Psalms 101:4
in Psalms 101A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will know nothing of evil.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
A perverse heart shall depart from me: I will know no evil thing.
KJV
A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.
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This verse in Psalms 101
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA depraved heart did not cling to me. There was in me nothing difficult or anything perverse, but fairness and justice. As the malignant one turned aside from me, I did not know him: that is, if he was a friend to me or a neighbor, whether a bishop or a presbyter, or one established in any rank whatever: nevertheless, if he perverted his ways, I so fled from him that I made no mention of him at all.
This site's exposition
no worthless thing before my eyes
on Psalms 101:3-5
He begins with his eyes and what he sets before them. A perverse heart is sent away next, and evil is something he refuses to learn. Other men come last, the neighbor who slanders in secret and the man whose eyes are haughty and whose heart is proud.
This site's exposition
A perverse heart shall depart
Perverse translates iqqesh, a word for something crooked or twisted. Proverbs 11:20 uses the same phrase for the heart the LORD detests. To know evil here is to keep company with it, and the king refuses that acquaintance.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"When the wicked man departed from me, I knew him not" [Psalm 101:4]. I approved him not, I praised him not, he pleased me not. For we find the word "to know" occasionally used in Scripture, in the sense of "to be pleased." For what is hidden from God, brethren? Does He know the just, and does He not know the unjust? What do you think of, that He does not know? I say not, what do you think; but what will you ever think, that He will not have seen beforehand? God knows all things, then; and yet in the end, that is in judgment after mercy, He says of some persons: "I will profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of iniquity." [Matthew 7:23] Was there any one He did not know? But what means, "I never knew you"? I acknowledge you not in My rule. For I know the rule of My righteousness: ye agree not with it, you have turned aside from it, you are crooked. Therefore He said here also: "When the wicked man departed from Me, I knew him not."...Therefore, "when the wicked man departed from me," that is, when the wicked man was unlike me, and was unwilling to imitate my paths, was unwilling in his wickedness to live as I had proposed myself for his imitation; "I knew him not." What means, "I knew him not"? Not that I was ignorant of him, but that I did not approve him.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): " A froward heart (one that delights to be cross and perverse) shall depart from me, as not fit for society, the bond of which is love. I will not know, " that is, "I will have no acquaintance or conversation, if I can help it, with such a wicked person; for a little of the leaven of malice and wickedness will leaven the whole lump." 2.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
A froward heart shall depart from me,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A froward heart shall depart from me. He refers both to himself and to those round about him; he would neither be crooked in heart himself, nor employ persons of evil character in his house; if he found such in his court he would chase them away. He who begins with his own heart begins at the fountain head, and is not likely to tolerate evil compamons. We cannot turn out of our family all whose hearts are evil, but we can keep them out of our confidence, and let them see that we do not approve of their ways.
A froward heart shall depart from me. He refers both to himself and to those round about him; he would neither be crooked in heart himself, nor employ persons of evil character in his house; if he found such in his court he would chase them away. He who begins with his own heart begins at the fountain head, and is not likely to tolerate evil compamons. We cannot turn out of our family all whose hearts are evil, but we can keep them out of our confidence, and let them see that we do not approve of their ways. I will not know a wicked person. He shall not be my intimate, my bosom friend. I must know him as a man or I could not discern his character, but if I know him to be wicked, I will not know him any further, and with his evil I will have no communion. "To know" in Scripture means more than mere perception, it includes fellowship, and in that sense it is here used. Princes must disown those who disown righteousness; if they know the wicked they will soon be known as wicked themselves.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A froward heart - Rash and headstrong men shall not be employed by me. I will not know a wicked person - I will give no countenance to sinners of any kind; and whatever is evil shall be an object of my abhorrence.
A froward heart - Rash and headstrong men shall not be employed by me. I will not know a wicked person - I will give no countenance to sinners of any kind; and whatever is evil shall be an object of my abhorrence.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
A froward heart shall depart from me - The word here rendered froward means perverse, false, deceitful, depraved. See the notes at Psa 18:26. The “idea” here is that of one who is inclined to evil; who has some wrong passion or inclination to indulge; who has an obstinate and perverse will; who does not listen to reason or the voice of wise persuasion; who will do wrong, despite all the means which may be employed to induce him to do right. The language may either refer to the author of the psalm himself, as regulating his own conduct; or it may refer to those in his employ. In the former sense, it would mean that he would not himself be perverse and froward; in the latter sense, that he would not have such persons in his employ. The connection seems to require that we should understand it in the latter sense, as referring to the class of persons that the psalmist would have about him. I will not know a wicked person - I will not countenance such a one; I will not recognize such a one among those who are admitted into my house, or own him as my friend; or, I will not have such in my employ. Probably the language embraces both these ideas - as it should in the case of all who are at the head of a family: (a) I will not countenance or recognize as among my friends, who are to be admitted to my fireside and family, and who are to be familiar with me and my children, those who are profligate, wicked, and unprincipled, whatever may be their rank, their wealth, their accomplishments, their fascination of manner, or their power of conversation; (b) I will have in my employ no one who is not honest, temperate, virtuous, pure. The welfare of a family depends more on the former of these things than the latter; no family can be well ordered where both are not found.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
wayward Heb. סטים, an expression of (Num.:12): “whose wife strays (תשטה) from the right path,” to turn away from the road, destolemant in Old French, to swerve.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
I cannot tolerate him that he should be my friend, lest I learn from his deeds.
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. 4 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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֵבָ֣ב | levav | a heart | H3824 → | 252 times |
| עִ֭קֵּשׁ | ʾikesh | perverse | H6141 → | |
| יָס֣וּר | yasur | it will depart | H5493 → | 299 times |
| מִמֶּ֑נִּי | mimeni | from me | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| רָ֝֗ע | ra' | evil | H7451 → | 662 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֵדָֽע׃ | ʾeda' | I will know | H3045 → | 945 times |
לֵבָ֣בa heart
levavH3824 →252 times
עִ֭קֵּשׁperverse
ʾikeshH6141 →
יָס֣וּרit will depart
yasurH5493 →299 times
מִמֶּ֑נִּיfrom me
mimeniH4480 →1188 times
רָ֝֗עevil
ra'H7451 →662 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
אֵדָֽע׃I will know
ʾeda'H3045 →945 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
Matthew 7:23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’
it leads to
- Psalms 6:8
Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the LORD has heard my weeping.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 25:41
Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
- Luke 13:27
And he will answer, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers.’
- Luke 13:25
After the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ But he will reply, ‘I do not know where…
- Matthew 25:12
But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’
- Psalms 6:8
Through
Proverbs 22:24Do not make friends with an angry man, and do not associate with a hot-tempered man,
it leads to
- Proverbs 29:22
An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression.
- 2 Corinthians 6:14–17
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
- Proverbs 29:22
Through
Psalms 119:115Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may obey the commandments of my God.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 15:33
Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:33
About Psalms
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 101; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 4; Jerome, Homily 27, on Psalm 100; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.