myBibleHistory

Journey of a Passage

Proverbs 3:5–6

"Lean not unto thine own understanding"

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." The Hebrew verb nish'an means to lean one's weight on something. The library's Greek reads the second line as a warning against pride: "do not be exalted in your own wisdom" (Giguet "ne t'enorgueillis point de ta sagesse"). The Vulgate keeps the Hebrew sense (ne innitaris prudentiae tuae, "do not lean on your prudence").

Same letters, different readings: the consonants agree, but ancient readers vocalized or interpreted them differently

The family tree

Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.

✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives

  • Same line, through lost copies
  • Translation
Hebrew
  1. The proverb as first composedCollections from the monarchy to the Persian period (debated)
  2. Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from The proverb as first composed
Greek
  1. Greek Proverbs (library: Giguet's French)Old Greek c. 2nd century BC; French 1872Translated from the Old Greek Proverbs
Latin
  1. Latin Vulgate (Clementine)Jerome c. AD 398, from Hebrew; edition 1592Translated from the Hebrew text Jerome used
English
  1. King James Bible1611Translated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

Every witness, in order

  1. Collections from the monarchy to the Persian period (debated)

    The proverb as first composed

    – No copy survives

    No original survives. The oldest Hebrew copies of Proverbs are two small Qumran fragments (4Q102, 4Q103, 1st century BC – 1st century AD, reported).

  2. Jerome c. AD 398, from Hebrew; edition 1592

    Latin Vulgate (Clementine)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Hebrew text Jerome used

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).

    Habe fiduciam in Domino ex toto corde tuo, et ne innitaris prudentiæ tuæ. In omnibus viis tuis cogita illum, et ipse diriget gressus tuos.

    Latin position: Proverbs 3:5–6. Jerome translated Proverbs from Hebrew (c. AD 398), so the Vulgate is an indirect witness to a Hebrew text, with Jerome's interpretation.

  3. AD 1008

    Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

    ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from The proverb as first composed

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

    בְּטַ֣ח אֶל־יְ֭הוָה בְּכָל־לִבֶּ֑ךָ וְאֶל־בִּֽ֝ינָתְךָ֗ אַל־תִּשָּׁעֵֽן׃ בְּכָל־דְּרָכֶ֥יךָ דָעֵ֑הוּ וְ֝ה֗וּא יְיַשֵּׁ֥ר אֹֽרְחֹתֶֽיךָ׃

    Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and on your own understanding do not lean (v. 5). In all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight (v. 6)

    Hebrew position: Proverbs 3:5–6.

  4. 1611

    King James Bible

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

    Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

  5. Old Greek c. 2nd century BC; French 1872

    Greek Proverbs (library: Giguet's French)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Old Greek Proverbs

    How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

    Mets ta confiance en Dieu de tout ton cœur, et ne t’enorgueillis point de ta sagesse. Discerne-la en toutes tes voies, pour marcher droit dans tes sentiers.

    Greek (digital file) position: Proverbs 3:5–6. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text (D check). No Göttingen critical edition of Greek Proverbs is published yet; a C check needs Rahlfs–Hanhart and specialist studies.

What changed, and why

In Hebrew thought the heart (lev) is the seat of reasoning and decision. To trust "with all thine heart" and not to "lean on" one's own understanding sets two supports side by side: the reader is to rest the weight of life on God, not on self-sufficient cleverness. It does not forbid using one's mind; the same chapter praises understanding (3:13, 19).

"In all thy ways acknowledge (da'ehu, 'know') him, and he shall direct (literally 'make straight') thy paths" (3:6). The promise is of a straight, unobstructed road, a common Proverbs image (compare 11:5; 15:21), not a guarantee of a particular outcome.

The Greek rendering is an interpretation: the translator understood the warning as moral (pride) rather than epistemological (self-reliance). It does not show a different Hebrew text.

What the evidence shows

  • Independently documentedThe library's Greek reads 3:5b as a warning against pride.
  • Independently documentedThe Hebrew verb in 3:5b means to lean or rely on.
  • Conflicts with current evidenceProverbs 3:5 forbids using one's own reason. The context praises understanding; the warning is against self-sufficiency.

Sources

    Related lessons

    • Proverbs 3: Trust in the LORD with All Thine Heart →Proverbs 3 joins devotion and daily life. The son is to keep teaching and kindness close (vv. 1–4), trust the LORD rather than his own cleverness (vv. 5–8), honour God with firstfruits (vv. 9–10) and accept God's discipline as a father's love (vv. 11–12). Wisdom is worth more than silver and gold; she is "a tree of life" (vv. 13–18), and by wisdom God founded the earth (vv. 19–20). The chapter ends with practical neighbourliness: do not withhold good, do not say "come back tomorrow," do not plot against a neighbour or envy the violent (vv. 21–35).