Christian Standard Bible
Proverbs 21:4
4The lamp that guides the wicked — haughty eyes and an arrogant heart — is sin.
Proverbs 21:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.
- New International Version (NIV)Haughty eyes and a proud heart— the unplowed field of the wicked—produce sin.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin.
- New King James Version (NKJV)A haughty look, a proud heart, And the plowing of the wicked are sin.
Context of Proverbs 21:4
2All a person’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs hearts. 3Doing what is righteous and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. The lamp that guides the wicked — haughty eyes and an arrogant heart — is sin. 5The plans of the diligent certainly lead to profit, but anyone who is reckless certainly becomes poor. 6Making a fortune through a lying tongue is a vanishing mist, a pursuit of death.
Read all of Proverbs 21Proverbs 21:4 word by word
רוּם־עֵ֭ינַיִם וּרְחַב־לֵ֑ב נִ֖ר רְשָׁעִ֣ים חַטָּֽאת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 21:4
- Proverbs 6:17arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
- Proverbs 8:13To fear the Lord is to hate evil. I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech.
- Proverbs 30:13There is a generation — how haughty its eyes and pretentious its looks.
- Psalms 10:4In all his scheming, the wicked person arrogantly thinks, “There’s no accountability, since there’s no God.”
- Isaiah 2:11The pride of mankind will be humbled, and human loftiness will be brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.
- Isaiah 3:16The Lord also says: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, walking with heads held high and seductive eyes, prancing along, jingling their ankle bracelets,
- Luke 18:14I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than the other, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
- 1 Peter 5:5In the same way, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
- Proverbs 21:27The sacrifice of a wicked person is detestable — how much more so when he brings it with ulterior motives!
- Proverbs 15:8The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
- Romans 14:23But whoever doubts stands condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith, and everything that is not from faith is sin.
Commentaries on Proverbs 21:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4A high look - The evidence of pride, self-conceit, and vanity. A proud heart, from which the high look, etc., come. And the ploughing - נר ner, lucerna, the lamp, the prosperity and posterity of the wicked; is sin - it is evil in the seed, and evil in the root evil in the branch, and evil in the fruit. They are full of sin themselves, and what they do is sinful.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4The plowing - The Hebrew word, with a change in its vowel points, may signify either: (1) the “fallow field,” the “tillage” of Proverbs 13:23, or (2) the lamp. According to: (1) the verse would mean, “The outward signs of pride, the proud heart, the broad lands of the wicked, all are evil.” (2) however, belongs, as it were, to the language of the time and of the book Proverbs 13:9; Proverbs 24:20. The “lamp of the wicked” is their outwardly bright…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4Verse 4 Sin is the pride, the ambition, the glory, the joy, and the business of wicked men.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4Appearance (eyes), character (heart), and actions are all important. God dislikes pride (see Proverbs 6:17–18; 11:2; 13:10; 15:33; 16:18; 18:12).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. high look--(Compare Margin; Psa 131:1). proud heart--or, "heart of breadth," one that is swollen (compare Psa 101:5). ploughing--better "lamp," a frequent figure for prosperity (Pr 20:20); hence joy or delight.Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 21:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Proverbs 21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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