Proverbs 21:4 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

The plowing of the wicked. — i.e., their work, all they do; for it is not done to please God but themselves; nor carried on in His strength, but in reliance upon their own, and therefore it is “sin,” not pleasing to Him. For the word here translated “plowing,” see above on Proverbs 13:23, where it is rendered “tillage.” It may also signify “lamp” (see above on 13:9).