Lovingkindness, truth, and the fear of the Lord lead away from sin and toward the path of life.
Proverbs 16:6 joins mercy, truth, and reverence: By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD one keeps away from evil (v. 6). Lovingkindness and truth are covenant words. Together they speak of faithful love and trustworthy reality.
Iniquity is not overcome by pretense or denial. It is dealt with where mercy and truth meet. This points in immediate terms to the relational and covenantal order God established for His people, and in the broader biblical story it looks ahead to the fullest meeting of mercy and truth in Jesus Christ, through whom atonement is ultimately accomplished (to learn more about how mercy and truth find their fullest expression in Christ’s atoning work received by faith, please read our commentary on Romans 3:24-25).
The second line explains the practical response: by the fear of the LORD one keeps away from evil. Reverence for God changes the path we choose. As the broader teaching of Scripture emphasizes, to fear the Lord is to take His moral design seriously enough to turn from what destroys us.
Proverbs 16:6
6 By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for,
And by the fear of the LORD one keeps away from evil.
Set to dark mode
Proverbs 16:6 meaning
Proverbs 16:6 joins mercy, truth, and reverence: By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD one keeps away from evil (v. 6). Lovingkindness and truth are covenant words. Together they speak of faithful love and trustworthy reality.
Iniquity is not overcome by pretense or denial. It is dealt with where mercy and truth meet. This points in immediate terms to the relational and covenantal order God established for His people, and in the broader biblical story it looks ahead to the fullest meeting of mercy and truth in Jesus Christ, through whom atonement is ultimately accomplished (to learn more about how mercy and truth find their fullest expression in Christ’s atoning work received by faith, please read our commentary on Romans 3:24-25).
The second line explains the practical response: by the fear of the LORD one keeps away from evil. Reverence for God changes the path we choose. As the broader teaching of Scripture emphasizes, to fear the Lord is to take His moral design seriously enough to turn from what destroys us.