A biblical verse that is popular with priests and repeated in homilies is Proverbs 24,16. It is as much erroneously quoted as it is popular. The quoted verse reads: “The just man falls seven times a day.”

Here the error is twofold. First, in the Hebrew language, the verse is not as quoted and secondly, the meaning most priests give to it is incorrect.

In his moral theology regarding Proverbs 24,16 (The Law of Christ, Vol. I, p.355), Bernard Haring says “it should be noted that the passage does not say the just man falls seven times a day”.

The correct translation should read: “If the just man falls seven times, he rises again.” Thus it is conditional and without any specific time period.

Another error concerns its meaning: most priests wrongly interpret ‘falls’ as venial sins. Haring says “the falls refer to external misfortunes” (ibid). ‘External misfortunes’ are not sins. Commenting on Proverbs 24,16, the Jerome Biblical Commentary (with a foreword by Cardinal Bea) says: “It is futile to plot the ruin of a just man, for God always restores him.” So again, these ‘falls’ do not refer to sins.

In their commentary on Book of Proverbs, regarding Ch. 24,16, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops says: “The just will overcome every misfortune that oppresses them. Seven times is an indefinite number.”

In the Maltese footnotes to this Biblical verse, the translation of the term ‘falls’ is ‘ħsara’ (misfortunes: ibid).

So, echoing Proverbs 24,16 to infer that the just man commits seven venial sins a day is a completely wrong conclusion. By God’s grace, the just can live without any sins, subject to Canon 23 of the Council of Trent.