Proverbs 3:24
in Proverbs 3When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you rest, your sleep will be sweet.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: Yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.
KJV
When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.
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This verse in Proverbs 3
Commentary
7 notes on this verseWhen thou liest down - In these verses (Pro 3:23-26) the wise man describes the confidence, security, and safety, which proceed from a consciousness of innocence. Most people are afraid of sleep, lest they should never awake, because they feel they are not prepared to appear before God. They are neither innocent nor pardoned. True believers know that God is their keeper night and day; they have strong confidence in him that he will be their director and not suffer them to take any false step in life, Pro 3:
This site's exposition
My son, do not lose sight of this
on Proverbs 3:21-26
“Then you will go on your way in safety” promises security in daily movement. “When you lie down, you will not be afraid” carries it into sleep. The ground of that security is the LORD's keeping: “the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from the snare”.
This site's exposition
your sleep will be sweet
Adam Clarke reads the sweet sleep as the rest of a clear conscience, of one pardoned and at peace with God. David says the same at Psalm 4:8, lying down in peace under the LORD's keeping. Fear keeps the guilty awake.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
"If you lie down, you will not be afraid," etc. It is clear according to the letter, since he who remembers to live innocently and justly before God, sleeps securely, wakes securely, rests and walks securely. But also, when the just man sleeps in death, …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
When thou liest down thou shalt not be afraid,....
We must do all the good we can, and no hurt, to our neighbours, because according as men are just or unjust, charitable or uncharitable, humble or haughty, accordingly they shall receive of God,
The way to have a good night is to keep a good conscience; and the sleep, as of the labouring man, so of the wise and godly man, is sweet. (3.) In their greatest straits and dangers.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| תִּשְׁכַּ֥ב | tishkav | you will lie down | H7901 → | 212 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִפְחָ֑ד | tifchad | you will fear | H6342 → | |
| וְ֝שָׁכַבְתָּ֗ | veshakhavta | and you will lie down | H7901 → | 212 times |
| וְֽעָרְבָ֥ה | vearevah | and it will be pleasing | H6149 → | |
| שְׁנָתֶֽךָ׃ | shenatekha | sleep your | H8142 → | 23 times |
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
תִּשְׁכַּ֥בyou will lie down
tishkavH7901 →212 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תִפְחָ֑דyou will fear
tifchadH6342 →
וְ֝שָׁכַבְתָּ֗and you will lie down
veshakhavtaH7901 →212 times
וְֽעָרְבָ֥הand it will be pleasing
vearevahH6149 →
שְׁנָתֶֽךָ׃sleep your
shenatekhaH8142 →23 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
Psalms 4:8I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.
it leads to
- Job 11:18–19
You will be secure, because there is hope, and you will look around and lie down in safety.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 3:5
I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the LORD sustains me.
- Psalms 16:8–9
I have set the LORD always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:10
He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.
- Deuteronomy 12:10
When you cross the Jordan and live in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and He gives you rest from all the enemies around you and you…
- Job 11:18–19
Through
Psalms 3:5I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the LORD sustains me.
it leads to
- Leviticus 26:6
And I will give peace to the land, and you will lie down with nothing to fear. I will rid the land of dangerous animals, and no sword will pass through your land.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 4:8
I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.
- Isaiah 26:3
You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You.
- Leviticus 26:6
Where this verse is studied
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.