Proverbs 16:10

A divine sentence is in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresseth not in judgment.

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

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
sentence	קֶ֤סֶם Ke.sem	H7081	a lot · noun, common masculine singular absolute
lips	שִׂפְתֵי sif.tei-	H8193	the lip (as a natural boundary) · noun, common feminine dual construct
king	מֶ֑לֶךְ Me.lekh	H4428	a king · noun, common masculine singular absolute
mouth	פִּֽיו Piv	H6310	the mouth (as the means of blowing) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
transgresseth	יִמְעַל yim.'al-	H4603	properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
judgment	בְּ֝מִשְׁפָּ֗ט be.mish.Pat	H4941	properly · preposition + noun, common masculine 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

Isaiah 32:1-2 Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.
Genesis 44:5 Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.
Genesis 44:15 And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine?
Deuteronomy 17:18-20 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is b…
2 Samuel 23:3-4 The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.
1 Kings 3:28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to…
Psalms 45:6-7 Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.
Psalms 72:1-4 Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son.

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 16:10

We wish this were always true as a proposition, and we ought to make it our prayer for kings, and all in authority, that a divine sentence may be in their lips, both in giving orders, that they may do that in wisdom, and in giving sentence, that they may do that in equity, both which are included in judgment, and that in neither their mouth may transgress, Ti1 2:1. But it is often otherwise; and therefore, 1. it may be read as a precept to the kings and judges of the earth to be wise and instructed. Let them be just, and rule in the fear of God; let them act with such wisdom and conscience that there may appear a holy divination in all they say or do, and that they are guided by principles s…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 16:10

The last clause depends on the first, expressing the importance of equity in decisions, so authoritative.

John Gill on Proverbs 16:10

A divine sentence is in the lips of the king,.... Or "divination" (f), as the word signifies; or what is like to divination, as Aben Ezra and Gersom interpret it (g). What be says is as an oracle, and should be strictly true. Some understand it of the sagacity and penetration of kings, as was in Solomon, and appeared in his judging the two harlots; but such is not to be found in kings in common: rather therefore this expresses and designs what should be, and not what is, in kings. These, as the kings of Israel, ought to have the book of God before them, and read in it, and judge and pronounce sentence in every case according to it; they should speak as the oracles of God; and, when they do,…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 16:10

10 Oracular decision (belongeth) to the lips of the king; In the judgment his mouth should not err. The first line is a noun clause: קסם, as subject, thus needs a distinctive accent, and that is here, after the rule of the sequence of accents, and manuscript authority (vid., Torath Emeth, p. 49), not Mehuppach legarme, as in our printed copies, but Dechi (קסם). Jerome's translation: Divinatio in labiis regis, in judicio non errabit os ejus, and yet more Luther's: "his mouth fails not in judgment," makes it appear as if the proverb meant that the king, in his official duties, was infallible; and Hitzig (Zckler agreeing), indeed, finds here expressed the infallibility of the theocratic king, a…

The Church Fathers

Divination is on the lips of the king, etc. He signifies that king, of whom it was said, God, give your judgment to the king (Psalm XVII). For who among temporal kings never errs in judgment? In whose lips is divination, because He not only directs His own words and deeds, but also controls what the soothsayers of the Gentiles, commonly called diviners, may answer to those who inquire; as evidenced by the prophet Micaiah, who testifies that a spirit was sent from the throne of the supreme judge to fill the mouths of his prophets and to arm them with the persuasion of things by which the wicked king would perish. For indeed the mouth of the Eternal King did not err in this judgment but permitted the erring prophets to speak to the impious king what he deserved to hear due to his previous sins. But also, Ezekiel says to the sinning and perishing people of the Ammonites, When you were seeing falsehood, and divining lies (Ezekiel XXI, 29). There is not the divination of demons, but the judgment of God; who put an end to perfect malice. Another translation of this verse has it more clearly of the Lord: Nothing false will come from His mouth; for He neither can be deceived by any lying, nor can He ever lie.
— 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

Kings · When good: Speak righteously — When good: Speak righteously
Rulers · CHARACTER AND QUALIFI — CHARACTER AND QUALIFI

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 16:10

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 16:10

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 16:10

John Gill on Proverbs 16:10

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 16:10

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 16:10

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 16:10

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 16:10

John Gill on Proverbs 16:10

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 16:10

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 16:10-15

Rashi on Proverbs 16:10