Commentary - Proverbs 21:4

Bird's-eye view

This proverb is a foundational statement for a biblical ethic, cutting to the very heart of how God evaluates human action. It teaches us that the rightness or wrongness of any deed cannot be judged merely by its external appearance. An action that might seem neutral or even commendable on the surface, like plowing a field, is defined by the heart from which it springs. The proverb presents a tight, logical argument: the inner man is characterized by pride ("haughty eyes and a proud heart"), and the outward activity of such a man ("the fallow ground of the wicked") is therefore necessarily sin. It dismantles any notion of secular neutrality. For the unregenerate man, everything he does is an expression of his rebellion. His pride is the engine, and his actions are the exhaust, polluting everything they touch. This is not to say that a wicked man plowing his field is as heinous as a wicked man committing murder, but it is to say that both actions proceed from the same corrupt source and are therefore both fundamentally sinful in God's eyes.

The verse functions as a diagnostic tool. It shows us that sin is not just a list of forbidden activities, but rather a deep-seated condition of the heart. The "haughty eyes" and "proud heart" are not separate sins on a list; they are the very definition of the wicked man's character. His entire life is the "fallow ground," the unplowed, uncultivated field of his rebellion. Whatever he plants there, whatever work he undertakes, is sin because it is done in the service of his own glory, not God's. This proverb forces us to reckon with the doctrine of total depravity and drives us to the gospel, where the only remedy is a new heart that can produce truly righteous works through faith in Christ.

Outline

Context In Proverbs

Proverbs consistently identifies pride as the root of folly and destruction. "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Prov 16:18). "Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD; be assured, he will not go unpunished" (Prov 16:5). Proverbs 21:4 fits squarely within this stream of wisdom. Chapter 21 is a collection of antithetical proverbs contrasting the righteous and the wicked, the wise and the foolish. This particular verse provides the theological lens through which to understand all the other activities mentioned. For example, the Lord directs the king's heart (v. 1), righteousness is more acceptable than sacrifice (v. 3), and ill-gotten treasures are a fleeting vapor (v. 6). Verse 4 explains why the wicked man's sacrifice is rejected and his pursuits are vain: his very nature is pride, and therefore his every action, from his worship to his work, is sin. It provides the foundational premise for why the way of the wicked is detestable to God.

Key Issues

The Engine of Sin

This proverb is one of the most foundational ethical statements in all of Scripture. It gets right to the point. We are often tempted to evaluate actions based on a sliding scale of external conformity to a set of rules. We think in terms of "big" sins and "little" sins. But God's evaluation goes much deeper. He looks at the heart, the central engine room of a man's life. And what this proverb tells us is that the engine of the wicked man is pride. Everything that comes out of that engine, therefore, is tainted by that pride.

The King James Version says "the plowing of the wicked, is sin." Other translations render it as the "lamp" or the "fallow ground." The essential meaning is the same. Whether it is their ambition (lamp) or their basic labor (plowing), the activity itself is categorized as sin. Why? Because of the source. The issue is not the action itself, considered in isolation. Plowing a field is a good thing, a necessary thing. But when a proud man plows a field, he does it as a proud man. He does it for his own name, for his own belly, for his own glory. He is not doing it in faith, and whatever is not from faith is sin (Rom 14:23). This proverb shuts down any attempt to create a space for ethically neutral actions for the unregenerate. For the man whose heart is set against God, there are no neutral actions.

Verse by Verse Commentary

4 Haughty eyes and a proud heart, The fallow ground of the wicked, are sin.

The verse is structured as a declaration, identifying three things and summarizing them all under one verdict: sin. Let's break it down clause by clause.

Haughty eyes... This is the outward manifestation of pride. The Hebrew is literally "a high look." It's the sneer, the condescending glance, the look of the man who is measuring everyone else and finding them wanting. It's the posture of someone who carries himself as though he were the center of the universe. In the list of seven things God hates, what is number one? "A proud look" (Prov 6:17). God hates it because it is the creature attempting to usurp the place of the Creator. It is the clay looking down its nose at the Potter. This is not just about body language; it is the overflow of a heart condition.

...and a proud heart, This is the internal source. The haughty eyes are just the window dressing for what is happening inside. The heart is proud, meaning it is swollen, puffed up with self-importance. This is the essence of our fallen condition. Instead of being God-centered, the unregenerate heart is self-centered. It is its own god, its own lawgiver, and its own ultimate concern. Every calculation, every desire, every ambition is ultimately referred back to the imperial self. This is the root of all sin. Before any specific commandment is broken, this fundamental commandment to love God with the whole heart has already been shattered.

...The fallow ground of the wicked, This phrase connects the internal state of pride to the external activities of the wicked. The ESV translates this as "the lamp of the wicked," which points to their guiding principles or their life's ambition. The NASB has "the unplowed ground," which is a powerful metaphor. Fallow ground is ground that is uncultivated for God. It is land that is being left to its own devices, producing only what comes naturally to it, which is thorns and thistles. The life of the wicked is like this unplowed field. All their work, all their business, all their family life, all their recreation is done on this unhallowed ground. It has not been broken up by repentance or consecrated to God. Therefore, whatever they do in that field is part of their rebellion.

...are sin. This is the final, devastating verdict. The look, the heart, and the work are not three separate sins. They are one singular reality: sin. The proud look is sin. The proud heart is sin. And consequently, the plowing that is done by the proud heart is also sin. This is a radical statement. It means that the civic virtues of a respectable pagan are, in the final analysis, sinful before God. The philanthropist who gives millions out of a proud heart is sinning. The diligent farmer who provides for his family but does so without any reference to God is sinning. Why? Because the action cannot be divorced from the actor. And an actor who is in rebellion against the King cannot perform any action that is pleasing to that King.

Application

The first and most crushing application of this verse is that it leaves us all without excuse. Who among us can say they have never had haughty eyes or a proud heart? This verse is a mirror that shows us our true condition apart from Christ. It is meant to strip us of all our self-righteousness. We like to think that we are basically good people who occasionally do bad things. This proverb teaches the opposite: we are fundamentally proud people, and therefore even our "good" things are tainted with sin.

This should drive us to our knees in repentance. If even our plowing is sin, what hope do we have? The only hope is to have our fallow ground broken up by the gospel. We need a new heart, one that is not proud but humble. We need the righteousness of another, Jesus Christ, to cover our sinful works. When we are united to Christ by faith, God gives us a new heart and a new spirit. He plows the field of our hearts and plants His Spirit within us. Then, and only then, can we begin to do works that are truly pleasing to Him. Not because the works themselves are perfect, but because they are done by a new creature, in faith, for the glory of God.

For the believer, this verse is a constant call to humility and vigilance. Pride was the original sin, and it is the last sin to die. We must constantly be on guard against its subtle workings in our hearts. We must learn to consecrate all our labors to God, from the pulpit to the plow. We must do everything, whether we eat or drink, or plow a field, to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31). We do this not to earn our salvation, but because we have been saved and our hearts are now gladly enslaved to a new Master.