Proverbs 21:4

An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin. AN HIGH LOOK (HAUGHTINESS OF EYES; PROVERBS 6:17 ; PSALMS 6:4 ; ISAIAH 2:11 ), AND A PROUD HEART (enlargement or swelling of heart), (and) the plowing [ nir (H5215)] of the wicked, (is) sin. "The plowing of the wicked:" their thoughts and occupations. The fallow-land of pride which the wicked plow yields sin as its fruit (Hosea 10:12;...

Verse Proverbs 21:4. _A HIGH LOOK_] The evidence of pride, self-conceit, and vanity. _A proud heart_, from which the _high look_, c., come. AND _THE PLOUGHING_] נר _ner, lucerna_, the _lamp_, the prosperity and posterity of the wicked _is sin _- it is evil in the _seed_, and evil in the _root_, evil in the _branch_, and evil in the _fruit_. They are full of sin themselves, and what they do is sinful....

THE PLOWING - The Hebrew word, with a change in its vowel points, may signify either: (1) the “fallow field,” the “tillage” of Proverbs 13:23, or (2) the lamp. According to: (1) the verse would mean, “The outward signs of pride, the proud heart, the broad lands of the wicked, all are evil.” (2) however, belongs, as it were, to the language of the time and of the book Proverbs 13:9; Proverbs 24:20. The “lamp of the wicked” is their outwardly bright prosperity....

EXPOSITION PROVERBS 21:1 THE KING'S HEART IS IN THE HAND OF THE LORD, AS THE RIVERS OF WATER. We are to think of the little channels used for irrigation. As these are altogether under the gardener's control, so the heart of the king, who might seem to have no superior, is directed by God. HE TURNETH IT WHITHERSOEVER HE WILL. By hidden influences and providential arrangements God disposes the monarch to order his government so as to carry out his designs, to spread around joy and plenty. The system of irrigation signified in this passage is still to be seen in Eastern lands. "Flower beds and gardens of herbs are always made at a little lower level than the surrounding ground, and are divided into small squares, a slight edging of earth banking the whole round on each side. Water is then let in, and floods the entire sur

AN HIGH LOOK, AND A PROUD HEART,.... The former is a sign of the latter, and commonly go together, and are both abominable to the Lord; see Psalms 101:5. A man that looks above others, and with disdain upon them, shows that pride reigns in him, and swells his mind with a vain opinion of himself; this may be observed in every self-righteous man; the parable of the Pharisee and publican is a comment upon it; sometimes there may be a proud heart under a disguise of humility; but the pride of the heart is often discovered by the look of the eyes. It may be rendered, "the elevation of the eyes, and the enlargement of the heart" p; but not to be understood in a good sense, of the lifting up of the eyes in prayer to God, with faith and fear; nor of the enlargement of the heart with solid knowledge and wisdom, such as Solomon had; but in a bad sense, of the lofty looks and haughtiness of man tow...

CHAPTER 21 PERSONAL INSTRUCTIONS AS TO LIFE AND CONDUCT In the proverbs of this chapter the Lord is mentioned five times. “The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will” Proverbs 21:1). The rivers of water are “water-courses,” the irrigation system known to the ancients, opening and shutting sluices directed the flow of the waters. Thus the Lord governs the king's heart as He directs the affairs of men. The Lord pondereth the hearts Proverbs 21:2). The same truth is stated in Proverbs 16:2; self-justification suits the natural man but the Lord testeth all hearts. How well it is to remember in all our conduct, that truth, so comforting to the believer, expr

PROVERBS 21:1. WATERCOURSES: not the natural brooks and wadys of Palestine, but the artificial irrigation canals of Egypt or Babylonia, which could be diverted in any direction at will. Proverbs 21:4. Apparently two unconnected lines belonging to different couplets. A connexion can be established only by forced exegesis. The Heb. is lit. lofty of look and arrogant of heart, the tillage of the wicked is sin. RV lamp for tillage depends on a different pointing, but does not improve the sense. Proverbs 21:6. Lit. The getting of treasures by a lying tongue (is) a driven breath, seekers of death. RV clearly inserts more than the text warrants to make sense of...

AND. Omit this "And". PLOWING: or tillage. See App-74. THE WICKED. lawless ones. Hebrew. _rasha'._ App-44. SIN. Hebrew. _chata'._ App-44. The special word for the sin offering. Render the verse "A lofty look and. proud heart, [which is] the tillage of the lawless, [is more acceptable to them than] the sin offering. "This supply of the Ellipsis (App-6.) from the preceding verse completes the sense, and shows that the two are strictly related....

_the plowing_ This, which is an admissible rendering, is virtually retained (_the tillage_) in R.V. marg. The haughty bearing, the proud look, the prosperous labours of the wicked are alike condemned as "sin." But it is better to render LAMP, instead of _plowing_or _tillage, even_ THE LAMP OF THE WICKED IS SIN. λαμπτήρ, LXX.; lucerna, Vulg. The lamp burning brightly and steadily in the tent or house is the symbol of the prosperity of an individual (Proverbs 13:9; Job 18:6; and of a dynasty, 1 Kings 11:36; 1 Kings 15:4). But in the case of "the wicked," instead of being accepted with humble thankfulness as lighte

AND THE PLOUGHING OF THE WICKED— Dr. Grey is for taking the two parts of the verse separately, thus, "A lofty look and a proud heart go generally together; i.e. the countenance shews the disposition of the mind, the lamp of the wicked is sin." _The lamp_ seems to signify that which men make the rule or guide of their actions. In this sense the law of the Lord is the lamp of the righteous, but sin is the lamp of the wicked. See chap. Proverbs 6:23.Psalms 119:105....