God’s Word Translation
Proverbs 16:10
10When a divine revelation is on a king’s lips, he cannot voice a wrong judgment.
Proverbs 16:10 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)A divine sentence is in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresseth not in judgment.
- New International Version (NIV)The lips of a king speak as an oracle, and his mouth does not betray justice.
- English Standard Version (ESV)An oracle is on the lips of a king; his mouth does not sin in judgment.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Divination is on the lips of the king; His mouth must not transgress in judgment.
Context of Proverbs 16:10
8Better a few ⌞possessions⌟ gained honestly than many gained through injustice. 9A person may plan his own journey, but the Lord directs his steps. When a divine revelation is on a king’s lips, he cannot voice a wrong judgment. 11Honest balances and scales belong to the Lord. He made the entire set of weights. 12Wrongdoing is disgusting to kings because a throne is established through righteousness.
Read all of Proverbs 16Proverbs 16:10 word by word
קֶ֤סֶם׀ עַֽל־שִׂפְתֵי־מֶ֑לֶךְ בְּ֝מִשְׁפָּ֗ט לֹ֣א יִמְעַל־פִּֽיו׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 16:10
- Proverbs 16:12Wrongdoing is disgusting to kings because a throne is established through righteousness.
- Genesis 44:5Isn’t this the cup that my master drinks from and that he uses for telling the future? What you have done is evil!’ ”
- Deuteronomy 17:18When he becomes king, he should have the Levitical priests make him a copy of these teachings on a scroll.
- 2 Samuel 23:3The God of Israel spoke to them. The rock of Israel told me, ‘The one who rules humans with justice rules with the fear of God.
- Psalms 45:6Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter in your kingdom is a scepter for justice.
- Psalms 72:1O God, give the king your justice and the king’s son your righteousness
- Psalms 99:4The king’s strength is that he loves justice. You have established fairness. You have done what is fair and right for Jacob.
- Isaiah 32:1A king will rule with fairness, and officials will rule with justice.
- Jeremiah 23:5“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will grow a righteous branch for David. He will be a king who will rule wisely. He will do what is fair and right in the land.
- Hosea 10:4They say many things. They lie when they take oaths, and they make promises they don’t intend to keep. That’s why lawsuits spring up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.
- Amos 5:7You, Israel, turn justice into poison and throw righteousness on the ground.
- Amos 6:12Do horses run on rocks? Does a farmer plow the sea with oxen? Yet, you have turned justice into something deadly and what is righteous into poison.
Commentaries on Proverbs 16:10
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 10A divine sentence - קסם kesem, "divination," as the margin has it. Is the meaning as follows? Though divination were applied to a righteous king's lips, to induce him to punish the innocent and spare the guilty, yet would not his lips transgress in judgment; so firmly attached is he to God, and so much is he under the Divine care and influence. Whatever judgment such a one pronounces, it may be considered as a decision from God.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 10A divine sentence - See the margin, i. e., “soothsaying” in its darker aspect as contrasted with prophecy. The true oracle is to be sought, not from soothsayers and diviners, but “at the lips of the king,” who is ideally the representative, the ́ prophētēs of Yahweh, in His government of mankind.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 10Divine wisdom is guidance from a divine source that helps the king make decisions (for example, 1 Kings 3:28; see also Psalm 72:2).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1010. The last clause depends on the first, expressing the importance of equity in decisions, so authoritative.Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 16:10
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Proverbs 16
- 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
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries