Proverbs Chapter 28 verse 2 Holy Bible
For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof; But by men of understanding `and' knowledge the state `thereof' shall be prolonged.
read chapter 28 in ASV
Because of the sin of the land, its troubles are increased; but by a man of wisdom and knowledge they will be put out like a fire.
read chapter 28 in BBE
By the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof; but by a man of understanding [and] of knowledge, [its] stability is prolonged.
read chapter 28 in DARBY
For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof: but by a man of understanding and knowledge the state thereof shall be prolonged.
read chapter 28 in KJV
read chapter 28 in WBT
In rebellion, a land has many rulers, But order is maintained by a man of understanding and knowledge.
read chapter 28 in WEB
By the transgression of a land many `are' its heads. And by an intelligent man, Who knoweth right -- it is prolonged.
read chapter 28 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 2. - For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof. This implies that the wickedness of a nation is punished by frequent changes of rulers, who impose new laws, taxes, and other burdens, which greatly oppress the people; but regarding the antithesis in the second hemistich, we take the meaning to be that when iniquity, injustice, apostasy, and other evils abound, a country becomes the prey of pretenders and partisans striving for the supremacy. The history of the northern kingdom of Israel, especially in the disastrous period succeeding the death of Jeroboam II, affords proof of the truth of the statement (comp. Hosea 8:4). Septuagint, "Owing to the sins of ungodly men, quarrels (κρίσεις, lawsuits) arise." But by a man of understanding and knowledge the state thereof shall be prolonged. "The state" is the stability, the settled condition of the country. The word is כֵן (ken), here a substantive, equivalent to "station," "base." Umbreit, Nowack, and others translate it, "justice," "authority," "order." When a wise and religious man is at the helm of state, justice continues, lives, and works; such a man introduces an clement of enduring good into a land (comp. Proverbs 21:22; Ecclesiastes 9:15). The good kings Ass, Jehoshaphat, Uzziah, and Hezekiah had long and prosperous reigns. Septuagint, "But a clever man (πανοῦργος) will quench them (quarrels)."
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(2) For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof.--Comp. 1Kings 15:27, sqq., and indeed the whole history of the kingdom of Israel as compared with the regular succession of the family of David in accordance with the promise of Psalm 89:33.The state thereof shall be prolonged--i.e., its settled condition. Or it may signify "right" (i.e., authority)" continues."
