Bible Strands
Proverbs 21:2
All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — A wisdom teacher speaks to a general audience within a collection of short aphorisms (Proverbs 21:1–21), immediately after a note on the king's heart being directed by the LORD.
The words — תֹּכֵן (tōḵēn), "weighing," is the active verb for divine evaluation and the root behind the balance-scale; paired with יָשָׁר (yāšār), "upright," it frames the contrast between human self-assessment and God's measurement.
The thread — Proverbs 16:2 repeats the pattern with "pure" in place of "upright"; Proverbs 16:25 adds the fatal endpoint; Luke 16:15 applies it to the Pharisees' self-justification.
Why it lands — It removes the reader's authority to declare themselves right and places that verdict in the hands of the one who weighs the heart.
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
Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 16:2 All a man’s ways are pure in his own eyes, but his motives are weighed out by the LORD.
- Luke 16:15 So He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is prized among men is detestable before God.
- Proverbs 16:25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
- Jeremiah 17:10 I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.
- Proverbs 30:12 There is a generation of those who are pure in their own eyes and yet unwashed of their filth.
- 1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart.”
- Proverbs 24:12 If you say, “Behold, we did not know about this,” does not He who weighs hearts consider it? Does not the One who guards your life know? Will He not repay a man according to his deeds?
- James 1:22 Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.
- Psalms 36:2 For his eyes are too full of conceit to detect or hate his own sin.
- Luke 18:11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.