Proverbs 11:27
in Proverbs 11He who searches out good finds favor, but evil will come to him who seeks it.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He that diligently seeketh good seeketh favor; But he that searcheth after evil, it shall come unto him.
KJV
He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour: but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him.
⋯
This verse in Proverbs 11
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Procureth - Better, striveth after. He who desires good, absolutely, for its own sake, is also unconsciously striving after the favor which attends goodness.
This site's exposition
The desire of the righteous leads only to good
on Proverbs 11:23-27
The proverbs that follow work out the same contrast in the economics of giving. “One gives freely, yet gains even more,” and “A generous soul will prosper”. In famine “The people will curse the hoarder of grain, but blessing will crown the one who sells it”.
This site's exposition
He who searches out good finds favor
Albert Barnes renders the verb as strives after: the man who seeks good for its own sake finds favor following him. The one who seeks evil finds it too. Each seeker gets what he looked for.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
He indeed rises early who seeks what is good, etc. To seek the good things you ought to do, by which you may attain heavenly goods, this is to rise early well, that is, to be girded for good work with the growing light of …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
He that diligently seeketh good,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The scope of the whole is a comment on Pr 11:23. Thus liberality, by God's blessing, secures increase, while penuriousness, instead of expected gain, procures poverty.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שֹׁ֣חֵֽר | shocher | [one who] seeks diligently | H7836 → | 12 times |
| ט֭וֹב | tov | good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| יְבַקֵּ֣שׁ | yevakesh | he seeks | H1245 → | 225 times |
| רָצ֑וֹן | ratzon | favor | H7522 → | 56 times |
| וְדֹרֵ֖שׁ | vedoresh | and [one who] seeks carefully | H1875 → | |
| רָעָ֣ה | raah | evil | H7451 → | 662 times |
| תְבוֹאֶֽנּוּ׃ | tevoenu | it will come to him | H935 → | 2568 times |
שֹׁ֣חֵֽר[one who] seeks diligently
shocherH7836 →12 times
ט֭וֹבgood
tovH2896 →538 times
יְבַקֵּ֣שׁhe seeks
yevakeshH1245 →225 times
רָצ֑וֹןfavor
ratzonH7522 →56 times
וְדֹרֵ֖שׁand [one who] seeks carefully
vedoreshH1875 →
רָעָ֣הevil
raahH7451 →662 times
תְבוֹאֶֽנּוּ׃it will come to him
tevoenuH935 →2568 times
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 57:6They spread a net for my feet; my soul was despondent. They dug a pit before me, but they themselves have fallen into it! Selah
it leads to
- Psalms 145:14
The LORD upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
- Psalms 7:15–16
He has dug a hole and hollowed it out; he has fallen into a pit of his own making.
- Proverbs 28:10
He who leads the upright along the path of evil will fall into his own pit, but the blameless will inherit what is good.
- Micah 7:2
The godly man has perished from the earth; there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt one another with a net.
- Psalms 35:7–8
For without cause they laid their net for me; without reason they dug a pit for my soul.
- Psalms 145:14
Through
Esther 7:10So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the fury of the king subsided.
it leads to
- Psalms 7:16
His trouble recoils on himself, and his violence falls on his own head.
- Daniel 6:24
At the command of the king, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions—they and their children and wives. And before they had reached the bottom…
- Judges 15:7
And Samson told them, “Because you have done this, I will not rest until I have taken vengeance upon you.”
- Psalms 7:16
Where this verse is studied
About Proverbs

This page draws on 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; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
