Proverbs 14:34 - Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Bible Comments

Reproach - The word so rendered has this sense in the Targum of Leviticus 20:17. Its more usual meaning is “mercy,” “piety;” hence, some have attached to the word rendered “sin” the sense of “sin-offering,” and so get the maxim “piety is an atonement for the people.”

Proverbs 14:34

34 Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.