Proverbs 12:21

Old Testament Wisdom/Poetry ASV (1901)

What does Proverbs 12:21 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “There shall no mischief happen to the righteous; But the wicked shall be filled with evil.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

There shall no mischief happen to the righteous; But the wicked shall be filled with evil.
Proverbs 12:21 — American Standard Version

Context — Proverbs 12

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
21There shall no mischief happen to the righteous; But the wicked shall be filled with evil.

What do historical commentaries say?

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“no evil--(as in Psa 91:10), under God's wise limitations (Rom 8:28). mischief--as penal evil.”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“no: Rom 8:28; Co1 3:22, Co1 3:23; Co2 4:17 filled: Pro 1:31, Pro 14:14; Jer 13:12-14; Hab 2:16; Rev 18:6 Proverbs 12:22”
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Keil & Delitzsch
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · Commentary on the Old Testament · 19th-century historical commentary
“21 No evil befalls the righteous, But the godless are full of evil. Hitzig translates און "sorrow," and Zckler "injury;" but the word signifies evil as ethical wickedness, and although it may be used of any misfortune in general (as in בּן־אוני, opp. בּנימין); thus it denotes especially such sorrow as is the harvest and product of sin, Pro 22:8; Job 4:8; Isa 59:4, or such as brings after it punishment, Hab 3:7; Jer 4:15. That it is also here thus meant the contrast makes evident. The godless are full of evil, for the moral evil which is their life-element brings out of itself all kinds of evil; on the contrary, no kind of evil, such as sin brings forth and produces, falls upon the righteous.…”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification