New English Translation
Proverbs 20:27
27The human spirit is like the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts.
Proverbs 20:27 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.
- New International Version (NIV)The human spirit is the lamp of the Lord that sheds light on one’s inmost being.
- English Standard Version (ESV)The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts.
- New King James Version (NKJV)The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, Searching all the inner depths of his heart.
Context of Proverbs 20:27
25It is a snare for a person to rashly cry, “Holy!” and only afterward to consider what he has vowed. 26A wise king separates out the wicked; he turns the threshing wheel over them. The human spirit is like the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts. 28Loyal love and truth preserve a king, and his throne is upheld by loyal love. 29The glory of young men is their strength, and the splendor of old men is gray hair.
Read all of Proverbs 20Proverbs 20:27 word by word
נֵ֣ר יְ֭הוָה נִשְׁמַ֣ת אָדָ֑ם חֹ֝פֵ֗שׂ כָּל־חַדְרֵי־בָֽטֶן׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 20:27
- Genesis 2:7The Lord God formed the man from the soil of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
- Job 32:8But it is a spirit in people, the breath of the Almighty, that makes them understand.
- Romans 2:15They show that the work of the law is written in their hearts, as their conscience bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or else defend them,
- 1 Corinthians 2:11For who among men knows the things of a man except the man’s spirit within him? So too, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
- 2 Corinthians 4:2But we have rejected shameful hidden deeds, not behaving with deceptiveness or distorting the word of God, but by open proclamation of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience before God.
- 1 John 3:19And by this we will know that we are of the truth and will convince our conscience in his presence,
- Proverbs 20:20The one who curses his father and his mother, his lamp will be extinguished in the blackest darkness.
- Proverbs 20:30Beatings and wounds cleanse away evil, and floggings cleanse the innermost being.
- Hebrews 4:12For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart.
Commentaries on Proverbs 20:27
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 27The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord - God has given to every man a mind, which he so enlightens by his own Spirit, that the man knows how to distinguish good from evil; and conscience, which springs from this, searches the inmost recesses of the soul.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 27The spirit of man - The “breath” of Genesis 2:7, the higher life, above that which he has in common with lower animals, coming to him direct from God. Such a life, with all its powers of insight, consciousness, reflection, is as a lamp which God has lighted, throwing its rays into the darkest recesses of the heart. A still higher truth is proclaimed in the Prologue of John‘s Gospel. The candle, or lamp of Yahweh, derives its light from “the Light that…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 27Verse 27 The rational soul and conscience are as a lamp within us, which should be used in examining our dispositions and motives with the revealed will of God.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 27The Lord's light reaches the human spirit, and God sees deep into people's hearts (see Proverbs 16:2).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2727. The spirit ... Lord--Men's minds are God's gifts, and thus able to search one another (compare Pr 20:5; Pr 18:8, 17; 1Co 2:11).Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 20:27
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Proverbs 20
- 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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Commentaries