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Selected Verse: Proverbs 16:2 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Pr 16:2	Strong Concordance	All the ways [01870] of a man [0376] are clean [02134] in his own eyes [05869]; but the LORD [03068] weigheth [08505] the spirits [07307].
	King James	All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
clean--or, "faultless." weigheth--or, "tries," "judges," implying that they are faulty (Pro 21:2; Pro 24:12).

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

clean--or, "faultless."

weigheth--or, "tries," "judges," implying that they are faulty (Pro 21:2; Pro 24:12).

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
We are blind to our own faults, do not see ourselves as others see us. There is One who tries not the "ways" only, but the "spirits" Heb 4:12 : this is the true remedy against self-deceit.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
2 Every way of a man is pure in his own eyes; But a weigher of the spirits is Jahve. Variations of this verse are Pro 21:2, where ישׁר for זך (according to the root-meaning: pricking in the eyes, i.e., shining clear, then: without spot, pure, vid., Fleischer in Levy's Chald. Wrterbuch, i. 424), לבּות for רוּחות, and כּל־דּרך for כּל־דּרכי, whereupon here without synallage (for כל means the totality), the singular of the pred. follows, as Isa 64:10; Eze 31:15. For the rest, cf. with 2a, Pro 14:12, where, instead of the subj. בּעיני, is used לפני, and with 2b, Pro 24:12, where God is described by תּכן לבּות. The verb תּכן is a secondary formation from כּוּן (vid., Hupfeld on Psa 5:7), like תּכן from Arab. tyaḳn (to be fast, sure), the former through the medium of the reflex. התכּונן, the latter of the reflex. Arab. âitḳn; תּכן means to regulate (from regula, a rule), to measure off, to weigh, here not to bring into a condition right according to rule (Theodotion, ἑδράζων, stabiliens, Syr. Targ. מתקּן, Venet. καταρτίζει; Luther, "but the Lord maketh the heart sure"), but to measure or weigh, and therefore to estimate rightly, to know accurately (Jerome, spiritum ponderator est Dominus). The judgment of a man regarding the cause of life, which it is good for him to enter upon, lies exposed to great and subtle self-deception; but God has the measure and weight, i.e., the means of proving, so as to value the spirits according to their true moral worth; his investigation goes to the root (cf. κριτικός, Heb 4:12), his judgment rests on the knowledge of the true state of the matter, and excludes all deception, so that thus a man can escape the danger of delusion by no other means than by placing his way, i.e., his external and internal life, in the light of the word of God, and desiring for himself the all-penetrating test of the Searcher of hearts (Psa 139:23.), and the self-knowledge corresponding to the result of this test.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

2 Every way of a man is pure in his own eyes;

But a weigher of the spirits is Jahve.

Variations of this verse are Pro 21:2, where ישׁר for זך (according to the root-meaning: pricking in the eyes, i.e., shining clear, then: without spot, pure, vid., Fleischer in Levy's Chald. Wrterbuch, i. 424), לבּות for רוּחות, and כּל־דּרך for כּל־דּרכי, whereupon here without synallage (for כל means the totality), the singular of the pred. follows, as Isa 64:10; Eze 31:15. For the rest, cf. with 2a, Pro 14:12, where, instead of the subj. בּעיני, is used לפני, and with 2b, Pro 24:12, where God is described by תּכן לבּות. The verb תּכן is a secondary formation from כּוּן (vid., Hupfeld on Psa 5:7), like תּכן from Arab. tyaḳn (to be fast, sure), the former through the medium of the reflex. התכּונן, the latter of the reflex. Arab. âitḳn; תּכן means to regulate (from regula, a rule), to measure off, to weigh, here not to bring into a condition right according to rule (Theodotion, ἑδράζων, stabiliens, Syr. Targ. מתקּן, Venet. καταρτίζει; Luther, "but the Lord maketh the heart sure"), but to measure or weigh, and therefore to estimate rightly, to know accurately (Jerome, spiritum ponderator est Dominus). The judgment of a man regarding the cause of life, which it is good for him to enter upon, lies exposed to great and subtle self-deception; but God has the measure and weight, i.e., the means of proving, so as to value the spirits according to their true moral worth; his investigation goes to the root (cf. κριτικός, Heb 4:12), his judgment rests on the knowledge of the true state of the matter, and excludes all deception, so that thus a man can escape the danger of delusion by no other means than by placing his way, i.e., his external and internal life, in the light of the word of God, and desiring for himself the all-penetrating test of the Searcher of hearts (Psa 139:23.), and the self-knowledge corresponding to the result of this test.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Weigheth - Exactly knows as men do the things which they weigh. Spirits - The hearts of men.

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¹² If thou sayest [0559], Behold, we knew [03045] it not; doth not he that pondereth [08505] the heart [03826] consider [0995] it? and he that keepeth [05341] thy soul [05315], doth not he know[03045] it? and shall not he render [07725] to every man [0120] according to his works [06467]?

² Every way [01870] of a man [0376] is right [03477] in his own eyes [05869]: but the LORD [03068] pondereth [08505] the hearts [03826].

¹² For [1063] the word [3056] of God [2316] is quick [2198], and [2532] powerful [1756], and [2532] sharper [5114] than [5228] any [3956] twoedged [1366] sword [3162], piercing [1338] even to [891] the dividing asunder [3311] of soul [5590] and [5037] [2532] spirit [4151], and [5037] [2532] of the joints [719] and [2532] marrow [3452], and [2532] is a discerner [2924] of the thoughts [1761] and [2532] intents [1771] of the heart [2588].

²³ Search [02713] me, O God [0410], and know [03045] my heart [03824]: try [0974] me, and know [03045] my thoughts [08312]:

⁷ But as for me, I will come [0935] into thy house [01004] in the multitude [07230] of thy mercy [02617]: and in thy fear [03374] will I worship [07812] toward thy holy [06944] temple [01964].

¹² There is [03426] a way [01870] which seemeth right [03477] unto [06440] a man [0376], but the end [0319] thereof are the ways [01870] of death [04194].

¹⁵ Thus saith [0559] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069]; In the day [03117] when he went down [03381] to the grave [07585] I caused a mourning [056]: I covered [03680] the deep [08415] for him, and I restrained [04513] the floods [05104] thereof, and the great [07227] waters [04325] were stayed [03607]: and I caused Lebanon [03844] to mourn [06937] for him, and all the trees [06086] of the field [07704] fainted [05969] for him.

¹⁰ Thy holy [06944] cities [05892] are a wilderness [04057], Zion [06726] is a wilderness [04057], Jerusalem [03389] a desolation [08077].

² Every way [01870] of a man [0376] is right [03477] in his own eyes [05869]: but the LORD [03068] pondereth [08505] the hearts [03826].