Proverbs 21:8 - Meaning and Application

This shows that a person’s way of life matches what he is like inside. Evil people walk in evil ways. If a man is crooked, his conduct will also be strange and twisted. This is true of most people, because human nature is deeply corrupt. They have all turned away (Psalm 14:2, 3); all flesh has bent its way away from what is right.

The crooked man, the deceitful man who uses tricks and lies in everything he does, follows a way that is strange. It goes against the rules of honor and honesty. It is strange because you cannot tell where to find him, or when you have him. It is also strange because it is cut off from all that is good, and it separates people from God and his favor. Honest people see this kind of life from far away, and they avoid it.

Pure people show that they are pure by what they do, because their work is right, just, and orderly. They are accepted by God and approved by people. The general path of fallen mankind is crooked and strange, but those whom God’s grace brings back from that condition, even if only a few, do right in their work. Noah was like this in the old world (Genesis 7:1).