New International Version
Proverbs 20:21
21An inheritance claimed too soon will not be blessed at the end.
Proverbs 20:21 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.
- English Standard Version (ESV)An inheritance gained hastily in the beginning will not be blessed in the end.
- New King James Version (NKJV)An inheritance gained hastily at the beginning Will not be blessed at the end.
- New Living Translation (NLT)An inheritance obtained too early in life is not a blessing in the end.
Context of Proverbs 20:21
19A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid anyone who talks too much. 20If someone curses their father or mother, their lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness. An inheritance claimed too soon will not be blessed at the end. 22Do not say, “I’ll pay you back for this wrong!” Wait for the Lord, and he will avenge you. 23The Lord detests differing weights, and dishonest scales do not please him.
Read all of Proverbs 20Proverbs 20:21 word by word
נַ֭חֲלָה מְבֹהֶ֣לֶת בָּרִאשֹׁנָ֑ה וְ֝אַחֲרִיתָ֗הּ לֹ֣א תְבֹרָֽךְ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 20:21
- Proverbs 23:4Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness.
- Proverbs 28:20A faithful person will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.
- 1 Timothy 6:9Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
- Proverbs 13:22A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.
- Proverbs 28:8Whoever increases wealth by taking interest or profit from the poor amasses it for another, who will be kind to the poor.
- Job 27:16Though he heaps up silver like dust and clothes like piles of clay,
- Habakkuk 2:6“Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying, “ ‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods and makes himself wealthy by extortion! How long must this go on?’
- Zechariah 5:4The Lord Almighty declares, ‘I will send it out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who swears falsely by my name. It will remain in that house and destroy it completely, both its timbers and its stones.’ ”
- Malachi 2:2If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.
Commentaries on Proverbs 20:21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21An inheritance - gotten hastily - Gotten by speculation; by lucky hits; not in the fair progressive way of traffic, in which money has its natural increase. All such inheritances are short-lived; God's blessing is not in them, because they are not the produce of industry; and they lead to idleness, pride, fraud and knavery. A speculation in trade is a pubiic nuisance and curse. How many honest men have been ruined by such!Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21Or, An inheritance gotten hastily (greedily sought after by unjust means) at the beginning, the end thereof shall not be blessed. Another reading gives, “an inheritance loathed, (compare Zechariah 11:8), or with a curse upon it.” The King James Version agrees with the versions.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 21Verse 21 An estate suddenly raised, is often as suddenly ruined.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 21If you receive an inheritance early in life, you might spend it all before you die, leaving nothing for later.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. gotten hastily--contrary to God's providence (Pr 28:20), implying its unjust or easy attainment; hence the man is punished, or spends freely what he got easily (compare Pr 20:17).Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 20:21
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 International Version — © NIV® 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica
Commentaries