lectio divina:: proverbs 21

I was doing a little reading in proverbs this morning. I came across verse 4 “haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin!” and I was struck by the fact that I have no idea what haughty eyes are. (I know what hottie-eyes are, but I don’t think that’s what this is talking about.) I’ve read proverbs from a few different translations, and they all seem to use this word, haughty and haughty eyes. that’s a word that you just don’t find in many other spots than the bible. so I went to the shelf and started digging.


the word for haughty is the Hebrew word “rom” which just means elevated. so the idea is elevated eyes, or prideful eyes. the amplified bible translates the phrase “a proud look.” the message translates the phrase as “eyes that are arrogant.” I can see where God doesn’t want people to have a prideful or arrogant attitude, but I’m not sure what haughty eyes look like.


maybe haughty eyes is what you get when you can tell when someone is judging you and your appearance just by looking at you. maybe its that look that you get when you can tell that someone is bragging, just by the expression on their face. but maybe, its that look that you got when you were in junior high, where you could tell that someone was making fun of you, even if you couldn’t hear the words that they were saying. or maybe its that look that middle schoolers give to each other: the eye-roll/ exhale/ head shake combo. that look has crushed many a middle schooler, but you can have hope: God notices the haughty eyes, and He can’t stand them either. proverbs 6 says that there are “there are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him.” and the first on the list? haughty eyes.


God doesn’t just care about your words or your actions, He even cares about your facial expressions. better keep an eye on those.
God is love.
-rev-rob