an arrangement · noun, common masculine plural construct
heart
לֵ֑בLev
H3820
the heart · noun, common masculine singular absolute
man
לְאָדָ֥םle.'a.Dam
H120
ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
answer
מַעֲנֵ֥הma.'a.Neh
H4617
a reply (favorable or contradictory) · noun, common masculine singular construct
tongue
לָשֽׁוֹןla.Shon
H3956
the tongue (of man or animals) · noun, common both genders singular absolute
LORD
וּ֝מֵיְהוָ֗הvu.me.Yah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · conjunction + preposition + proper noun, a title
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
Proverbs 19:21 There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.
Proverbs 16:9 A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.
Luke 21:14-15 Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer:
Philippians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Proverbs 20:24 Man’s goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?
Matthew 10:19-20 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
Luke 12:11-12 And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what…
Jeremiah 10:23 O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
John Gill on Proverbs 16:1
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 Pr…
Four proverbs of God, the disposer of all things:
1 Man's are the counsels of the heart;
But the answer of the tongue cometh from Jahve.
Gesen., Ewald, and Bertheau incorrectly understand 1b of hearing, i.e., of a favourable response to what the tongue wishes; 1a speaks not of wishes, and the gen. after מענה (answer) is, as at Pro 15:23; Mic 3:7, and also here, by virtue of the parallelism, the gen. subjecti Pro 15:23 leads to the right sense, according to which a good answer is joy to him to whom it refers: it does not always happen to one to find the fitting and effective expression for that which he has in his mind; it is, as this cog. proverb expresses it, a gift from above (δοθήσεται,…
Our own plans will come to fruition only if God allows (see also 16:9, 33; Jas 4:13-16).
Rashi on Proverbs 16:1
The preparations of the heart are man’s He arranges his counsel and his words in his heart.
but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord When he comes to answer, the Holy One, blessed be He, causes him to stumble with his words—or if he merits, He prepares a good reply for him.
The Church Fathers
It is for man to prepare the soul, etc. It is certain that neither to prepare the mind, nor to govern the tongue, nor to do any good thing, we are able without divine grace; because without me, he says, you can do nothing (John XV, 5). How then is it for man to prepare the mind, and for God to govern the tongue, unless this specifically signifies in the time of persecution? about which the Lord said: But when they hand you over, do not be anxious about how or what you are to speak; for it will be given to you in that hour what you are to speak (Matthew X, 19).
But assuredly, as to what is written, "The preparation of the heart is man's part, and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord," they are misled by an imperfect understanding, so as to think that to prepare the heart—that is, to begin good—pertains to man without the aid of God's grace. Be it far from the children of promise thus to understand it! As if, when they heard the Lord saying, "Without me ye can do nothing," they would convict Him by saying, "Behold without Thee we can prepare the heart." Therefore, since it is written, "It is man's part to prepare the heart, and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord," it is that man prepares his heart, not, however, without the aid of God, who so touches the heart that man prepares the heart. But in the answer of the tongue—that is, in that which the divine tongue answers to the prepared heart—man has no part; but the whole is from the Lord God.
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
Providence — Literally means foresight, but is generally used to denote God’s preserving and governing all things by means of second causes (Ps. 18:35; 63:8; Acts 17:28; Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3). God’s providence…
Rain — There are three Hebrew words used to denote the rains of different seasons, (1.) Yoreh (Hos. 6:3), or moreh (Joel 2:23), denoting the former or the early rain. (2.) Melqosh, the “latter rain” (Prov.…
Heart · 6:22;7:27; — 6:22;7:27;
Heart, The · God: Prepares — God: Prepares
Man · God: Prepares the heart of — God: Prepares the heart of
Regeneration · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
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).
