A plan, purpose or discretion must be assessed through who forms it and what it seeks. Proverbs presents discretion as part of wisdom's instruction and protection, while Psalm 10 names schemes that the wicked devise against the needy.
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Full entry for מְזִמָּה (H4209) · Open the biblical lexicon
A plan, purpose or discretion must be assessed through who forms it and what it seeks. Proverbs presents discretion as part of wisdom's instruction and protection, while Psalm 10 names schemes that the wicked devise against the needy.
The BSB source-word alignment has 19 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include and discretion (2), Discretion (2), the purposes (2), . . . (1), and a devious (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Job 21:27. Its strongest book concentrations include Proverbs (8), Psalms (5), Jeremiah (4), Job (2).
A plan, purpose or discretion must be assessed through who forms it and what it seeks. Proverbs presents discretion as part of wisdom's instruction and protection, while Psalm 10 names schemes that the wicked devise against the needy. Job speaks of his friends' thoughts and devices that wrong him, then later acknowledges that no purpose of the Lord can be thwarted.
The same vocabulary can describe prudent thought, destructive plotting or divine purpose without giving them the same moral standing. Read the aim, actor and outcome stated in the passage. A congregation can encourage careful deliberation and challenge harmful schemes, but the noun does not make every personal plan God's plan, certify a successful strategy as righteous or explain every frustrated project as evidence of hidden sin.
Wisdom's discretion, protective thought, the wicked's schemes, disputed human devices and the Lord's unthwarted purpose require distinct assessment. Context supplies both the actor and the moral direction of the plan.
To impart prudence to the simple and knowledge and discretion to the young,
The stated purpose of wisdom instruction includes knowledge and discretion for the young within the opening appeal.
Discretion will watch over you, and understanding will guard you,
Discretion protects within the preceding pursuit of wisdom and the following warnings against harmful paths.
I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion.
Personified wisdom associates herself with prudence and knowledge of discretion rather than reckless self-certainty.
In pride the wicked pursue the needy; let them be caught in the schemes they devise.
The wicked pursue the needy, and the psalm asks that they be caught in their own devised schemes.
Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me.
Job identifies his friends' thoughts and schemes by which they seek to wrong him.
“I know that You can do all things and that no plan of Yours can be thwarted.
Job acknowledges the Lord's power and unthwarted purpose in his reply after the divine speeches.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Cunning mental scheming, predominantly malevolent intent, rarely sagacious; human plotting against divine order.
Cunning mental scheming, predominantly malevolent intent, rarely sagacious; human plotting against divine order.
a plan, usually evil (machination), sometimes good (sagacity) BDB: purpose Usage: (wicked) device, discretion, intent, witty invention, lewdness, mischievous (device), thought, wickedly.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 19 lexical occurrence verses.
מְזִמָּה is built from this root:
Wisdom equips believers to think ahead and avoid destructive decisions.Proverbs 3:21-35
Discretion allows a person to apply wisdom in practical situations.Proverbs 8:12-21
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Planning receives its assessment from the passage rather than the noun alone. Proverbs introduces discretion within learning wisdom and portrays it as protection against harmful paths. Psalm 10 gives a sharply different setting: the wicked devise schemes while pursuing the needy. Job challenges his friends' devices that wrong him, showing that advice about a sufferer must be examined rather than accepted because it sounds certain.
His later confession about the Lord's unthwarted purpose does not vindicate those friends or make every human strategy divine. Teach this range with the actor and purpose visible. A congregation can prepare carefully, ask for correction and examine whom a decision affects. It should refuse manipulative plans and unsupported diagnoses of suffering. Confidence, efficiency or a desired outcome cannot establish that a scheme is God's will, and a delayed or unsuccessful plan does not by itself reveal personal guilt.
Prov.2.11
The licensed purpose and discretion range includes both beneficial thought and harmful schemes when the context specifies them. Nineteen directly tagged BSB tokens and verses remain separately named from the canonical nineteen; shared plan vocabulary cannot supply one moral judgment for every use.
James 4:13-17 challenges confident commercial plans that ignore the limits of life and directs speakers to acknowledge the Lord's will. This is a canonical comparison about accountable planning, not a direct quotation of this Hebrew noun or permission to label every preferred project divinely guaranteed.