Proverbs 12:5

The thoughts of the righteous are right: but the counsels of the wicked are deceit.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
thoughts	מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת mach.she.Vot	H4284	a contrivance · noun, common feminine plural construct
righteous	צַדִּיקִ֣ים tza.di.Kim	H6662	just · adjective, masculine plural absolute
right	מִשְׁפָּ֑ט mish.Pat	H4941	properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
counsels	תַּחְבֻּל֖וֹת tach.bu.Lot	H8458	(only in plural) properly · noun, common feminine plural construct
wicked	רְשָׁעִ֣ים re.sha.'Im	H7563	morally wrong · noun, common masculine plural absolute
deceit	מִרְמָֽה mir.Mah	H4820	fraud · noun, common feminine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Psalms 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and…
Psalms 41:6-7 And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it.
Psalms 140:1-3 Deliver me, O LORD, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man;
Jeremiah 4:14 O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
Psalms 12:2-3 They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.
Psalms 36:2-4 For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful.
Psalms 119:15 I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 12:5

Note, 1. The word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, and judges them. We mistake if we imagine that thoughts are free. No, they are under the divine cognizance, and therefore under the divine command. 2. We ought to be observers of the thoughts and intents of our own hearts, and to judge of ourselves by them; for they are the first-born of the soul, that have most of its image undisguised. Right thoughts are a righteous man's best evidences, as nothing more certainly proves a man wicked than wicked contrivances and designs. A good man may have in his mind bad suggestions, but he does not indulge them and harbour them till they are ripened into bad projects and re…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 12:5

thoughts--or, "purposes." are right--literally, "are judgment," that is, true decisions. counsels--(Compare Pro 11:14). deceit--contrary to truth and honesty.

John Gill on Proverbs 12:5

The thoughts of the righteous are right,.... Or "judgment" (o). The thoughts of men's hearts are naturally evil, nor can any think a good thought of themselves; but the thoughts of the righteous are directed and influenced by the grace of God, and are formed according to that Word which is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart; their thoughts concerning God and religion, concerning Christ and his Gospel, his ways and worship, his truths and ordinances, they are judiciously framed according to the rule of God's word, the revelation he has made, and so are right; and such are their resolutions and designs to serve the Lord their God, and him only, and to cleave to him with full…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 12:5

5 The thoughts of the righteous are justice, The counsels of the godless are deceit. They are so, that is, in their contents and their aim. To the righteous are ascribed מחשׁבות, namely, simple and clear; to the godless, תּחבּות, carefully thought out, prudently thought through schemes and measures, but on that very account not simple, because with a tendency; for the righteous have an objective rule, namely, that which is right in the sight of God and of men, but the godless have only a selfish purpose, which they seek to attain by deceiving, and at the cost of, their neighbour.

The Church Fathers

The thoughts of the righteous are judgments, etc. The righteous judge their actions by diligent meditation, to see if they please the Lord, lest, by any chance, being less careful, the heavenly arbiter dispenses adversities against them invisibly; according to that of the Apostle, If we judged ourselves, we would not be judged (I Cor. XI). But the wicked, forgetting divine fear, devise their plans from the fraud they commit.
— Bede, Commentary on Proverbs

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Deceit · General references — General references
Holiness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Righteousness · They who walk in, and follow: Think and desire good — They who walk in, and follow: Think and desire good
Speaking · EVIL — EVIL

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Proverbs 12:5

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 12:5

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 12:5

John Gill on Proverbs 12:5

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 12:5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 12:5

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 12:5

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 12:5

John Gill on Proverbs 12:5

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 12:5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 12:4

Rashi on Proverbs 12:4