The LORD’s eyes keep watch over knowledge, but He frustrates the words of the faithless.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh’s eyes watch over knowledge; but he frustrates the words of the unfaithful.
- KJV The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge, and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor.
- NKJV The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge, But He overthrows the words of the faithless.
- NASB The eyes of the Lord protect knowledge, But He overthrows the words of the treacherous person.
- NLT The Lord preserves those with knowledge, but he ruins the plans of the treacherous.
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
The Lord watches over knowledge but overthrows the words of the unfaithful. It matters because God preserves truth and frustrates deceit.
Overview
God's providence guards what is true and right while bringing the schemes and lies of the treacherous to nothing (Proverbs 21:30; Psalm 33:10). The verse assures that truth endures under God's watchful care. The faithful can trust that God upholds his truth against all falsehood.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- 2 Tim 3:8–9Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth. They are depraved in mind and disqualified from the faith.
- 2 Chr 16:9For the eyes of the LORD roam to and fro over all the earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him. You have acted foolishly in this matter. From now on, therefore, you will be at war.”
- Acts 13:8–12But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.
- Job 5:12–13He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.
- 2 Th 2:8And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and annihilate by the majesty of His arrival.
- Acts 12:23–24Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.
- Acts 8:9–12Prior to that time, a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and astounded the people of Samaria. He claimed to be someone great,
- Matt 16:16–18Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
- Rev 11:3–11And I will empower my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
- Rev 12:14–17But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle to fly from the presence of the serpent to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.
- Acts 5:39But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God.”
- Isa 59:19–21So shall they fear the name of the LORD where the sun sets, and His glory where it rises. For He will come like a raging flood, driven by the breath of the LORD.
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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 22:12 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
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