Proverbs 30:12
in Proverbs 30There is a generation of those who are pure in their own eyes and yet unwashed of their filth.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, And yet are not washed from their filthiness.
KJV
There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.
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This verse in Proverbs 30
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA generation that seems pure to itself, etc. Because God scatters the bones of men pleasing to themselves.
This site's exposition
There is a generation of those who curse their fathers
on Proverbs 30:11-14
Four times "There is a generation" opens a verse, describing one corruption from the inside out: cursing parents, haughty eyes, and teeth that are swords. Verse 14 gives the portrait its edge, as pride and contempt end in "devouring the oppressed from the earth and the needy from among men."
This site's exposition
pure in their own eyes
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown read these generations as four kinds of men, and this second kind is the hypocrite. Pure in his own eyes, he is yet unwashed of his filth. Bede adds that God scatters the bones of the self-pleased.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
); they are pure in their own eyes, as if they were in all respects such as they should be. They have a very good opinion of themselves and their own character, that they are not only righteous, but rich and increased with goods ( Rev. iii. 17 ), and yet are not cleansed from their filthiness, the filthiness of their hearts, which they pretend to be the best part of them.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Four kinds of hateful persons--(1) graceless children, (2) hypocrites, (3) the proud, (4) cruel oppressors (compare on Pr 30:14; 52:2) --are now illustrated;
The second, Those who were self-righteous, supposing themselves pure, and were not so.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The Pharisee temper (compare the marginal reference).
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| דּ֭וֹר | dor | a generation | H1755 → | 167 times |
| טָה֣וֹר | tahor | [is] pure | H2889 → | 94 times |
| בְּעֵינָ֑יו | beeinav | in own eyes its | H5869 → | 887 times |
| וּ֝מִצֹּאָת֗וֹ | umitzoato | and from excrement its | H6675 → | |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| רֻחָֽץ׃ | ruchatz | it has been washed | H7364 → |
דּ֭וֹרa generation
dorH1755 →167 times
טָה֣וֹר[is] pure
tahorH2889 →94 times
בְּעֵינָ֑יוin own eyes its
beeinavH5869 →887 times
וּ֝מִצֹּאָת֗וֹand from excrement its
umitzoatoH6675 →
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
רֻחָֽץ׃it has been washed
ruchatzH7364 →
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
Proverbs 21:2All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart.
it leads to
- 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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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
Through
Proverbs 16:2All a man’s ways are pure in his own eyes, but his motives are weighed out by the LORD.
it leads to
- 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…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 21:2
All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart.
- 1 Samuel 16:7
Through
2 Timothy 3:5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!
it leads to
- Isaiah 29:13
Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught…
- Titus 1:16
They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.
- Isaiah 29:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.