New English Translation
Proverbs 21:1
1The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord like channels of water; he turns it wherever he wants.
Proverbs 21:1 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
- New International Version (NIV)In the Lord’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water that he channels toward all who please him.
- English Standard Version (ESV)The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.
- New King James Version (NKJV)The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.
Context of Proverbs 21:1
The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord like channels of water; he turns it wherever he wants. 2All of a person’s ways seem right in his own opinion, but the Lord evaluates the motives. 3To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.
Read all of Proverbs 21Proverbs 21:1 word by word
פַּלְגֵי־מַ֣יִם לֶב־מֶ֭לֶךְ בְּיַד־יְהוָ֑ה עַֽל־כָּל־אֲשֶׁ֖ר יַחְפֹּ֣ץ יַטֶּֽנּוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 21:1
- Psalms 74:15You broke open the spring and the stream; you dried up perpetually flowing rivers.
- Psalms 93:4Above the sound of the surging water, and the mighty waves of the sea, the Lord sits enthroned in majesty.
- Psalms 114:3The sea looked and fled; the Jordan River turned back.
- Isaiah 43:19“Look, I am about to do something new. Now it begins to happen! Do you not recognize it? Yes, I will make a road in the desert and paths in the wilderness.
- Isaiah 44:27who says to the deep sea, ‘Be dry! I will dry up your sea currents,’
- Revelation 16:4Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and the springs of water, and they turned into blood.
Commentaries on Proverbs 21:1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord - The Lord is the only ruler of princes. He alone can govern and direct their counsels. But there is an allusion here to the Eastern method of watering their lands. Several canals are dug from one stream; and by opening a particular sluice, the husbandman can direct a stream to whatever part he please: so the king's heart, wherever it turns; i.e., to whomsoever he is disposed to show favor. As the land is…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1Rivers of water - See the Psalm 1:3 note. As the cultivator directs the stream into the channels where it is most wanted, so Yahweh directs the thoughts of the true king, that his favors may fall, not at random, but in harmony with a divine order.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1Verse 1 The believer, perceiving that the Lord rules every heart as he sees fit, like the husbandman who turns the water through his grounds as he pleases, seeks to have his own heart, and the hearts of others, directed in his faith, fear, and love.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1A king was the most powerful person in an ancient nation, and it seemed he could do anything he wanted. However, God guides the king's heart.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-31Pr 21:1-31. 1. rivers--irrigating channels (Psa 1:3), whose course was easily turned (compare De 11:10). God disposes even kings as He pleases (Pr 16:9; Psa 33:15).Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 21:1
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
New English Translation — © 1996-2016 Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
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