Bible Strands
Jeremiah 10:23
I know, O LORD, that a man’s way is not his own; no one who walks directs his own steps.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jeremiah speaks to Yahweh between the report of an invasion from the north (v.22) and his plea for correction without destruction (v.24). It is a confession made amid national crisis.
The words — דֶּרֶךְ (derekh) = "way, path" is the noun at the verse's center; the construction "not to man" (לֹא לָאָדָם) uses the generic אָדָם (adam), "man" as a class, not a named individual.
The thread — Proverbs 20:24 states the same principle as a rhetorical question; Psalms 37:23 affirms it as a declaration of divine ordering; Proverbs 16:1 extends it from steps to speech.
Why it lands — It removes the reader from the driver's seat of their own life without replacing it with a vague comfort. The verse is a confession, not a consolation: the speaker knows this and still stands before God.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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
- Proverbs 20:24 A man’s steps are from the LORD, so how can anyone understand his own way?
- Psalms 37:23 The steps of a man are ordered by the LORD who takes delight in his journey.
- Proverbs 16:1 The plans of the heart belong to man, but the reply of the tongue is from the LORD.
- Psalms 119:116 Sustain me as You promised, that I may live; let me not be ashamed of my hope.
- Psalms 17:5 My steps have held to Your paths; my feet have not slipped.