Bible Strands
Psalms 36:2
For his eyes are too full of conceit to detect or hate his own sin.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — David delivers an oracle concerning a wicked man who lacks the fear of God, describing the internal condition that precedes his deceitful speech.
The words — The Hebrew verb הֶחֱלִיק (heḥelîq) means "he flatters," paired with לִמְצֹא (limṣōʾ, "to find") and לִשְׂנֹא (liśnōʾ, "to hate"), showing the subject actively soothes himself to avoid discovering or rejecting his iniquity.
The thread — This pattern appears in Deuteronomy 29:19, where a hearer falsely invokes peace upon himself, and in Psalms 10:3 and Psalms 49:18, where the wicked boast in their cravings and bless their own souls while prospering.
Why it lands — The text states that the unrepentant mind actively avoids self-condemnation, requiring a reader to examine his own heart for hidden rationalizations before approaching 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
For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 29:19 because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself, saying, ‘I will have peace, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart.’ This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.
- Psalms 49:18 Though in his lifetime he blesses his soul—and men praise you when you prosper—
- Psalms 10:3 For the wicked man boasts in the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.
- 1 Samuel 15:18 and sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and devote to destruction the sinful Amalekites. Fight against them until you have wiped them out.’
- 1 Chronicles 10:13 So Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance,
- Romans 7:9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.
- Jeremiah 2:23 “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals’? Look at your behavior in the valley; acknowledge what you have done. You are a swift young she-camel galloping here and there,
- Jeremiah 2:34 Moreover, your skirts are stained with the blood of the innocent poor, though you did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things
- Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
- Hosea 12:7 A merchant loves to defraud with dishonest scales in his hands.