“Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.”
My Notes
What Does Proverbs 4:27 Mean?
"Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil." The image is of a straight path — deviation in either direction is equally dangerous. Right and left aren't moral categories here; they represent any departure from the direct way. The path of wisdom runs straight, and swerving — in any direction — leads astray.
The second command — "remove thy foot from evil" — adds specificity: if your foot is near evil, move it. Don't just avoid stepping into evil; actively relocate away from it. The removal is deliberate and requires effort. Your foot has to be physically extracted from the proximity of evil.
This echoes Psalm 119:101: "I have refrained my feet from every evil way." The foot represents the path of your life — your daily choices, your regular movements, the direction your life actually goes (as opposed to the direction you intend). Keeping your foot from evil is about daily, practical, step-by-step faithfulness.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Where has your foot drifted that you need to remove it from?
- 2.Do you tend to overcorrect — swerving from one extreme to another?
- 3.What does 'walking straight' look like in the specific decisions you make daily?
- 4.What small drift brought you close to something you need to step away from?
Devotional
Don't swerve right. Don't swerve left. Keep going straight. And if you notice your foot near evil — move it.
The simplicity of this proverb masks its difficulty. Walking straight is much harder than it sounds. The human tendency is to overcorrect — to swerve away from one danger and directly into another. You avoid one extreme and crash into its opposite. The proverb says: neither. Stay on the path.
The second command — "remove thy foot from evil" — implies that you might find your foot there without intending to. You didn't plan to step near evil. You just ended up there — through drift, distraction, a series of small choices that each seemed harmless. And now your foot is in dangerous territory. The proverb doesn't say "how did you get here?" It says: move your foot.
This is one of the most practical verses in Proverbs. Don't waste time analyzing how you ended up near evil. Just move. Relocate your foot. Step away. The diagnosis can wait. The removal can't.
Where is your foot right now? Not where you intend it to be — where is it actually? Is it on the straight path, or has it drifted toward something you need to remove it from? Don't swerve. Don't overcorrect. Just move your foot.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Turn not to the right hand nor to the left,.... Either into the road of immorality and profaneness, or into that of…
The ever-recurring image of the straight road on which no one ever loses his way represents here as elsewhere the onward…
Solomon, having warned us not to do evil, here teaches us how to do well. It is not enough for us to shun the occasions…
At the end of this verse the LXX. add:
"For the ways on the right God knoweth,
But the ways on the left are crooked.
…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture