Proverbs 25:2

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, and it is the glory of a king to search out a matter.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

כְּבֹ֣ד אֱ֭לֹהִים הַסְתֵּ֣ר דָּבָ֑ר וּכְבֹ֥ד מְ֝לָכִ֗ים חֲקֹ֣ר דָּבָֽר׃

Transliteration

kĕbōd ʾĕlōhîm hastēr dābār and-kĕbōd mĕlākîm ḥăqōr dābār

Grammar Details

• *kĕbōd*: noun, construct state - glory of/honor of
• *ʾĕlōhîm*: noun, masculine plural (divine singular) - God
• *hastēr*: hiphil infinitive construct - to hide/conceal
• *dābār*: noun, masculine singular - word/thing/matter
• *û*: conjunction - and
• *mĕlākîm*: noun, masculine plural - kings
• *ḥăqōr*: qal infinitive construct - to search out/investigate

Word Meanings

• *kĕbōd*: glory/honor/splendor
• *hastēr*: to hide/conceal/cover
• *dābār*: word/thing/matter/affair
• *ḥăqōr*: to search out/investigate/examine thoroughly

Referenced Verses

• Deut 29:29 : 29 Secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those that are revealed belong to us and our descendants forever, so that we might obey all the words of this law.
• 1 Kgs 3:9-9 : 9 So give your servant a discerning mind so he can make judicial decisions for your people and distinguish right from wrong. Otherwise no one is able to make judicial decisions for this great nation of yours.” 10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon made this request. 11 God said to him,“Because you asked for the ability to make wise judicial decisions, and not for long life, or riches, or vengeance on your enemies, 12 I grant your request, and give you a wise and discerning mind superior to that of anyone who has preceded or will succeed you. 13 Furthermore, I am giving you what you did not request– riches and honor so that you will be the greatest king of your generation. 14 If you follow my instructions by obeying my rules and regulations, just as your father David did, then I will grant you long life.” 15 Solomon then woke up and realized it was a dream. He went to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant, offered up burnt sacrifices, presented peace offerings, and held a feast for all his servants. 16 Solomon Demonstrates His Wisdom Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 One of the women said,“My master, this woman and I live in the same house. I had a baby while she was with me in the house. 18 Then three days after I had my baby, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one else in the house except the two of us. 19 This woman’s child suffocated during the night when she rolled on top of him. 20 She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your servant was sleeping. She put him in her arms, and put her dead son in my arms. 21 I got up in the morning to nurse my son, and there he was, dead! But when I examined him carefully in the morning, I realized it was not my baby.” 22 The other woman said,“No! My son is alive; your son is dead!” But the first woman replied,“No, your son is dead; my son is alive.” Each presented her case before the king. 23 The king said,“One says,‘My son is alive; your son is dead,’ while the other says,‘No, your son is dead; my son is alive.’” 24 The king ordered,“Get me a sword!” So they placed a sword before the king. 25 The king then said,“Cut the living child in two, and give half to one and half to the other!” 26 The real mother spoke up to the king, for her motherly instincts were aroused. She said,“My master, give her the living child! Whatever you do, don’t kill him!” But the other woman said,“Neither one of us will have him! Let them cut him in two!” 27 The king responded,“Give the first woman the living child; don’t kill him. She is the mother.” 28 When all Israel heard about the judicial decision which the king had rendered, they respected the king, for they realized that he possessed divine wisdom to make judicial decisions.
• Job 29:16 : 16 I was a father to the needy, and I investigated the case of the person I did not know;
• Rom 11:33-34 : 33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how unfathomable his ways! 34 For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?
• Job 38:4-39:30 : 4 God’s questions to Job“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you possess understanding! 5 Who set its measurements– if you know– or who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its bases set, or who laid its cornerstone– 7 when the morning stars sang in chorus, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? 8 “Who shut up the sea with doors when it burst forth, coming out of the womb, 9 when I made the storm clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, 10 when I prescribed its limits, and set in place its bolts and doors, 11 when I said,‘To here you may come and no farther, here your proud waves will be confined’? 12 Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, or made the dawn know its place, 13 that it might seize the corners of the earth, and shake the wicked out of it? 14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features are dyed like a garment. 15 Then from the wicked the light is withheld, and the arm raised in violence is broken. 16 Have you gone to the springs that fill the sea, or walked about in the recesses of the deep? 17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of deepest darkness? 18 Have you considered the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know it all! 19 “In what direction does light reside, and darkness, where is its place, 20 that you may take them to their borders and perceive the pathways to their homes? 21 You know, for you were born before them; and the number of your days is great! 22 Have you entered the storehouse of the snow, or seen the armory of the hail, 23 which I reserve for the time of trouble, for the day of war and battle? 24 In what direction is lightning dispersed, or the east winds scattered over the earth? 25 Who carves out a channel for the heavy rains, and a path for the rumble of thunder, 26 to cause it to rain on an uninhabited land, a wilderness where there are no human beings, 27 to satisfy a devastated and desolate land, and to cause it to sprout with vegetation? 28 Does the rain have a father, or who has fathered the drops of the dew? 29 From whose womb does the ice emerge, and the frost from the sky, who gives birth to it, 30 when the waters become hard like stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen solid? 31 Can you tie the bands of the Pleiades, or release the cords of Orion? 32 Can you lead out the constellations in their seasons, or guide the Bear with its cubs? 33 Do you know the laws of the heavens, or can you set up their rule over the earth? 34 Can you raise your voice to the clouds so that a flood of water covers you? 35 Can you send out lightning bolts, and they go? Will they say to you,‘Here we are’? 36 Who has put wisdom in the heart, or has imparted understanding to the mind? 37 Who by wisdom can count the clouds, and who can tip over the water jars of heaven, 38 when the dust hardens into a mass, and the clumps of earth stick together? 39 “Do you hunt prey for the lioness, and satisfy the appetite of the lions, 40 when they crouch in their dens, when they wait in ambush in the thicket? 41 Who prepares prey for the raven, when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food? 1 “Are you acquainted with the way the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch as the wild deer give birth to their young? 2 Do you count the months they must fulfill, and do you know the time they give birth? 3 They crouch, they bear their young, they bring forth the offspring they have carried. 4 Their young grow strong, and grow up in the open; they go off, and do not return to them. 5 Who let the wild donkey go free? Who released the bonds of the donkey, 6 to whom I appointed the arid rift valley for its home, the salt wastes as its dwelling place? 7 It scorns the tumult in the town; it does not hear the shouts of a driver. 8 It ranges the hills as its pasture, and searches after every green plant. 9 Is the wild ox willing to be your servant? Will it spend the night at your feeding trough? 10 Can you bind the wild ox to a furrow with its rope, will it till the valleys, following after you? 11 Will you rely on it because its strength is great? Will you commit your labor to it? 12 Can you count on it to bring in your grain, and gather the grain to your threshing floor? 13 “The wings of the ostrich flap with joy, but are they the pinions and plumage of a stork? 14 For she leaves her eggs on the ground, and lets them be warmed on the soil. 15 She forgets that a foot might crush them, or that a wild animal might trample them. 16 She is harsh with her young, as if they were not hers; she is unconcerned about the uselessness of her labor. 17 For God deprived her of wisdom, and did not impart understanding to her. 18 But as soon as she springs up, she laughs at the horse and its rider. 19 “Do you give the horse its strength? Do you clothe its neck with a mane? 20 Do you make it leap like a locust? Its proud neighing is terrifying! 21 It paws the ground in the valley, exulting mightily, it goes out to meet the weapons. 22 It laughs at fear and is not dismayed; it does not shy away from the sword. 23 On it the quiver rattles; the lance and javelin flash. 24 In excitement and impatience it consumes the ground; it cannot stand still when the trumpet is blown. 25 At the sound of the trumpet, it says,‘Aha!’ And from a distance it catches the scent of battle, the thunderous shouting of commanders, and the battle cries. 26 “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, and spreads its wings toward the south? 27 Is it at your command that the eagle soars, and builds its nest on high? 28 It lives on a rock and spends the night there, on a rocky crag and a fortress. 29 From there it spots its prey, its eyes gaze intently from a distance. 30 And its young ones devour the blood, and where the dead carcasses are, there it is.”
• Job 42:3 : 3 you asked,‘Who is this who darkens counsel without knowledge?’ But I have declared without understanding things too wonderful for me to know.
• 1 Kgs 4:29-34 : 29 God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment; the breadth of his understanding was as infinite as the sand on the seashore. 30 Solomon was wiser than all the men of the east and all the sages of Egypt. 31 He was wiser than any man, including Ethan the Ezrahite or Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. He was famous in all the neighboring nations. 32 He composed 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs. 33 He produced manuals on botany, describing every kind of plant, from the cedars of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows on walls. He also produced manuals on biology, describing animals, birds, insects, and fish. 34 People from all nations came to hear Solomon’s display of wisdom; they came from all the kings of the earth who heard about his wisdom.
• Ezra 4:15 : 15 so that he may initiate a search of the records of his predecessors and discover in those records that this city is rebellious and injurious to both kings and provinces, producing internal revolts from long ago. It is for this very reason that this city was destroyed.
• Ezra 4:19 : 19 So I gave orders, and it was determined that this city from long ago has been engaging in insurrection against kings. It has continually engaged in rebellion and revolt.
• Job 11:7-8 : 7 “Can you discover the essence of God? Can you find out the perfection of the Almighty? 8 It is higher than the heavens– what can you do? It is deeper than Sheol– what can you know?