Proverbs 21:21
He who follows after righteousness and kindness finds life, righteousness, and honor.
Interpretation
Wisdom shapes a pursue righteousness that is embodied in relationships and commitments. Proverbs 21:21: trace "righteousness" and "who". Choose pursue righteousness through how disagreements are handled—let wisdom become a road. Through faith & justification, Explores how trust in God—rather than works—positions people in right relationship (Gen 15:6; Rom 3–4; Gal 2–3).
Context
Proverbs speaks here as poetry/wisdom writing, naming pursue righteousness. Placed in ch. 21, the nearby lines set its tone. There’s a line into faith & justification. The nearby sentences supply the texture.
Manuscripts & Textual Witnesses
The Hebrew text is preserved in the Masoretic tradition, stabilized between the 6th-10th centuries CE. The the Dead Sea Scrolls (found 1947-1956) provide manuscripts 1000+ years older than medieval texts, generally confirming the Masoretic Text's reliability with only minor variations. The Septuagint (Greek translation, 3rd-2nd century BCE) offers an independent textual witness. Variations between manuscripts are typically minor: spelling differences, word order, or clarifications that do not alter the main meaning. Modern translations compare all available manuscripts to reconstruct the most probable original wording text.
Sources & witness notes
MT