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Proverbs 24:12

in Proverbs 24

If you say, “Behold, we did not know about this,” does not He who weighs hearts consider it? Does not the One who guards your life know? Will He not repay a man according to his deeds?

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

If thou sayest, Behold, we knew not this; Doth not he that weigheth the hearts consider it? And he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? And shall not he render to every man according to his work?

KJV

If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?

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This verse in Proverbs 24

Commentary

4 notes on this verse
As Pro 24:11 warned men against acquiescing in an unrighteous tyranny, so this denounces the tendency to hush up a wrong with the false plea of ignorance. Compare Ecc 5:8. Pro 24:10-12 thus forms a complete and connected whole.

This site's exposition

Rescue those being led away to death

on Proverbs 24:11-12

"Rescue those being led away to death" reads most plainly as saving the condemned from unjust execution, a call to step in for a neighbor. Clarke notes that the verse has also been read of anyone perishing, in body or soul, whom a bystander could help and does not.

This site's exposition

He who weighs hearts consider it

Albert Barnes reads verse 12 against the false plea that we did not know about this. He who weighs hearts knows what the bystander knew. Barnes takes verses 10 to 12 as one whole, closed by the question of repaying a man according to his deeds.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not,....

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

will you say Heb. כי תאמר. And this instance of כי is used as an expression of “perhaps.”
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Proverbs 24:12:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Eat honey, my son It is customary for people to eat honey because it is good; so too know wisdom for your soul, and just as you run to eat honey, so should you run to know wisdom.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Proverbs 24:13:1, 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

18 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.

  • כִּֽי־if

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • תֹאמַ֗רyou will say

    tomarH559 →5305 times

  • הֵן֮here!

    henH2005 →

  • לֹא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • יָדַ֪עְנ֫וּwe knew

    yada'nuH3045 →945 times

  • זֶ֥הthis

    zehH2088 →1180 times

  • הֲֽלֹא־¿ not

    halo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • תֹ֘כֵ֤ן[one who] weighs

    tokhenH8505 →18 times

  • לִבּ֨וֹת׀hearts

    libotH3826 →7 times

  • הֽוּא־he

    hu'-H1931 →1879 times

  • יָבִ֗יןdoes he perceive

    yavinH995 →170 times

  • וְנֹצֵ֣רand [one who] guards

    venotzerH5341 →63 times

  • נַ֭פְשְׁךָlife your

    nafshekhaH5315 →754 times

  • ה֣וּאhe

    hu'H1931 →1879 times

  • יֵדָ֑עdoes he know?

    yeda'H3045 →945 times

  • וְהֵשִׁ֖יבand will he repay?

    veheshivH7725 →1056 times

  • לְאָדָ֣םto a person

    leadamH120 →551 times

  • כְּפָעֳלֽוֹ׃according to work his

    kefooloH6467 →37 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.

Proverbs 21:2All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart.25 worksProverbs 16:2All a man’s ways are pure in his own eyes, but his motives are weighed out by the LORD.16 worksMatthew 16:27For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.14 worksJob 34:11For according to a man’s deeds He repays him; according to a man’s ways He brings consequences.10 works1 Samuel 2:3Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogance come from your mouth, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him actions are weighed.9 worksRevelation 20:12And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.8 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Romans 2:6God “will repay each one according to his deeds.”7 worksJeremiah 17:10I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.6 worksRevelation 2:23Then I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.6 worksPsalms 121:8The LORD will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore.5 works1 Samuel 16:7But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart.”5 worksEcclesiastes 5:8If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them.4 worksPsalms 121:3He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber.4 worksMatthew 24:39And they were oblivious, until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.4 worksPsalms 62:12and loving devotion to You, O Lord. For You will repay each man according to his deeds.4 worksDaniel 5:23Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you drank wine from them with your nobles, wives, and concubines, you praised your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you have failed to glorify the God who holds in His hand your very breath and all your ways.3 worksPsalms 44:21would not God have discovered, since He knows the secrets of the heart?3 works1 Corinthians 4:5Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.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

    Jeremiah 17:10

    I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.

    it leads to

    • Romans 8:27

      And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 1 Samuel 16:7

      But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the…

    • Jeremiah 11:20

      O LORD of Hosts, who judges righteously, who examines the heart and mind, let me see Your vengeance upon them, for to You I have committed my cause.

  • Through

    Proverbs 21:2

    All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart.

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 16:2

      All a man’s ways are pure in his own eyes, but his motives are weighed out by the LORD.

    • Proverbs 16:25

      There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

    • Luke 16:15

      So He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is prized among men is detestable before God.

    • Jeremiah 17:10

      I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.

  • Through

    Psalms 121:8

    The LORD will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore.

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 28:6

      You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

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 24 →

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

Read on in Proverbs 24 →