Proverbs 16:3

Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Commit	גֹּ֣ל gol	H1556	to roll (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
works	מַעֲשֶׂ֑יךָ ma.'a.Sei.kha	H4639	an action (good or bad) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
LORD	יְהוָ֣ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
thoughts	מַחְשְׁבֹתֶֽיךָ mach.she.vo.Tei.kha	H4284	a contrivance · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
established	וְ֝יִכֹּ֗נוּ ve.yi.Ko.nu	H3559	properly · conjunction + verb, niphal, 3rd person masculine plural

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 37:4-5 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Proverbs 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Psalms 55:22 Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Job 22:28 Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.
Job 5:8 I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:
Luke 12:22 And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye sh…

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 16:3

Note, 1. It is a very desirable thing to have our thoughts established, and not tossed, and put into a hurry, by disquieting cares and fears, - to go on in an even steady course of honesty and piety, not disturbed, or put out of frame, by any event or change, - to be satisfied that all shall work for good and issue well at last, and therefore to be always easy and sedate. 2. The only way to have our thoughts established is to commit our works to the Lord. The great concerns of our souls must be committed to the grace of God, with a dependence upon and submission to the conduct of that grace (Ti2 1:12); all our outward concerns must be committed to the providence of God, and to the sovereign,…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 16:3

(Compare Margin). Rely on God for success to your lawful purposes.

John Gill on Proverbs 16:3

Commit thy works unto the Lord,.... Natural, civil, or religious; seek to him for strength and assistance in all, and leave the success of all with him: or "roll thy works on" or "unto the Lord" (b); devolve all upon him, cast all care upon him and his providence for supply, support, and sustenance in life; and commit the business of the salvation of thy soul, and the important affairs of it, wholly to him, who is able, willing, and faithful, to keep what is committed to him; and, having so done, may sit down easy and satisfied, as one that is rid of a burden by casting it on another, better able to bear it, or more equal to the work committed to him: the Targum is, "reveal thy works to God"…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 16:3

3 Roll on Jahve thy works, So thy thoughts shall prosper. The proverbs Pro 16:1-3 are wanting in the lxx; their absence is compensated for by three others, but only externally, not according to their worth. Instead of גּל, the Syr., Targ., and Jerome read גּל, revela, with which the על, Psa 37:5, cf. Psa 55:23, interchanging with אל (here and at Psa 22:9), does not agree; rightly Theodotion, κύλισον ἐπὶ κύριον, and Luther, "commend to the Lord thy works." The works are here, not those that are executed, Exo 23:16, but those to be executed, as Psa 90:17, where כּונן, here the active to ויכּונוּ, which at Pro 4:26 as jussive meant to be placed right, here with ו of the consequence in the a…

The Church Fathers

Commit your works to the Lord, etc. Indeed, we reveal our works to the Lord when we remember Him in all we do, knowing that nothing is hidden from Him, and we seek His help in all things. And when we do this devoutly, it happens that not only the same works, but even our inner thoughts proceed under His direction.
— Bede, Commentary on Proverbs

We are commanded to show him our ways and make our ways to him, which are made straight, not by our own efforts but by his help and mercy. Whence it is written, "Make straight your way in my sight" (or as other copies have it, "make straight my way in your sight"), so that what is straight to him may also appear straight to me. Solomon also says, "Lay open your works to the Lord, and your thoughts shall be directed." For our thoughts are directed then, and only then, when we lay open to the Lord, as to a firm and very stable rock, everything that we do and impute everything to him.
— Jerome, Against the Pelagians 3.8

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

Care · REMEDY FOR — REMEDY FOR
Care, Overmuch · Should be cast on God — Should be cast on God
Faith · ENJOINE — ENJOINE
Providence Of God, The · Saints should: Commit their works to — Saints should: Commit their works to

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 16:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 16:3

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 16:3

John Gill on Proverbs 16:3

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 16:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 16:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 16:3

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 16:3

John Gill on Proverbs 16:3

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 16:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 16:3

Rashi on Proverbs 16:3