Proverbs 21:24 — The Proud Scoffer

The verse contains two clauses. The first clause introduces a figure described as proud and haughty, then states that "scoffer is his name." The Hebrew parallelism places the descriptive pair ("proud and haughty") alongside the assigned label ("scoffer"), so that the conduct itself supplies the label. The verse is not saying the man merely has a nickname; it is saying that what he does is what the name denotes.

The second clause, "He worketh in the arrogance of pride," explains the basis for the naming. The word for "arrogence" or "overflowing" points to an excess that defines his behavior. The repeated emphasis on pride in both clauses (proud, haughty, arrogance, pride) shows that this is not a single trait but a settled disposition that governs every action.

Taken together, the verse moves from description to naming to explanation: the man is proud and haughty, that is what earns him the label, and that is how he habitually acts. The labeling effect is moral: the name is what his behavior makes him, not merely what others call him.

The wider chapter collects short statements that contrast human behavior with divine evaluation. Earlier verses pair what a man sees in his own ways (21:2) with how the LORD weighs hearts, and identify a high look and a proud heart as the lamp of the wicked (21:4). Verse 11 observes that the scoffer's punishment leads the simple to wisdom. The target verse, 21:24, fits into this pattern by labeling the person whose inner pride shows outwardly as a scoffer.

The verses immediately around 21:24 are not thematically grouped. Verse 23 speaks of guarding mouth and tongue; verse 25 turns to the sluggard whose desire kills him. The placement of 21:24 between these isolated proverbs is characteristic of the chapter's aphoristic style, where short units stand side by side without narrative connection.