Proverbs 25:3
New International Version
As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable.

New Living Translation
No one can comprehend the height of heaven, the depth of the earth, or all that goes on in the king’s mind!

English Standard Version
As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the heart of kings is unsearchable.

Berean Standard Bible
As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings cannot be searched.

King James Bible
The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable.

New King James Version
As the heavens for height and the earth for depth, So the heart of kings is unsearchable.

New American Standard Bible
As the heavens for height and the earth for depth, So the heart of kings is unsearchable.

NASB 1995
As the heavens for height and the earth for depth, So the heart of kings is unsearchable.

NASB 1977
As the heavens for height and the earth for depth, So the heart of kings is unsearchable.

Legacy Standard Bible
As the heavens for height and the earth for depth, So the heart of kings is unsearchable.

Amplified Bible
As the heavens for height and the earth for depth, So the hearts and minds of kings are unsearchable.

Christian Standard Bible
As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings cannot be investigated.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
As the heaven is high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings cannot be investigated.

American Standard Version
As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, So the heart of kings is unsearchable.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
The Heavens are high and the Earth deep, and the heart of the King is unsearchable.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Heaven is high, and earth is deep, and a king's heart is unsearchable.

Contemporary English Version
Who can fully understand the thoughts of a ruler? They reach beyond the sky and go deep in the earth.

Douay-Rheims Bible
The heaven above, and the earth beneath, and the heart of kings is unsearchable.

English Revised Version
The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
[Like] the high heavens and the deep earth, so the mind of kings is unsearchable.

Good News Translation
You never know what a king is thinking; his thoughts are beyond us, like the heights of the sky or the depths of the ocean.

International Standard Version
Just as the heavens are high and earth is deep, so the heart of a king is unfathomable.

JPS Tanakh 1917
The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable.

Literal Standard Version
The heavens for height, and the earth for depth, | And the heart of kings—[are] unsearchable.

Majority Standard Bible
As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings cannot be searched.

New American Bible
Like the heavens in height, and the earth in depth, the heart of kings is unfathomable.

NET Bible
As the heaven is high and the earth is deep so the hearts of kings are unsearchable.

New Revised Standard Version
Like the heavens for height, like the earth for depth, so the mind of kings is unsearchable.

New Heart English Bible
As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable.

Webster's Bible Translation
The heaven for hight, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable.

World English Bible
As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable.

Young's Literal Translation
The heavens for height, and the earth for depth, And the heart of kings -- are unsearchable.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
More Proverbs of Solomon
2It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to search it out. 3As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings cannot be searched. 4Remove the dross from the silver, and a vessel for a silversmith will come forth.…

Cross References
Proverbs 25:2
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to search it out.

Proverbs 25:4
Remove the dross from the silver, and a vessel for a silversmith will come forth.


Treasury of Scripture

The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable.

heaven

Psalm 103:11
For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

Isaiah 7:11
Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.

Isaiah 55:9
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

is unsearchable

1 Kings 4:29
And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.

1 Peter 1:7
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

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Proverbs 25
1. observations about kings
8. and about avoiding causes of quarrels














(3) The heart of kings is unsearchable.--A warning, it may be, against presuming upon the favour of a king from thinking that one knows all that is in his mind. (Comp. Proverbs 23:1-2.)

Verse 3. - This proverb is connected with the preceding by the idea of "searching" (chakar) common to both. Such emblematic proverbs are common in this second collection (see Ver. 11). Three subjects are stated, of which is predicated the term unsearchable, viz. The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings. As you can never rise to the illimitable height of the heavens, as you can never penetrate to the immeasurable depth of the earth, so you can never fathom the heart of a king, can never find out what he really thinks and intends (comp. Job 11:8). It may be that tacitly a warning is intended against flattering one's sell that one knows and can reckon on the favour of a king; his good disposition towards you may be only seeming, or may any moment become changed. The Septuagint has for "unsearchable" (חֵקֶר אֵין) ἀνεξέλεγκτος, "unquestionable." The commentators refer to a passage in Tacitus ('Ann.' 6:8), where M. Terentius defends himself for being a friend of Sejanus by the fact of the impossibility of investigating a great man's real sentiments. "To us," he says to Tiberius, "it appertains not to judge whom you exalt above all others and for what reason you do so. Facts which are obvious we all notice. We see who is the man upon whom you heap wealth and honours, who it is that has the chief power of dispensing rewards and punishments; that these were possessed by Sejanus no one can deny. But to pry into the hidden thoughts of a prince, and the designs which he meditates in secret, is unlawful and hazardous; nor would the attempt succeed."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
As the heavens
שָׁמַ֣יִם (šā·ma·yim)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 8064: Heaven, sky

are high
לָ֭רוּם (lā·rūm)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7312: Height, haughtiness

and the earth
וָאָ֣רֶץ (wā·’ā·reṣ)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land

is deep,
לָעֹ֑מֶק (lā·‘ō·meq)
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6011: Depth

so the hearts
וְלֵ֥ב (wə·lêḇ)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3820: The heart, the feelings, the will, the intellect, centre

of kings
מְ֝לָכִ֗ים (mə·lā·ḵîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 4428: A king

cannot
אֵ֣ין (’ên)
Adverb
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

be searched.
חֵֽקֶר׃ (ḥê·qer)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2714: A searching, a thing (to be) searched out


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OT Poetry: Proverbs 25:3 As the heavens for height and (Prov. Pro Pr)
Proverbs 25:2
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