English Standard Version
Proverbs 21:4
4Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are 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.
- New King James Version (NKJV)A haughty look, a proud heart, And the plowing of the wicked are sin.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Haughty eyes, a proud heart, and evil actions are all sin.
Context of Proverbs 21:4
2Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart. 3To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin. 5The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. 6The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a snare 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 6:17haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
- Proverbs 8:13The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
- Proverbs 30:13There are those—how lofty are their eyes, how high their eyelids lift!
- Psalms 10:4In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, "There is no God."
- Isaiah 2:11The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
- Isaiah 3:16The Lord said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks, glancing wantonly with their eyes, mincing along as they go, tinkling with their feet,
- Luke 18:14I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."
- 1 Peter 5:5Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
- Proverbs 21:27The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; how much more when he brings it with evil intent.
- Proverbs 15:8The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him.
- Romans 14:23But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed 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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries