the Week of Proper 23 / Ordinary 28
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!
Read the Bible
The NET Bible®
Proverbs 21:1
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- InternationalDevotionals:
- DailyParallel Translations
The king's heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord ; he guides it wherever he pleases.
The king's heart is in the hand of Yahweh as the watercourses: He turns it wherever he will.
The Lord can control a king's mind as he controls a river; he can direct it as he pleases.
The king's heart [is] in the hand of the LORD, [as] the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
The king's heart is in Yahweh's hand like the watercourses. He turns it wherever he desires.
The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it whichever way He wishes.
The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord ; he turns it wherever he will.
As departyngis of watris, so the herte of the kyng is in the power of the Lord; whidur euer he wole, he schal bowe it.
The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD as the watercourses: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
The king's heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD; He directs it where He pleases.
The Lord controls rulers, just as he determines the course of rivers.
The king's heart is in the hand of Jehovah as the watercourses: He turneth it whithersoever he will.
The king's heart in the hands of the Lord is like the water streams, and by him it is turned in any direction at his pleasure.
The king's heart in Adonai 's hand is like streams of water — he directs it wherever he pleases.
The king's heart in the hand of Jehovah is [as] brooks of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
To the Lord , a king's mind is like a ditch used to water the fields. He can lead the king wherever he wants him to go.
The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD as the watercourses: He turneth it whithersoever He will.
The kings heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the riuers of water: hee turneth it whithersoeuer he will.
The heart of the king is like rivers of water in the hand of the Lord. He turns it where He wishes.
The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord ; he turns it wherever he will.
The Kings heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the riuers of waters: he turneth it whithersoeuer it pleaseth him.
LIKE streams of water, so is the kings heart in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.
The Lord controls the mind of a king as easily as he directs the course of a stream.
Like channels of water, is the heart of a king, in the hand of Yahweh, - whithersoever he will, he turneth it.
As the divisions of waters, so the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord: whithersoever he will, he shall turn it.
The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.
The kynges heart is in the hand of the Lord, lyke as are the riuers of water, he maye turne it whyther soeuer he wyll.
As a rush of water, so is the king’s heart in God’s hand: he turns it whithersoever he may desire to point out.
A king’s heart is like channeled water in the Lord’s hand:
The king's heart is in the LORD's hand like the watercourses. He turns it wherever he desires.
The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord , as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
Streams of water are the heart of a king in the hand of Yahweh; wherever he will desire, he will turn.
As streams of waters, the king's heart is in the hand of Jehovah; He turns it wherever He desires.
Rivulets of waters [is] the heart of a king in the hand of Jehovah, Wherever He pleaseth He inclineth it.
The kynges hert is in the hande of the LORDE, like as are the ryuers of water: he maye turne it whyther so euer he wyll.
Good leadership is a channel of water controlled by God ; he directs it to whatever ends he chooses.
The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He pleases.
The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.
The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes.
The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of Yahweh;He turns it wherever He pleases.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
The king's: Proverbs 16:1, Proverbs 16:9, Proverbs 20:24, Ezra 7:27, Ezra 7:28, Nehemiah 1:11, Nehemiah 2:4, Psalms 105:25, Psalms 106:46, Daniel 4:35, Acts 7:10
as: Psalms 74:15, Psalms 93:4, Psalms 114:3, Psalms 114:5, Isaiah 43:19, Isaiah 44:27, Revelation 16:4, Revelation 16:12
Reciprocal: Genesis 12:18 - General Genesis 12:20 - General Genesis 20:6 - withheld Genesis 33:4 - embraced Genesis 43:14 - And God Genesis 47:6 - is Exodus 2:5 - when she Exodus 2:6 - she had compassion 1 Samuel 19:23 - until he came 2 Kings 7:7 - they arose 2 Kings 8:6 - Restore all 2 Kings 25:27 - king of Babylon 2 Chronicles 18:31 - God moved them 2 Chronicles 33:13 - brought him Ezra 1:1 - the Lord Ezra 5:14 - the king Ezra 6:6 - be ye far Ezra 6:22 - turned Nehemiah 2:8 - the king Esther 4:8 - request Esther 5:2 - she Psalms 105:19 - his word Proverbs 19:21 - nevertheless Proverbs 29:26 - ruler's favour Jeremiah 15:11 - cause the enemy to entreat thee Jeremiah 25:9 - I Jeremiah 37:21 - and that Jeremiah 38:10 - the king Jeremiah 39:12 - do him Jeremiah 40:5 - or go Jeremiah 52:31 - king of Babylon Ezekiel 21:21 - the king Mark 14:15 - he will Mark 15:26 - the superscription Acts 7:23 - it came Philippians 2:13 - to will Revelation 17:17 - put
Cross-References
I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. Kings of countries will come from her!"
God said, "No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual covenant for his descendants after him.
But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year."
One of them said, "I will surely return to you when the season comes round again, and your wife Sarah will have a son!" (Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, not far behind him.
Is anything impossible for the Lord ? I will return to you when the season comes round again and Sarah will have a son."
But God heard the boy's voice. The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, "What is the matter, Hagar? Don't be afraid, for God has heard the boy's voice right where he is crying.
God was with the boy as he grew. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer.
Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die. But God will surely come to you and lead you up from this land to the land he swore on oath to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."
"Go and bring together the elders of Israel and tell them, ‘The Lord , the God of your fathers, appeared to me—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—saying, "I have attended carefully to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt,
and the people believed. When they heard that the Lord had attended to the Israelites and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed down close to the ground.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
The king's heart [is] in the hand of the Lord, [as] the rivers of water,.... The heart of every king, and all that is in it, his thoughts, counsels, purposes, and designs; the hearts of bad kings, as Pharaoh, whom the Lord hardened and softened at pleasure; the antichristian kings, into whose hearts he put it to give their kingdoms to the beast, Revelation 17:17; the hearts of good kings, as David, Solomon, Cyrus, and others: and if the hearts of kings are in the hands of the Lord, which are full of things of the greatest importance with respect to the government of the world; and which are generally more untractable and unmanageable; and who are more resolute and positive, and will have their own wills and ways, especially arbitrary princes; then much more the hearts of other persons. And which are as "rivers of water"; for so the words may be rendered, as rivers of water is "the heart of a king", which is "in the hand of the Lord"; unstable, fluid, and fluctuating; and yet the Lord can stay and settle, and fix them, and keep them steady and within bounds: or which, like a torrent of water, comes with force and impetus; and so the Septuagint render it, "the force of waters"; and bears all before it, as do the wills of despotic kings; and yet these the Lord can stop and bound, and rule and overrule: or like rivers of water, reviving and refreshing, so is the heart of a good king, full of wisdom and prudence, of integrity and faithfulness, of clemency and goodness; the streams of whose bounty and kindness flow among his subjects, to their great pleasure and profit; so Christ, the King of kings, is said to be as "rivers of water",
Isaiah 32:2. The allusion is to gardeners, that make channels for the water to run in, to water their gardens; or to husbandmen, that cut aqueducts from rivers, to water their fields; or to the turning of the course of rivers, as Euphrates was by Cyrus, when he took Babylon. The heart of a king is as much at the dispose of the Lord, and can be turned by him as easily as such canals may be made, or the course of a river turned; for it follows:
he turneth it whithersoever he will; contrary to their first designs, and to answer another purpose; oftentimes towards his people, and for the good of his cause and interest, which they never designed; and to bring about such things as were out of their view. And so, in conversion, the Lord can turn the hearts of men as he pleases; their understanding, will, and affections, are in his hands: he can make the understanding light which was darkness, and so turn it from darkness to light; he can take off the stiffness of the will, and turn it from its bias and bent, and make it willing to that which is good in the day of his power: he can turn the channel and course of the affections from sinful lusts and pleasures, to himself, his son, his truths, word, worship, ordinances, and people; he can take out of the heart what he pleases, its ignorance, hardness, enmity, unbelief, pride, and vanity; and he can put in what he pleases, his fear, his laws, his Spirit, and the gifts and graces of if; he can change and turn it just as he will; he that made the heart can operate upon it, and do with it as seems good in his sight. The Heathens very wrongly call one of their deities Verticordia o, from the power of turning the heart they ascribe to it; however, this shows their sense, that to turn the heart is the property of deity.
o Valer. Maximus, l. 8. c. 15. s. 12. Vid. Ovid. Fasti, l. 4. v. 158.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Rivers of water - See the Psalms 1:3 note. As the cultivator directs the stream into the channels where it is most wanted, so Yahweh directs the thoughts of the true king, that his favors may fall, not at random, but in harmony with a divine order.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER XXI
The king's heart is in the hand of God. We should practise
mercy and justice. The lying tongue. The quarrelsome woman.
The punishment of the wicked. The uncharitable. The private
gift. The happiness of the righteous. The wicked a ransom for
the righteous. The treasures of the wise. He who guards his
tongue. Desire of the sluggard. The false witness. Salvation
is of the Lord.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXI
Verse Proverbs 21:1. The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord — The Lord is the only ruler of princes. He alone can govern and direct their counsels. But there is an allusion here to the Eastern method of watering their lands. Several canals are dug from one stream; and by opening a particular sluice, the husbandman can direct a stream to whatever part he please: so the king's heart, wherever it turns; i.e., to whomsoever he is disposed to show favour. As the land is enriched with the streams employed in irrigation; so is the favourite of the king, by the royal bounty: and God can induce the king to give that bounty to whomsoever he will. See Harmer.
