Proverbs 29:18

The AV translation has resulted in misunderstanding of this proverb. The "vision" (Heb. hazon) does not refer to some dream of success a person may have but to a prophetic vision that was a revelation from God (cf. 1 Samuel 3:1). The Hebrew verb translated "perish" (AV; para) does not mean "die in their sins" (e.g., because someone did not see the "vision" of the importance of evangelism). It means "cast off restraint." Without the guidance of divine revelation people abandon themselves to their own sinful ways. God’s Word restrains human wickedness, and those who keep it are happy. Thus "a nation’s well-being depends on obedience to divine revelation." [Note: Ibid., p. 1116.] There must be knowledge of divine revelation through preaching for there to be obedience to it. [Note: Cf. Alden, p. 202.]