Bible Strands
Proverbs 21:1
The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD; He directs it where He pleases.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The author of Proverbs addresses a general audience within a didactic collection, using the figure of a ruler to illustrate a principle of governance.
The words — מֶ֭לֶךְ (Me.lekh) means "a king," and בְּ/יַד (be/yad) means "in the hand," together framing the ruler’s agency as contained within divine control.
The thread — The motif of divine direction over human agency appears in Proverbs 16:9, where the LORD determines steps, and Proverbs 20:24, which states that a man’s path originates from the LORD. The text also records in Ezra 6:22 that the LORD turns the heart of the ruler to accomplish His design.
Why it lands — The text states that human leadership is ultimately steered by God, requiring readers to acknowledge divine sovereignty rather than rely on their own judgment or political power.
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
The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 16:9 A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
- Ezra 6:22 For seven days they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread with joy, because the LORD had made them joyful and turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to strengthen their hands in the work on the house of the God of Israel.
- Proverbs 20:24 A man’s steps are from the LORD, so how can anyone understand his own way?
- Acts 7:10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He granted Joseph favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and all his household.
- Proverbs 16:1 The plans of the heart belong to man, but the reply of the tongue is from the LORD.
- Ezra 7:27 Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who has put into the heart of the king to so honor the house of the LORD in Jerusalem,
- Daniel 4:35 All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”
- Psalms 106:46 He made them objects of compassion to all who held them captive.
- Isaiah 43:19 Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
- Nehemiah 2:4 “What is your request?” replied the king. So I prayed to the God of heaven