Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

Proverbs 22:12

in Proverbs 22

The LORD’s eyes keep watch over knowledge, but He frustrates the words of the faithless.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

The eyes of Jehovah preserve him that hath knowledge; But he overthroweth the words of the treacherous man.

KJV

The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge, and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor.

⋯

This verse in Proverbs 22

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

The eyes of the Lord - (the Divine providence) preserve knowledge - This providence has been wonderfully manifested in preserving the sacred oracles, and in preserving many ancient authors, which have been of great use to the civil interests of man.

This site's exposition

Drive out the mocker, and conflict

on Proverbs 22:10-12

"Drive out the mocker, and conflict will depart," so strife has a cause that can be removed. He who loves a pure heart and gracious lips "will have the king for a friend." "The LORD’s eyes keep watch over knowledge," and He frustrates the words of the faithless.

This site's exposition

The LORD’s eyes keep watch over knowledge

Adam Clarke takes the LORD's watch over knowledge as providence, seen in the keeping of the sacred writings and of many ancient authors. The second line shows the same eyes at work in judgment. True knowledge is kept, and faithless words are frustrated.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Proverbs · Written before 735.

proposed

"The eyes of the Lord keep knowledge," etc. The divine inspection always keeps in the Church the knowledge of the truth which it taught; the words of heretics, indeed all speech contrary to piety and justice, because it is not preserved by the ruling Lord, …

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge,....

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

He who loves one pure of heart with charm on his lips One whose lips have grace.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Proverbs 22:11:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The lazy man says, “There is a lion outside..” How will I go out to learn Torah?
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Proverbs 22:13:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

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. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

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.

  • עֵינֵ֣י[the] eyes of

    ʾeineiH5869 →887 times

  • יְ֭הוָהYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • נָ֣צְרוּthey preserve

    natzeruH5341 →63 times

  • דָ֑עַתknowledge

    daatH1847 →92 times

  • וַ֝יְסַלֵּ֗ףand he has subverted

    vaysalefH5557 →7 times

  • דִּבְרֵ֥י[the] words of

    divreiH1697 →1440 times

  • בֹגֵֽד׃[one who] acts treacherously

    vogedH898 →49 times

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

Related verses

13 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.

2 Timothy 3:8–9Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth. They are depraved in mind and disqualified from the faith.6 works2 Chronicles 16:9For the eyes of the LORD roam to and fro over all the earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him. You have acted foolishly in this matter. From now on, therefore, you will be at war.”5 worksActs 13:8–12But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.4 worksJob 5:12–13He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.3 worksActs 12:23–24Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.3 works2 Thessalonians 2:8And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and annihilate by the majesty of His arrival.3 works
The other 7 cross-references, with their words ▾
Matthew 16:16–18Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”2 worksActs 8:9–12Prior to that time, a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and astounded the people of Samaria. He claimed to be someone great,2 worksIsaiah 59:19–21So shall they fear the name of the LORD where the sun sets, and His glory where it rises. For He will come like a raging flood, driven by the breath of the LORD.2 worksRevelation 12:14–17But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle to fly from the presence of the serpent to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.2 worksRevelation 11:3–11And I will empower my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”2 worksActs 5:39But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God.”2 worksJeremiah 5:3O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.2 works

The walk

5 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

    2 Chronicles 16:9

    For the eyes of the LORD roam to and fro over all the earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him. You have acted foolishly in…

    it leads to

    • 1 Peter 3:12

      For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

    • Proverbs 15:3

      The eyes of the LORD are in every place, observing the evil and the good.

    • Jeremiah 16:17

      For My eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from My face, and their guilt is not concealed from My eyes.

    • Proverbs 5:21

      For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines all his paths.

    • Psalms 34:15

      The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their cry.

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.
Proverbs: the study guide →Read Proverbs 22 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Proverbs 22 →