New King James Version
Proverbs 16:10
10Divination is on the lips of the king; His mouth must not transgress in 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 Living Translation (NLT)The king speaks with divine wisdom; he must never judge unfairly.
Context of Proverbs 16:10
8Better is a little with righteousness, Than vast revenues without justice. 9A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps. Divination is on the lips of the king; His mouth must not transgress in judgment. 11Honest weights and scales are the Lord’s; All the weights in the bag are His work. 12It is an abomination for kings to commit wickedness, For a throne is established by 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 16:12It is an abomination for kings to commit wickedness, For a throne is established by righteousness.
- Genesis 44:5Is not this the one from which my lord drinks, and with which he indeed practices divination? You have done evil in so doing.’ ”
- Deuteronomy 17:18“Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites.
- 2 Samuel 23:3The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me: ‘He who rules over men must be just, Ruling in the fear of God.
- Psalms 45:6Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
- Psalms 72:1Give the king Your judgments, O God, And Your righteousness to the king’s Son.
- Psalms 99:4The King’s strength also loves justice; You have established equity; You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.
- Isaiah 32:1Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, And princes will rule with justice.
- Jeremiah 23:5“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
- Hosea 10:4They have spoken words, Swearing falsely in making a covenant. Thus judgment springs up like hemlock in the furrows of the field.
- Amos 5:7You who turn justice to wormwood, And lay righteousness to rest in the earth!”
- Amos 6:12Do horses run on rocks? Does one plow there with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into gall, And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries