Proverbs 23:17
in Proverbs 23Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always continue in the fear of the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Let not thy heart envy sinners; But be thou in the fear of Jehovah all the day long:
KJV
Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.
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This verse in Proverbs 23
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Do not let your heart envy sinners
on Proverbs 23:17-18
"Do not let your heart envy sinners" answers the pressure that runs through the book, watching the wicked prosper. The promise that "there is a future" points to an outcome the present moment cannot show. Henry sets it beside Psalm 73, where envy dissolves by looking to the last account.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Do not let your heart envy sinners, etc. If throughout the whole day, that is, the whole time you dwell in the light of this world, you strive both to avoid the examples of sinners and to fear the Lord, you will have the hope …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Let not thine heart envy sinners,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
LAST Lord's-Day we had for our texts two promises [EverlastingLove Revealed, #2149.] I trust they were full of comfort to the tried people of God and to souls in the anguish of conviction. Today we will consider two precepts so that we may not seem to neglect any part of the Word of God, for the precept is as Divine as the promise. Here we have a command given of the Holy Spirit through the wisest of men and therefore both on the Divine and on the human side it is most weighty. I said that Solomon was the wisest of men and yet he became, in practice, the most foolish. By his folly he gained a fresh store of experience of the saddest sort and we trust that he turned to God with a penitent heart and so became wiser than ever—wiser with a second wisdom which the Grace of God had given him—to consecrate his earthly wisdom. He who had been a voluptuous prince became the wise preacher in Israel—let us give our hearts to know the wisdom which he taught. The words of Solomon to his own son are not only wise, but full of tender anxiety. They are worthy, therefore, to be set in the highest degree as to value and to be received with heartiness as the language of fatherly affection. These verses are found in the Book of Proverbs—let them pass current as Proverbs in the Church of God as they did in Israel of old. Let them be "familiar in our mouths as household words." Let them be often quoted, frequently weighed and then carried into daily practice. God grant that this particular text may become proverbial in this Church from this day forward. May the Holy Spirit impress it on every memory and heart! May it be embodied in all our lives! If you will look steadily at the text you will see, first, the prescribed course of the godly man—"Be you in the fear of the Lord all the day long." Secondly, you will note the probable interruption of that course.
LAST Lord's-Day we had for our texts two promises [EverlastingLove Revealed, #2149.] I trust they were full of comfort to the tried people of God and to souls in the anguish of conviction. Today we will consider two precepts so that we may not seem to neglect any part of the Word of God, for the precept is as Divine as the promise. Here we have a command given of the Holy Spirit through the wisest of men and therefore both on the Divine and on the human side it is most weighty.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Let your heart not envy the sinners their success, to be wicked like them.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
when your lips speak right things since your heart has grown wise.
for because of this, there is a future Heb. כי אם. This [word] אם is used as an expression of “that”; i.e., for because of this there is a future and hope for you.
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. 3 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
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| יְקַנֵּ֣א | yekane' | it be jealous | H7065 → | 34 times |
| לִ֭בְּךָ | libekha | heart of your | H3820 → | 595 times |
| בַּֽחַטָּאִ֑ים | bachataim | <in> sinners | H2400 → | 19 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | except | H518 → | 1069 times |
| בְּיִרְאַת־ | beyirat- | in [the] fear of | H3374 → | 45 times |
| יְ֝הוָ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַיּֽוֹם׃ | haiyom | the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
יְקַנֵּ֣אit be jealous
yekane'H7065 →34 times
לִ֭בְּךָheart of your
libekhaH3820 →595 times
בַּֽחַטָּאִ֑ים<in> sinners
bachataimH2400 →19 times
כִּ֥יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
אִם־except
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
בְּיִרְאַת־in [the] fear of
beyirat-H3374 →45 times
יְ֝הוָ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הַיּֽוֹם׃the day
haiyomH3117 →2304 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
2 Corinthians 7:1Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
it leads to
- 1 Thessalonians 4:7
For God has not called us to impurity, but to holiness.
- 1 Peter 2:11
Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.
- James 4:8
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
- Proverbs 8:13
To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech.
- Psalms 51:10
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:7
Through
1 Peter 1:17Since you call on a Father who judges each one’s work impartially, conduct yourselves in reverent fear during your stay as foreigners.
it leads to
- Acts 10:34–35
Then Peter began to speak: “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism,
- 2 Chronicles 19:7
And now, may the fear of the LORD be upon you. Be careful what you do, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.”
- Acts 10:34–35
Through
Proverbs 15:16Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure with turmoil.
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:8
Better a little with righteousness than great gain with injustice.
- Proverbs 16:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2150: “"All the Day Long"” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.