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Proverbs 21:8

in Proverbs 21

The way of a guilty man is crooked, but the conduct of the innocent is upright.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

The way of him that is laden with guilt is exceeding crooked; But as for the pure, his work is right.

KJV

The way of man is froward and strange: but as for the pure, his work is right.

This verse in Proverbs 21

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Proverbs · Written before 735.

The perverse way of a man is foreign, etc. To live justly before the Lord is proper to the human condition. Hence elsewhere it is said, "Fear God, and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiasticus 12). But he who …

This site's exposition

The way of a guilty man is crooked

on Proverbs 21:8-10

"The way of a guilty man is crooked, but the conduct of the innocent is upright," the chapter's division. The soul of the wicked man "craves evil," the appetite language used of the fortune seeker, and his neighbor finds no favor with him.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

John Chrysostom

HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 41 · Written before 407.

proposed

Wherefore we must cast out all wickedness from our souls, and never more contrive any deceit; for, saith one, "To the perverse God sendeth crooked paths"; and, "The holy spirit of discipline will flee deceit, and remove from thoughts that are without understanding." For nothing maketh men so foolish as wickedness; since when a man is treacherous, unfair, ungrateful, (these are different forms of wickedness,) when without having been wronged he grieves another, when he weaves deceits, how shall he not exhibit an example of excessive folly? Again, nothing maketh men so wise as virtue; it rendereth them thankful and fair-minded, merciful, mild, gentle, and candid; it is wont to be the mother of all other blessings. And what is more understanding than one so disposed? for virtue is the very spring and root of prudence, just as all wickedness hath its beginning in folly.

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

The way of man is froward and strange,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Or, “Perverse is the way of a sin burdened man.”

The words behind it

7 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.

  • הֲפַכְפַּ֬ךְ[is] crooked

    hafakhpakhH2019 →

  • דֶּ֣רֶךְ[the] way of

    derekhH1870 →707 times

  • אִ֣ישׁa person

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • וָזָ֑רguilty

    vazarH2054 →

  • וְ֝זַ֗ךְand a pure [person]

    vezakhH2134 →11 times

  • יָשָׁ֥ר[is] upright

    yasharH3477 →119 times

  • פָּעֳלֽוֹ׃work his

    pooloH6467 →37 times

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

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 John 3:3

    And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as Christ is pure.

    it leads to

    • 2 Corinthians 7:1

      Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

    • 1 John 2:6

      Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked.

    • 2 Peter 3:14

      Therefore, beloved, as you anticipate these things, make every effort to be found at peace—spotless and blameless in His sight.

    • Matthew 5:48

      Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

  • Through

    Daniel 12:10

    Many will be purified, made spotless, and refined, but the wicked will continue to act wickedly. None of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand.

    it leads to

    • Revelation 22:11

      Let the unrighteous continue to be unrighteous, and the vile continue to be vile; let the righteous continue to practice righteousness, and the holy continue to be holy.”

    • Daniel 11:35

      Some of the wise will fall, so that they may be refined, purified, and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.

    • Hosea 14:9

      Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in…

  • Through

    1 Corinthians 3:3

    for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man?

    it leads to

    • James 3:16

      For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice.

Where this verse is studied

About Proverbs

The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 41; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).