increase of the wicked, to sin.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

The labour  of the righteous  [tendeth] to life:  the fruit  of the wicked  to sin. 

What does Proverbs 10:16 Mean?

Context Summary

Proverbs 10:1-16 - The Righteous And The Wicked
Wealth has its advantages, which are more than apparent. The rich man's wealth is his strong city, Proverbs 10:15; but the treasures which have been obtained by wickedness are soon dissipated. They profit nothing, Proverbs 10:2. This book contains the striking thought that ill-earned wealth is never gathered for the benefit of the possessor, but rather for the benefit of the righteous, and must be useless until it gets into hands which will use it benevolently and rightly.
But there is another kind of wealth, which will never take wings to fly away, which no moth can corrupt nor thief steal, and which will avail not only here but here-after. Note the antithesis of Proverbs 10:2. If you would increase your wealth, give it away. See Proverbs 10:4.
The covering work of love, referred to in Proverbs 10:12, is emphasized in 1 Corinthians 13:7, r.v., margin, 1 Peter 4:8, and James 5:20. God covers sin, so that the memory of it is obliterated, Ezekiel 33:16. [source]

Chapter Summary: Proverbs 10

1  Proverbs of Solomon: observations of moral virtues, and their contrary vices

What do the individual words in Proverbs 10:16 mean?

The labor of the righteous [leads] to life the wages of the wicked to sin
פְּעֻלַּ֣ת צַדִּ֣יק לְחַיִּ֑ים תְּבוּאַ֖ת רָשָׁ֣ע לְחַטָּֽאת

פְּעֻלַּ֣ת  The  labor 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: פְּעֻלָּה  
Sense: work, recompense, reward.
צַדִּ֣יק  of  the  righteous 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: צַדִּיק  
Sense: just, lawful, righteous.
לְחַיִּ֑ים  [leads]  to  life 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine plural
Root: חַי 
Sense: living, alive.
תְּבוּאַ֖ת  the  wages 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: תְּבוּאָה  
Sense: produce, product, revenue.
רָשָׁ֣ע  of  the  wicked 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: רָשָׁע  
Sense: wicked, criminal.
לְחַטָּֽאת  to  sin 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, feminine singular
Root: חַטָּאָה 
Sense: sin, sinful.