Proverbs 3:5
in Proverbs 3Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Trust in Jehovah with all thy heart, And lean not upon thine own understanding:
KJV
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
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This verse in Proverbs 3
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
In preaching “trust in God” the moralist anticipates the teaching that man is justified by faith. To confide in God’s will, the secret of all true greatness, is to rise out of all our anxieties and plans and fears when we think of ourselves as the arbiters of our own fortunes, and so “lean to our own understanding.”
This site's exposition
Trust in the LORD with all your heart
on Proverbs 3:5-6
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart” is one of the book's most quoted and plainest lines, hard only in the doing. The words “lean not on your own understanding” name the opposite of trust, self-reliance. The danger is leaning, resting a decision's whole weight on one's own judgment.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
Desert FathersThe Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks · Written before 500.
proposed
Once some brothers came to visit Antony, and Joseph was with them. Antony, wanting to test them, began to speak about holy Scripture. He asked the younger monks first the meaning of text after text, and each of them answered as well as he could. …
The Medieval Church1 voice
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, etc. Do not be afraid that you cannot observe the divine commands due to your own weakness, nor again suppose that you can fulfill them by your own strength, or know them by your natural knowledge if …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
); we must believe that he is able to do what he will, wise to do what is best, and good, according to his promise, to do what is best for us, if we love him, and serve him.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Trust - Wholly rely upon God's promises and providences. Lean not - Under this one kind of carnal confidence, he understands all other confidence in bodily strength, wealth, or friends.
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart,....
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Trust . . . heart--This is the center and marrow of true wisdom (Pr 22:19; The positive duty has its corresponding negation in the admonition against self-confidence.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart - This is a most important precept: 1. God is the Fountain of all good. 2. He has made his intelligent creatures dependent upon himself. 3. He requires them to be conscious of that dependence. 4. He has promised to communicate what they need. 5. He commands them to believe his promise, and look for its fulfillment. 6. And to do this without doubt, fear, or distrust; “with their whole heart.” Lean not unto thine own understanding - אל תשען al tishshaen, do not prop thyself. It is on God, not on thyself, that thou art commanded to depend. He who trusts in his own heart is a fool.
Modern Voices2 voices
Your role in fulfilling God's call on your life is to follow Him with simple obedience and trust. His role is to do the leading—and He's pretty good at it.
A commentator
Dallas Willard1935–2013
Acknowledging God in All We Do (Westmont College chapel talk) (1998)
proposed
It means that we recognize he is God, and we acknowledge his authority in what we are doing.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּטַ֣ח | betach | trust | H982 → | 120 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יְ֭הוָה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| בְּכָל־ | bekhol | with all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| לִבֶּ֑ךָ | libekha | heart your | H3820 → | 595 times |
| וְאֶל־ | veel- | and to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בִּֽ֝ינָתְךָ֗ | binatekha | own understanding your | H998 → | 38 times |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תִּשָּׁעֵֽן׃ | tishaen | you depend | H8172 → |
בְּטַ֣חtrust
betachH982 →120 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יְ֭הוָהYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
בְּכָל־with all
bekholH3605 →5413 times
לִבֶּ֑ךָheart your
libekhaH3820 →595 times
וְאֶל־and to
veel-H413 →5510 times
בִּֽ֝ינָתְךָ֗own understanding your
binatekhaH998 →38 times
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תִּשָּׁעֵֽן׃you depend
tishaenH8172 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 37:5Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will do it.
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:3
Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be achieved.
- 1 Peter 5:7
Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
- Philippians 4:6–7
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
- Matthew 6:25
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more…
- Psalms 55:22
Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.
- Proverbs 16:3
Through
Psalms 37:3Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:7–8
But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him.
- Matthew 6:31–33
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
- Jeremiah 17:7–8
Through
Psalms 62:8Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is our refuge. Selah
it leads to
- Philippians 4:6
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
- Philippians 4:6
Where this verse is studied
By subject
Wisdom35 verses
On this page
Studies5
About Proverbs
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Dallas Willard, Acknowledging God in All We Do (Westmont College chapel talk); Desert Fathers, The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Bevere, When Your Plan Isn't God's Plan (blog article); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.