Bible Strands
Proverbs 16:7
When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even the man’s enemies live at peace with him.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — A general proverb of wisdom literature; no speaker or audience is identified. It sits between a verse on atonement through devotion (16:6) and one on righteousness over gain (16:8).
The words — יַשְׁלִים (yashlim), Hiphil of שׁלם, literally "he causes to be whole/complete" — the peace is not negotiated but imposed by God. רְצֹת (retzot), "is pleased with," frames the condition as God's disposition rather than human merit.
The thread — 2 Chronicles 17:10 shows the same mechanism in narrative: the dread of the LORD falls on surrounding kingdoms and they cease war. Romans 8:31 and 1 John 3:22 echo the principle that God's alignment with a person neutralizes opposition.
Why it lands — The variable is on the reader: "ways" that please the LORD. The result — peace with enemies — is God's action, not a strategy the reader executes.
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
When a man’s ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Cross-references
- Romans 8:31 What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
- 1 John 3:22 and we will receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight.
- 2 Chronicles 17:10 And the dread of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that surrounded Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat.
- Colossians 1:10 so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
- Jeremiah 15:11 The LORD said: “Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose; surely I will intercede with your enemy in your time of trouble, in your time of distress.
- Hebrews 13:21 equip you with every good thing to do His will. And may He accomplish in us what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
- Genesis 33:4 Esau, however, ran to him and embraced him, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him. And they both wept.
- Genesis 32:28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men, and you have prevailed.”
- Colossians 3:20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.
- Acts 9:19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength. And he spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.