Proverbs 20:27
in Proverbs 20The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD, searching out his inmost being.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah, Searching all his innermost parts.
KJV
The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.
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This verse in Proverbs 20
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The spirit of man - The “breath” of Gen 2:7, the higher life, above that which he has in common with lower animals, coming to him direct from God. Such a life, with all its powers of insight, consciousness, reflection, is as a lamp which God has lighted, throwing its rays into the darkest recesses of the heart. A still higher truth is proclaimed in the Prologue of John’s Gospel. The candle, or lamp of Yahweh, derives its light from “the Light that lighteth every man,” even the Eternal Word.
This site's exposition
A man’s steps are from the LORD
on Proverbs 20:24-27
Since "A man’s steps are from the LORD," no one can understand his own way. Human planning is held inside a sovereignty it cannot fully read. "The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD, searching out his inmost being."
This site's exposition
the lamp of the LORD
Albert Barnes reads the spirit as the breath of Genesis 2:7, the higher life that comes to a man from God. It shines like a lamp the LORD has lit, searching the darkest parts of the heart. Barnes compares the Light of John 1.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
The lamp of the Lord is the spirit of man, etc. The illumination of the divine breath, when it has come into the mind of man, illuminating it to itself, shows it was bearing perverse thoughts before the coming of the Holy Spirit, and it …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord - God has given to every man a mind, which he so enlightens by his own Spirit, that the man knows how to distinguish good from evil; and conscience, which springs from this, searches the inmost recesses of the soul.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| נֵ֣ר | ner | [the] lamp of | H5216 → | 49 times |
| יְ֭הוָה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| נִשְׁמַ֣ת | nishmat | [is the] breath of | H5397 → | |
| אָדָ֑ם | ʾadam | a human | H120 → | 551 times |
| חֹ֝פֵ֗שׂ | chofes | [it is] searching | H2664 → | 23 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| חַדְרֵי־ | chadrei- | [the] chambers of | H2315 → | 38 times |
| בָֽטֶן׃ | vaten | [the] belly | H990 → | 72 times |
נֵ֣ר[the] lamp of
nerH5216 →49 times
יְ֭הוָהYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
נִשְׁמַ֣ת[is the] breath of
nishmatH5397 →
אָדָ֑םa human
ʾadamH120 →551 times
חֹ֝פֵ֗שׂ[it is] searching
chofesH2664 →23 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
חַדְרֵי־[the] chambers of
chadrei-H2315 →38 times
בָֽטֶן׃[the] belly
vatenH990 →72 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
Genesis 2:7Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
it leads to
- Job 33:4
The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7
before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
- 1 Corinthians 15:45
So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam a life-giving spirit.
- Isaiah 64:8
But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.
- Acts 17:25
Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
- Job 33:4
Through
Job 32:8But there is a spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.
it leads to
- Job 38:36
Who has put wisdom in the heart or given understanding to the mind?
- 2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
- James 1:5
Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
- Job 38:36
Where this verse is studied
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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
