New English Translation
Proverbs 20:9
9Who can say, “I have kept my heart clean; I am pure from my sin”?
Proverbs 20:9 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?
- New International Version (NIV)Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin”?
- English Standard Version (ESV)Who can say, "I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin"?
- New King James Version (NKJV)Who can say, “I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin”?
Context of Proverbs 20:9
7The righteous person behaves in integrity; blessed are his children after him. 8A king sitting on the throne to judge separates out all evil with his eyes. Who can say, “I have kept my heart clean; I am pure from my sin”? 10Diverse weights and diverse measures – the Lord abhors both of them. 11Even a young man is known by his actions, whether his activity is pure and whether it is right.
Read all of Proverbs 20Proverbs 20:9 word by word
מִֽי־יֹ֭אמַר זִכִּ֣יתִי לִבִּ֑י טָ֝הַ֗רְתִּי מֵחַטָּאתִֽי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 20:9
- 1 Kings 8:46“The time will come when your people will sin against you (for there is no one who is sinless!) and you will be angry with them and deliver them over to their enemies, who will take them as prisoners to their own land, whether far away or close by.
- 2 Chronicles 6:36“The time will come when your people will sin against you (for there is no one who is sinless!) and you will be angry at them and deliver them over to their enemies, who will take them as prisoners to their land, whether far away or close by.
- Job 14:4Who can make a clean thing come from an unclean? No one!
- Job 15:14What is man that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?
- Job 25:4How then can a human being be righteous before God? How can one born of a woman be pure?
- Psalms 51:5Look, I was guilty of sin from birth, a sinner the moment my mother conceived me.
- Ecclesiastes 7:20For there is not one truly righteous person on the earth who continually does good and never sins.
- 1 Corinthians 4:4For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not acquitted because of this. The one who judges me is the Lord.
- James 3:2For we all stumble in many ways. If someone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect individual, able to control the entire body as well.
- 1 John 1:8If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
Commentaries on Proverbs 20:9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9Who can say, I have made any heart clean - No man. But thousands can testify that the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed them from all unrighteousness. And he is pure from his sin, who is justified freely through the redemption that is in Jesus.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9A warning voice against the spirit, which, ignorant of its own guilt, is forward to condemn others.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9Verse 9 Some can say, Through grace, we are cleaner than we have been; but it was the work of the Holy Spirit.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9Wise people know their own weaknesses. Pride stops people from seeing their faults (Proverbs 6:17–18; 11:2; 13:10; 15:33; 16:18; 18:12; see also 1 John 1:8–10).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. The interrogation in the affirmative strengthens the implied negation (compare Job 15:14; Ec 7:20).Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 20:9
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
New English Translation — © 1996-2016 Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
Commentaries