Proverbs 16:7
in Proverbs 16When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even the man’s enemies live at peace with him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
When a man’s ways please Jehovah, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
KJV
When a man’s ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
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This verse in Proverbs 16
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Everyone who is proud in heart is detestable to the LORD
on Proverbs 16:5-7
“Everyone who is proud in heart is detestable to the LORD,” and the warning is total: “be assured that he will not go unpunished”. Verse 7 adds a promise: “When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even the man’s enemies live at peace with him”.
This site's exposition
enemies live at peace with him
The man's standing with the LORD is named as the cause of peace with his enemies. John Gill reads the promise in the pattern of Israel's history, where obedience repeatedly turned hostile neighbors quiet. The LORD makes the peace.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
When a man's ways please the Lord, etc. Such is the sanctity of divine religion, that often even those who are outside hold it in veneration. And those whom they perceive to serve God perfectly, they begin to have peace with, even though they differ …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
When a man's ways please the Lord,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
When a man’s ways please the Lord - God is the guardian and defense of all that fear and love him; and it is truly astonishing to see how wondrously God works in their behalf, raising them up friends, and turning their enemies into friends.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Goodness has power to charm and win even enemies to itself.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בִּרְצ֣וֹת | birtzot | when is pleased with | H7521 → | |
| יְ֭הוָה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| דַּרְכֵי־ | darkhei- | [the] ways of | H1870 → | 707 times |
| אִ֑ישׁ | ʾish | a person | H376 → | 1663 times |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| א֝וֹיְבָ֗יו | ʾoyvav | enemies his | H341 → | |
| יַשְׁלִ֥ם | yashlim | he causes to be at peace | H7999 → | 116 times |
| אִתּֽוֹ׃ | ʾito | with him | H854 → | 929 times |
בִּרְצ֣וֹתwhen is pleased with
birtzotH7521 →
יְ֭הוָהYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
דַּרְכֵי־[the] ways of
darkhei-H1870 →707 times
אִ֑ישׁa person
ʾishH376 →1663 times
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
א֝וֹיְבָ֗יוenemies his
ʾoyvavH341 →
יַשְׁלִ֥םhe causes to be at peace
yashlimH7999 →116 times
אִתּֽוֹ׃with him
ʾitoH854 →929 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
Romans 8:31What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
it leads to
- Psalms 118:6
The LORD is on my side; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
- Jeremiah 1:19
They will fight against you but will never overcome you, since I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.
- Psalms 56:11
in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
- 1 John 4:4
You, little children, are from God and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
- Isaiah 54:17
No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the…
- Psalms 118:6
Through
Colossians 1:10so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
it leads to
- Ephesians 4:1
As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received:
- Hebrews 13:21
equip you with every good thing to do His will. And may He accomplish in us what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
- 2 Peter 1:2–3
Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
- Ephesians 4:1
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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.