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The Evil Will Have to Bow Down

Proverbs 14:19 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
¹⁹The evil bow down before the good,
and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

The evil bow down before the good: The Hebrew verb (שָׁחַח shachach) bow down, used here, is a sign of respect that may convey submission, submissiveness, or regard toward another human or simply a greeting. (Gen. 18:2) Here, in this context, it is an act of submissiveness toward the good, a recognition of the superiority of the good over the evil.

and the wicked at the gates of the righteous: The wicked parallels the evil, while the righteous parallels the good. The wicked at the gates of the rights convey the idea of waiting impatiently at the gate, that is, access to the righteous, seeking, begging for something.

The wicked many times in their life or certainly, in the end, will be ruined and brought low, which will result in their having to beg the good for something. Their wickedness will have reduced them to a lifetime of distress, difficulties, crisis, and plights, ending in ruination. While good men may struggle at times in life, they are blessed by God and are enriched with successes, which enables them to give some basics to the wicked man.

Many times in history, even the wicked have had to acknowledge the outstanding qualities of God’s people reluctantly. The wicked man will find himself having to bow before the good man throughout his life. They desire the help of the good man. In other words, the good will, in the end, be victorious over the wicked.