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Proverbs 21 · a question people ask

"The Righteous One considers the house of the wicked" (21:12). Who is the Righteous One?

In the text

The capital letters are the WEB's; the Hebrew has none. The word is tsaddiq, which the WEB gives as the righteous three more times in this chapter (21:15, 21:18, 21:26). The verse says what he does: he "considers the house of the wicked, and brings the wicked to ruin" (21:12) (tap considers). It doesn't say whether the LORD is meant, as the WEB's capitals take it, or a righteous one, as in the chapter's other three uses of the word. Sayings nearby speak of what the LORD does (21:2, 21:31), and of what the righteous do: "It is joy to the righteous to do justice" (21:15), and "the righteous give and don’t withhold" (21:26). The verse says no more about who he is, and these notes don't decide.

The verses

“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the hearts.”
Proverbs 21:2 · World English Bible
“The Righteous One considers the house of the wicked, and brings the wicked to ruin.”
Proverbs 21:12 · World English Bible
“It is joy to the righteous to do justice; but it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity.”
Proverbs 21:15 · World English Bible
“The wicked is a ransom for the righteous, the treacherous for the upright.”
Proverbs 21:18 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Proverbs 21

Proverbs 21: In the LORD's hand

The chapter says to do justice three times with the same Hebrew words: it is "more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice" (21:3), the wicked "refuse to do what is right" (21:7), and "It is joy to the righteous to do justice" (21:15). And the sluggard's hands "refuse to labor" (21:25) in the Hebrew words of 21:7's refusing.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions