Proverbs 16:9
in Proverbs 16A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
A man’s heart deviseth his way; But Jehovah directeth his steps.
KJV
A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.
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This verse in Proverbs 16
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Deviseth his way - i. e., Thinks it out with anxious care; yet it is the Lord and He only who directs the steps. Compare Pro 16:1.
This site's exposition
Better a little with righteousness
on Proverbs 16:8-9
“Better a little with righteousness than great gain with injustice” closes the cluster the way it opened. “A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.” So the planning stays the man's own work while the walking belongs finally to a will larger than his.
This site's exposition
the LORD determines his steps
A man thinks out his course with anxious care, Albert Barnes explains, and the LORD alone directs the steps. Barnes ties the verse to verse 1, where the plans of the heart also belong to man. The planning is human and the outcome is His.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
A man's heart deviseth his way,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A man’s heart deviseth his way - This is precisely the same sentiment as that contained in the first verse, on the true meaning of which so much has been already said.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
There is magic on a king’s lips On the lips of a wise man sitting in judgment.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 1 further source is cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֵ֣ב | lev | [the] heart of | H3820 → | 595 times |
| אָ֭דָם | ʾadom | a person | H120 → | 551 times |
| יְחַשֵּׁ֣ב | yechashev | it plans | H2803 → | 124 times |
| דַּרְכּ֑וֹ | darko | way his | H1870 → | 707 times |
| וַֽ֝יהוָ֗ה | vayahweh | and Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| יָכִ֥ין | yakhin | he directs | H3559 → | 217 times |
| צַעֲדֽוֹ׃ | tzaado | step[s] his | H6806 → | 14 times |
לֵ֣ב[the] heart of
levH3820 →595 times
אָ֭דָםa person
ʾadomH120 →551 times
יְחַשֵּׁ֣בit plans
yechashevH2803 →124 times
דַּרְכּ֑וֹway his
darkoH1870 →707 times
וַֽ֝יהוָ֗הand Yahweh
vayahwehH3068 →6520 times
יָכִ֥יןhe directs
yakhinH3559 →217 times
צַעֲדֽוֹ׃step[s] his
tzaadoH6806 →14 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
Proverbs 19:21Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail.
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:1
The plans of the heart belong to man, but the reply of the tongue is from the LORD.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 14:24
The LORD of Hosts has sworn: “Surely, as I have planned, so will it be; as I have purposed, so will it stand.
- Psalms 33:10–11
The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations; He thwarts the devices of the peoples.
- Isaiah 46:10
I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’
- Proverbs 16:1
Through
Jeremiah 10:23I know, O LORD, that a man’s way is not his own; no one who walks directs his own steps.
it leads to
- Proverbs 20:24
A man’s steps are from the LORD, so how can anyone understand his own way?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 37:23
The steps of a man are ordered by the LORD who takes delight in his journey.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 20:24
Through
Psalms 37:23The steps of a man are ordered by the LORD who takes delight in his journey.
it leads to
- Psalms 119:133
Order my steps in Your word; let no sin rule over me.
- Proverbs 4:26
Make a level path for your feet, and all your ways will be sure.
- Psalms 119:133
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); Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).