21:30

This proverb is a single sentence in Hebrew. The Notes will divide it into 21:30a and 21:30b. The Display will have one part (21:30).

30a There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel

30b that can prevail against the LORD.

21:30a–b

There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD: In Hebrew, the phrase that can prevail is not explicit. This verse is more literally “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan against/before the LORD.” There are at least three ways to interpret this line:

(1) No human wisdom…that opposes the LORD will succeed. For example:

No wisdom, no insight, no counsel, can avail against the Lord. (New Revised Standard Version)

(2) No human wisdom…that opposes the LORD exists. For example:

There is no wisdom and there is no understanding, and there is no counsel against the Lord. (NET Bible)

(3) No human wisdom…is worth anything in the LORD’s sight/viewpoint. For example:

No wisdom, no understanding, no advice is worth anything before Yahweh. (New Jerusalem Bible)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with most versions and scholars.

There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel: In Hebrew, this part of the verse has three negative existential phrases:

(a) there is no wisdom

(b) there is no understanding

(c) there is no counsel

This repetition emphasizes the complete uselessness of even the wisest human advice to successfully oppose what the LORD wants.

understanding: In Hebrew, this word is a near synonym of “wisdom.” It means “good sense” or “competence” to handle the situations that a person faces in life.

counsel:

Some other ways to translate this verse are:

A wise and competent person who plans to oppose the LORD will utterly fail.
-or-
No matter how much you know or what plans you make, you can’t defeat the Lord. (Contemporary English Version)

© 2012, 2016, 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.