Hell and Destruction are before the Lord; So how much more the hearts of the sons of men.
Parallel translations
- WEB Sheol and Abaddon are before Yahweh — how much more then the hearts of the children of men!
- KJV Hell and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?
- BSB Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD—how much more the hearts of men!
- NASB Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the Lord, How much more the hearts of mankind!
- NLT Even Death and Destruction hold no secrets from the Lord. How much more does he know the human heart!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
If even Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD, how much more do human hearts. Nothing is hidden from God.
Overview
This proverb reasons from the greater to the lesser: if the realm of the dead is fully exposed to God, surely He sees every human heart. It magnifies God's omniscience, reaching even into the most hidden places. This truth humbles us before the God who searches and knows us completely (Psalm 139:1-4).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Ps 44:21won’t God search this out? For he knows the secrets of the heart.
- Heb 4:13There is no creature that is hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.
- Ps 139:8If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there!
- 2 Chr 6:30then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive, and render to every man according to all his ways, whose heart you know (for you, even you only, know the hearts of the children of men)
- Job 26:6Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering.
- Rev 2:23I will kill her children with Death, and all the assemblies will know that I am he who searches the minds and hearts. I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.
- Rev 1:18and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever more. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades.
- 1 Sam 16:7But Yahweh said to Samuel, “Don’t look on his face, or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for I don’t see as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart.”
- Jer 17:10“I, Yahweh, search the mind, I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”
- Prov 27:20Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; and a man’s eyes are never satisfied.
- Ps 7:9Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; their minds and hearts are searched by the righteous God.
- John 21:17He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you have affection for me?” Peter was grieved because he asked him the third time, “Do you have affection for me?” He said to him, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I have affection for you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
- John 2:24–25But Jesus didn’t trust himself to them, because he knew everyone,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 15:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.