Proverbs 16:4
in Proverbs 16The LORD has made everything for His purpose—even the wicked for the day of disaster.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Jehovah hath made everything for its own end; Yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
KJV
The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
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This verse in Proverbs 16
Commentary
8 notes on this verseOnly God does what is good, acting from love of goodness for its own sake and not moved by fear or hope of reward. As Solomon says, "The Lord has done all things for his own sake." For the sake of his own goodness he bestows an abundance of goodness upon the worthy and the unworthy, because he can neither be wearied by wrongdoing nor provoked to painful emotion by human wickedness. He always remains what he is, perfect in goodness and unchanging in nature.
This site's exposition
Commit your works to the LORD
on Proverbs 16:3-4
Verse 4 is a hard line, for “The LORD has made everything for His purpose,” “even the wicked”. Some read God's purpose reaching into judgment, others a wicked man kept for a day of reckoning. Delitzsch reads the Hebrew as bearing the first sense without making God author of evil.
This site's exposition
The LORD has made everything for His purpose
Adam Clarke reads the first line as everything the LORD has made showing His wisdom, power, goodness and truth. John Cassian reads it as the LORD acting for His own goodness, giving good to the worthy and the unworthy alike. His purpose reaches the day of disaster too.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, etc. The Lord had no other cause for creating the invisible or visible creature than His will, that He might show His goodness to the rational creature, whom He would make eternally blessed: and also the …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The Lord hath made all things for himself,.... This is true of the Lord with respect to the creation of all things by him.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
The Lord hath made all things for himself - He has so framed and executed every part of his creation, that it manifests his wisdom, power, goodness, and truth. Even the wicked for the day of evil - וגם רשע ליום רעה vegam rasha leyom raah.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
for himself--"for its answer," or "purpose," that is, according to God's plan; the wicked are for the day of evil (Ps 49:5; Jer 17:18); sinning and suffering answer to each other, are indissolubly united.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For himself - Better, The Lord has done everything for its own end; and this includes the appointment of an “evil day” for “the wicked” who deserve it.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֹּ֤ל | kol | everything | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| פָּעַ֣ל | paal | he makes | H6466 → | 57 times |
| יְ֭הוָה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לַֽמַּעֲנֵ֑הוּ | lamaanehu | for <the> purpose its | H4617 → | 7 times |
| וְגַם־ | vegam- | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| רָ֝שָׁ֗ע | rasha' | [the] wicked | H7563 → | 263 times |
| לְי֣וֹם | leyom | for a day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| רָעָֽה׃ | raah | trouble | H7451 → | 662 times |
כֹּ֤לeverything
kolH3605 →5413 times
פָּעַ֣לhe makes
paalH6466 →57 times
יְ֭הוָהYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לַֽמַּעֲנֵ֑הוּfor <the> purpose its
lamaanehuH4617 →7 times
וְגַם־and also
vegam-H1571 →769 times
רָ֝שָׁ֗ע[the] wicked
rasha'H7563 →263 times
לְי֣וֹםfor a day of
leyomH3117 →2304 times
רָעָֽה׃trouble
raahH7451 →662 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
2 Peter 2:9if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.
it leads to
- Psalms 34:15–19
The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their cry.
- 1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will…
- Revelation 3:10
Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the…
- Psalms 34:15–19
Through
Isaiah 43:21The people I formed for Myself will declare My praise.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Peter 2:9
Through
1 Peter 2:8and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.
it leads to
- Isaiah 8:14
And He will be a sanctuary—but to both houses of Israel a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, to the dwellers of Jerusalem a trap and a snare.
- Isaiah 8:14
Through
Isaiah 43:7everyone called by My name and created for My glory, whom I have indeed formed and made.”
it leads to
- Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.
- Isaiah 43:21
The people I formed for Myself will declare My praise.
- Ephesians 1:12
in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, would be for the praise of His glory.
- Ephesians 2:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies11
About Proverbs

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; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Cassian, CONFERENCE 11:6; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).
