Proverbs 2:21
in Proverbs 2For the upright will inhabit the land, and the blameless will remain in it;
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For the upright shall dwell in the land, And the perfect shall remain in it.
KJV
For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
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This verse in Proverbs 2
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Noticeable here is the Hebrew love of home and love of country. To “dwell in the land” is (compare Exo 20:12; Lev 25:18, etc.) the highest blessing for the whole people and for individual men. contrast with it is the life of the sinner cut off from the land (not “earth”) of his fathers.
This site's exposition
So you will follow in the ways of the good
on Proverbs 2:20-22
“So you will follow in the ways of the good” gives the conditional sentence its purpose, a life spent on “the paths of the righteous”. The promise that “the upright will inhabit the land, and the blameless will remain in it” echoes the land promise of the law.
This site's exposition
the upright will inhabit the land
Albert Barnes hears in the verse the Hebrew love of home, where to inhabit the land was the highest good for the whole people. The blameless remain in it while the unfaithful of verse 22 are uprooted from it. Psalm 37:11 gives the land to the meek.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
Clement of RomeClement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 14 · Written before 99.
proposed
It is right and holy therefore, men and brethren, rather to obey God than to follow those who, through pride and sedition, have become the leaders of a detestable emulation. For we shall incur no slight injury, but rather great danger, if we rashly yield ourselves to the inclinations of men who aim at exciting strife and tumults, so as to draw us away from what is good. Let us be kind one to another after the pattern of the tender mercy and benignity of our Creator.
The Medieval Church1 voice
For those who are upright will inhabit the land, etc. And here he joins the upright with the simple, as also above when he said: He will keep the salvation of the upright, and protect those who walk simply; because undoubtedly simplicity without uprightness is …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
They shall dwell and remain for ever in the heavenly Canaan, of which the earthly one was but a type. (2.) Because men's iniquity will be their destruction,
7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. 8 He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. 9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
For the upright shall dwell in the land,....
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יְשָׁרִ֥ים | yesharim | upright [people] | H3477 → | 119 times |
| יִשְׁכְּנוּ | yishkenu- | they will dwell | H7931 → | 129 times |
| אָ֑רֶץ | ʾaretz | [the] land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וּ֝תְמִימִ֗ים | utemimim | and blameless [people] | H8549 → | 91 times |
| יִוָּ֥תְרוּ | yivateru | they will remain | H3498 → | |
| בָֽהּ׃ | vah | in it |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
יְשָׁרִ֥יםupright [people]
yesharimH3477 →119 times
יִשְׁכְּנוּthey will dwell
yishkenu-H7931 →129 times
אָ֑רֶץ[the] land
ʾaretzH776 →2504 times
וּ֝תְמִימִ֗יםand blameless [people]
utemimimH8549 →91 times
יִוָּ֥תְרוּthey will remain
yivateruH3498 →
בָֽהּ׃in it
vah
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 84:11For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.
it leads to
- Psalms 34:9–10
Fear the LORD, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing.
- Proverbs 2:7
He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk with integrity,
- Matthew 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
- Philippians 4:19
And my God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
- Psalms 85:12
The LORD will indeed provide what is good, and our land will yield its increase.
- Psalms 34:9–10
Through
Job 42:12So the LORD blessed Job’s latter days more than his first. He owned 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.
it leads to
- Job 8:7
Though your beginnings were modest, your latter days will flourish.
- Ecclesiastes 7:8
The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one.
- Proverbs 10:22
The blessing of the LORD enriches, and He adds no sorrow to it.
- Job 8:7
About Proverbs
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Clement of Rome, Clement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 14; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.