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Proverbs 21:3

in Proverbs 21

To do righteousness and justice is more desirable to the LORD than sacrifice.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

To do righteousness and justice Is more acceptable to Jehovah than sacrifice.

KJV

To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

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This verse in Proverbs 21

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
Compare the marginal reference. The words have a special significance as coming from the king who had built the temple, and had offered sacrifices that could not be numbered for multitude” 1Ki 8:5.

This site's exposition

The king’s heart is a waterway

on Proverbs 21:1-4

"The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD," so the most absolute human will is still turned where He pleases. Doing righteousness and justice is "more desirable to the LORD than sacrifice," the priority Samuel presses on Saul in 1 Samuel 15:22.

This site's exposition

more desirable to the LORD than sacrifice

Albert Barnes notes the weight of these words from the king who built the temple and offered sacrifice past numbering, as 1 Kings 8:5 records. To the LORD, doing righteousness and justice is more desirable. The builder of the temple says so himself.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

To do justice and judgment,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

To do justice and judgment - The words of Samuel to Saul. See note on 1Sa 15:23.

The words behind it

6 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • עֲ֭שֹׂהto do

    ʾasohH6213 →2628 times

  • צְדָקָ֣הrighteousness

    tzedakahH6666 →157 times

  • וּמִשְׁפָּ֑טand justice

    umishpatH4941 →422 times

  • נִבְחָ֖ר[is] chosen

    nivcharH977 →171 times

  • לַיהוָ֣הby Yahweh

    layahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • מִזָּֽבַח׃more than sacrifice

    mizavachH2077 →162 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

1 Samuel 15:22But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.347 worksMicah 6:8He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?186 worksMatthew 9:13But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”110 worksHosea 6:6For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.43 worksAmos 5:24But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.23 worksMicah 6:6–8With what shall I come before the LORD when I bow before the God on high? Should I come to Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves?21 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Proverbs 15:8The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.21 worksMark 12:33and to love Him with all your heart and with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, which is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”19 worksJeremiah 7:21–23This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves!15 worksIsaiah 1:11–17“What good to Me is your multitude of sacrifices?” says the LORD. “I am full from the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I take no delight in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.15 worksMatthew 23:23Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.14 worksPsalms 50:8I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices, and your burnt offerings are ever before Me.10 worksEphesians 5:10Test and prove what pleases the Lord.9 worksLuke 11:42Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint, rue, and every herb, but you disregard justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former.7 worksZechariah 7:9“This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Administer true justice. Show loving devotion and compassion to one another.7 worksEzekiel 18:5Now suppose a man is righteous and does what is just and right:4 worksHosea 12:6But you must return to your God, maintaining love and justice, and always waiting on your God.3 worksExodus 32:29Afterward, Moses said, “Today you have been ordained for service to the LORD, since each man went against his son and his brother; so the LORD has bestowed a blessing on you this day.”3 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    1 Samuel 15:22

    But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of…

    it leads to

    • Hosea 6:6

      For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Matthew 9:13

      But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

      Reached by 3 separate paths from here.

    • Psalms 51:16–17

      For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You take no pleasure in burnt offerings.

    • Amos 5:21–24

      “I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies.

    • Mark 12:33

      and to love Him with all your heart and with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, which is more important than all burnt offerings and…

  • Through

    Hosea 6:6

    For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 12:7

      If only you had known the meaning of ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 1 Samuel 15:22

      But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Amos 5:21

      “I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies.

Where this verse is studied

By subject

Justice34 verses

Everything on Justice

On this page

Studies2

About Proverbs

The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Proverbs: the study guide →Read Proverbs 21 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).

Read on in Proverbs 21 →