Proverbs 14:34

34. Righteousness exalteth a nation: (both to honour and prosperity:) but sin is a reproach to any people Literally, to nations. The latter clause has been the subject of great controversy, with great names on both sides. Some adhere to and defend the translation of the Authorized Version. “The plain meaning,” says Clarke, “seems to be: A national disposition to mercy appears in the sight of God as a continual sin offering, not that it atones for sin, but as a sin offering is pleasing to the God of mercy, so is a merciful disposition in a nation.” The primary idea of the root is that of eager and earnest desire, ardour, zeal; and this, when carried out into the tropical senses, diverges in two directions, either to good desires and good dispositions toward any one. or to a zealous hatred against one, which is expressed in reproach.