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The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Proverbs 25:3

As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings cannot be searched.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Rulers;   The Topic Concordance - Government;   Hiding;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Earth, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Proverb, the Book of;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Heart;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Pardon;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Proverbs, the Book of;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Depths;   Proverbs, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Greek Versions of Ot;   Proverbs, Book of;   Shame;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Astronomy;   Proverbs, Book of;   Searchings;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
As the heavens are high and the earth is deep,so the hearts of kings cannot be investigated.
Hebrew Names Version
As the heavens for height, and the eretz for depth, So the hearts of kings are unsearchable.
King James Version
The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable.
English Standard Version
As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the heart of kings is unsearchable.
New American Standard Bible
As the heavens for height and the earth for depth, So the heart of kings is unsearchable.
New Century Version
No one can measure the height of the skies or the depth of the earth. So also no one can understand the mind of a king.
Amplified Bible
As the heavens for height and the earth for depth, So the hearts and minds of kings are unsearchable.
World English Bible
As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, So the hearts of kings are unsearchable.
Geneva Bible (1587)
The heaues in height, & the earth in deepenes, and the Kings heart can no man search out.
Legacy Standard Bible
As the heavens for height and the earth for depth,So the heart of kings is unsearchable.
Contemporary English Version
Who can fully understand the thoughts of a ruler? They reach beyond the sky and go deep in the earth.
Complete Jewish Bible
Like the sky for height or the earth for depth is the heart of kings — unfathomable.
Darby Translation
The heavens for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable.
Easy-to-Read Version
We cannot discover how high the sky is above us or how deep the earth is below. The same is true with the minds of kings. We cannot understand them.
George Lamsa Translation
The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of the king is unsearchable.
Good News Translation
You never know what a king is thinking; his thoughts are beyond us, like the heights of the sky or the depths of the ocean.
Lexham English Bible
As heaven is to height and the earth is to depth, so is the heart of kings—there is no searching.
Literal Translation
The heavens for height, and the earth for depth, but the heart of kings is unsearchable.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The heauen is hie, ye earth is depe, and ye kinges hert is vnsearcheable.
American Standard Version
As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, So the heart of kings is unsearchable.
Bible in Basic English
The heaven is high and the earth is deep, and the hearts of kings may not be searched out.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable.
King James Version (1611)
The heauen for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of Kings is vnsearchable.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
The heauen is hye, the earth is deepe: and the kinges heart is vnsearcheable.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
God has taught me wisdom, and I know the knowledge of the holy.
English Revised Version
The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Heuene aboue, and the erthe bynethe, and the herte of kyngis is vnserchable.
Update Bible Version
As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, So the heart of kings is unsearchable.
Webster's Bible Translation
The heaven for hight, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings [is] unsearchable.
New English Translation
As the heaven is high and the earth is deep so the hearts of kings are unsearchable.
New King James Version
As the heavens for height and the earth for depth, So the heart of kings is unsearchable.
New Living Translation
No one can comprehend the height of heaven, the depth of the earth, or all that goes on in the king's mind!
New Life Bible
As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the heart of kings is more than can be known.
New Revised Standard
Like the heavens for height, like the earth for depth, so the mind of kings is unsearchable.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
The heavens for height, and the earth for depth, but, the heart of kings, cannot be searched.
Douay-Rheims Bible
The heaven above and the earth beneath, and the heart of kings is unsearchable.
Revised Standard Version
As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the mind of kings is unsearchable.
Young's Literal Translation
The heavens for height, and the earth for depth, And the heart of kings -- [are] unsearchable.
THE MESSAGE
Like the horizons for breadth and the ocean for depth, the understanding of a good leader is broad and deep.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
As the heavens for height and the earth for depth, So the heart of kings is unsearchable.

Contextual Overview

2It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to search it out. 3As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings cannot be searched.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

heaven: Psalms 103:11, Isaiah 7:11, Isaiah 55:9, Romans 8:39

is unsearchable: Heb. there is no searching, 1 Kings 4:29, 1 Peter 1:7

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 20:12 - sounded Job 11:8 - It is as high as heaven Psalms 15:3 - taketh up Isaiah 55:8 - General Romans 11:33 - the depth

Cross-References

2 Samuel 2:9
and made him king over Gilead, Asher, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin-over all Israel.
1 Kings 10:1
Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with difficult questions.
Job 6:19
The caravans of Tema look for water; the travelers of Sheba hope to find it.
Psalms 72:10
May the kings of Tarshish and distant shores bring tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
Jeremiah 25:23
Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair;
Jeremiah 49:8
Turn and run! Lie low, O residents of Dedan, for I will bring disaster on Esau at the time I punish him.
Ezekiel 25:13
therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I will stretch out My hand against Edom and cut off from it both man and beast. I will make it a wasteland, and from Teman to Dedan they will fall by the sword.
Ezekiel 27:6
Of oaks from Bashan they made your oars; of wood from the coasts of Cyprus they made your deck, inlaid with ivory.
Ezekiel 27:20
Dedan was your merchant in saddlecloths for riding.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The heaven for height, and the earth for depth,.... These are eminent for what are ascribed to them; nothing is higher than the heavens, nor anything deeper than the earth; the height of the heavens cannot be reached, and the centre of the earth cannot easily be got unto; the heavens above cannot be measured, and the foundation of the earth cannot be searched beneath; at least not by common persons, whatever may be done in their way by astronomers and geometricians. And thus, as the heavens and the earth are immeasurable, Jeremiah 31:37; so

the heart of kings [is] unsearchable; especially such an one as Solomon was, who had largeness of heart as the sand on the seashore: and this must be understood of such who have the art of governing; for some are so weak in their conduct, and so much expose themselves, that it is easy to see what is in their hearts, and what are the springs of their actions. Wise princes lay their schemes deep, and conceal their designs, and keep their reasons of state secret, so that it is not an easy thing to penetrate into their councils and views: for this does not so much respect the multitude of business they have upon their hearts and hands, as Jarchi and others understand it, as the privacy and secrecy in which they are managed, and the reasons of which are kept from common persons, Who therefore are not proper judges of them; and who yet will often take upon them to censure and condemn, when they are ignorant of the true cause of such conduct.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The other side of the thought of Proverbs 25:2. What the mind of God is to the searchers after knowledge, that the heart of the true and wise king is to those who try to guess its counsels.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Proverbs 25:3. The heaven for height — The simple meaning of this is, the reasons of state, in reference to many acts of the executive government, can no more be fathomed by the common people, than the height of the heavens and the depth of the earth.


 
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