the First Week after Epiphany
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New American Standard Bible
Proverbs 16:1
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The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord .
The preparations of the heart are in man: but the answere of the tongue is of the Lord.
The reflections of the heart belong to mankind,
The plans of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
People might plan what they want to say, but it is the Lord who gives them the right words.
The plans and reflections of the heart belong to man, But the [wise] answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
The plans of the heart belong to man; But the answer of the tongue is from Jehovah.
We humans make plans, but the Lord has the final word.
A person is responsible to prepare his heart, but how the tongue speaks is from Adonai .
The preparations of the heart are man's, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
The preparations of the heart in man, and the answere of the tongue, is from the Lord.
Let the heart of a man think justly, that his steps may be rightly ordered of God. The eye that sees rightly rejoices the heart; and a good report fattens the bones.
The preparations of the heart belong to man: but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
The plans of the heart belong to man, but the reply of the tongue is from the LORD.
To mortals belong the plans of the heart, but from Yahweh comes the answer of the tongue.
Of man are plans of the heart, and the answer of the tongue is from Jehovah.
People may make plans in their minds, but only the Lord can make them come true.
The intentions of the heart belong to a man, but the answer of the tongue comes from the Lord .
The preparations of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives the right answer.
The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
To man, belong the preparations of the heart, but, from Yahweh, cometh the answer of the tongue.
It is the part of man to prepare the soul: and of the Lord to govern the tongue.
THE reasoning of the mind is from man; but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
We may make our plans, but God has the last word.
The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord .
A man may wel purpose a thyng in his heart: but the aunswere of the tongue commeth of the Lorde.
The plans of the mind belong to mortals, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord .
The purposes of the heart are of man, but the answer of the tongue is from Jehovah.
It perteyneth to man to make redi the soule; and it perteyneth to the Lord to gouerne the tunge.
Of man [are] arrangements of the heart, And from Jehovah an answer of the tongue.
The plans of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from Yahweh.
The plans of the mind belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
The plans of the heart belong to man; But the answer of the tongue is from Yahweh.
The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, [are] from the LORD.
The designs of the heart are man's, but the answer of the tongue comes from the Lord.
A man maye well purpose a thinge in his harte, but ye answere of ye tonge cometh of ye LORDE.
Mortals make elaborate plans, but God has the last word.
The plans of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
The plans of the heart belong to man,But the answer of the tongue is from Yahweh.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
preparations: or, disposings, Proverbs 16:9, Proverbs 19:21, Proverbs 20:24, Proverbs 21:1, 2 Chronicles 18:31, Ezra 7:27, Nehemiah 1:11, Psalms 10:17, Psalms 119:36, Jeremiah 10:23, Jeremiah 32:39, Jeremiah 32:40, Ezekiel 36:26, Ezekiel 36:27, 2 Corinthians 8:16, Philippians 2:13, James 1:16-18
and: Exodus 4:11, Exodus 4:12, Exodus 4:15, Jeremiah 1:7-9, Matthew 10:19, Matthew 10:20, Luke 12:11, Luke 12:12, Luke 21:14, Luke 21:15
Reciprocal: Numbers 23:5 - General Deuteronomy 30:8 - General Joshua 22:21 - answered 1 Samuel 7:3 - prepare 2 Chronicles 29:36 - God Ezra 1:5 - whose spirit Proverbs 24:26 - shall Mark 14:15 - he will Colossians 1:12 - made
Cross-References
Sarai was unable to conceive; she did not have a child.
Therefore he treated Abram well for her sake; and he gave him sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
So Sarai said to Abram, "See now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please have relations with my slave woman; perhaps I will obtain children through her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
And so after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram's wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave woman, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife.
So the angel of the LORD said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority."
The angel of the LORD also said to her, "I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count."
But God said to Abraham, "Do not be distressed because of the boy and your slave woman; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named.
He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was unable to have children; and the LORD answered him, and his wife Rebekah conceived.
And there was a man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was infertile and had not given birth to any children.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
The preparations of the heart in man,.... The sense of these words, according to our version, depends upon the next clause, and the meaning of the whole is, that a man can neither think nor speak without God: the "orderings" or "marshallings of the heart" a, as it may be rendered; that is, of the thoughts of the heart, which are generally irregular and confused; the ranging them in order, as an army in battle array, or as things regularly placed on a well furnished table; the fixing them on any particular subject, though about things civil and natural, so as closely to attend to them, and proceed in a regular manner in the consideration of them, are not without the concurrence of divine Providence: and whereas the thoughts of men's hearts are evil, and that continually, and nothing but evil thoughts naturally proceed from thence; the ordering and marshalling of them, and fixing them to the attention and consideration of divine and spiritual things, are not without the supernatural grace of God; for we cannot think a good thought of ourselves, nor indeed anything of ourselves in a spiritual manner, 2 Corinthians 3:5; all preparations for religious service and duty, whether it be to pray unto God, or to preach in his name, are from the Lord; it is he that works in men both "to will and to do"; that gives them the willing mind, or a suitable frame for service, as well as ability to perform it; that pours out the Spirit of grace and supplication on them, and disposes and directs their minds to proper petitions, and furnishes his ministering servants in their studies with agreeable matter for their ministrations, Psalms 10:17;
and the answer of the tongue [is] from the Lord; who made man's mouth, and teaches him what to say, both before God and man; what he shall say in prayer to him, or in preaching to others; for the "door of utterance" in either service is from him, as well as the preparation for it: most versions and interpreters make these clauses distinct, the one as belonging to men, the other to God; thus, "to men [belong] the preparations of the heart, but from the Lord is the answer" or "[speech] of the tongue"; the former is said by way of concession, and according to the opinion of men; and the sense may be, be it so, that man has the marshalling and ordering of his own thoughts, and that he can lay things together in his mind, and think pertinently and properly on a subject, and is capable of preparing matter for a discourse; yet it is as easy to observe, that men can better form ideas of things in their minds, the they can express their sense and meaning; and though they may be ever so well prepared to speak, yet they are not able to do it, unless the Lord gives them utterance, and assists their memories; they lose what they had prepared, or deliver it in a disorderly and confused manner, and sometimes think to say one thing, and say another; their tongues are overruled by the Lord to say what they never intended, as in the cases of Balaam and Caiaphas. The Targum is,
"from man is the counsel of the heart, and from the Lord is the speech of the tongue.''
a מערכי לב "dispositiones sive ordinationes", Montanus, Munster, Vatablus, Piscator, Cocceius, Michaelis; "instructiones adversae aciei in corde", Schultens.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
The proverbs in Proverbs 16:1-7 have, more than any other group, an especially religious character impressed upon them. The name of Yahweh as Giver, Guide, Ruler, or Judge, meets us in each of them.
Proverbs 16:1
Better, The plans of the heart belong to man, but the utterance of the tongue is from Yahweh. Thoughts come and go, as it were, spontaneously; but true, well ordered speech is the gift of God. Compare Proverbs 16:9.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER XVI
Man prepares, but God governs. God has made all things for
himself; he hates pride. The judgments of God. The
administration of kings; their justice, anger, and clemency.
God has made all in weight, measure, and due proportion.
Necessity produces industry. The patient man. The lot is under
the direction of the Lord.
NOTES ON CHAP. XVI
Verse Proverbs 16:1. The preparations of the heart in man — The Hebrew is לאדם מערכי לב leadam maarchey leb, which is, literally, "To man are the dispositions of the heart; but from the Lord is the answer of the tongue." Man proposes his wishes; but God answers as he thinks proper. The former is the free offspring of the heart of man; the latter, the free volition of God. Man may think as he pleases, and ask as he lists; but God will give, or not give, as he thinks proper. This I believe to be the meaning of this shamefully tortured passage, so often vexed by critics, their doubts, and indecisions. God help them! for they seldom have the faculty of making any subject plainer! The text does not say that the "preparations," rather dispositions or arrangements, מערכי maarchey, "of the heart," as well as "the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord;" though it is generally understood so; but it states that the dispositions or schemes of the heart (are) man's; but the answer of the tongue (is) the Lord's. And so the principal versions have understood it.
Hominis est animam preparare; et Domini gubernare linguam. - VULGATE. "It is the part of man to prepare his soul: it is the prerogative of the Lord to govern the tongue."
מן בר נש תרעיתא דלבא ומן יי ממללא דלישנא min bar nash taritha delibba; umin yeya mamlala delishana. - CHALDEE. "From the son of man is the counsel of the heart; and from the Lord is the word of the tongue."
The SYRIAC is the same. καρδια ανδρος λογζεσθω δικαια, Ἱνα ὑπο του θεου διορθωθῃ τα διαβηματα αυτῃ. - SEPTUAGINT. "The heart of man deviseth righteous things, that its goings may be directed by God."
The ARABIC takes great latitude: "All the works of an humble man are clean before the Lord; and the wicked shall perish in an evil day." Of a man is to maken redy the inwitt: and of the Lorde to governe the tunge. - Old MS. Bible.
"A man maye well purpose a thinge in his harte: but the answere of the tonge cometh of the Lorde. - COVERDALE.
MATTHEW'S Bible, 1549, and BECKE'S Bible of the same date, and CARDMARDEN'S of 1566, follow Coverdale. The Bible printed by R. Barker, at Cambridge, 4to., 1615, commonly called the Breeches Bible, reads the text thus: - "The preparations of the hart are in man; but the answere of the tongue is of the Lord." So that it appears that our first, and all our ancient versions, understood the text in the same way; and this, independently of critical torture, is the genuine meaning of the Hebrew text. That very valuable version published in Italian, at Geneva, fol. 1562, translates thus: Le dispositioni del cuore sono de l'huomo, ma la risposta del la lingua e dal Signore. "The dispositions of the heart are of man; but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord."
The modern European versions, as far as I have seen, are the same. And when the word dispositions, arrangements, schemes, is understood to be the proper meaning of the Hebrew term, as shown above, the sense is perfectly sound; for there may be a thousand schemes and arrangements made in the heart of man which he may earnestly wish God to bring to full effect, that are neither for his good nor God's glory; and therefore it is his interest that God has the answer in his own power. At the same time, there is no intimation here that man can prepare his own heart to wait upon, or pray unto the Lord; or that from the human heart any thing good can come, without Divine influence; but simply that he may have many schemes and projects which he may beg God to accomplish, that are not of God, but from himself. Hence our own proverb: "Man proposes, but God disposes." I have entered the more particularly into the consideration of this text, because some are very strenuous in the support of our vicious reading, from a supposition that the other defends the heterodox opinion of man's sufficiency to think any thing as of himself. But while they deserve due credit for their orthodox caution, they will see that no such imputation can fairly lie against the plain grammatical translation of the Hebrew text.
