Proverbs 11:22
in Proverbs 11Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout, So is a fair woman that is without discretion.
KJV
As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion.
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This verse in Proverbs 11
Commentary
9 notes on this verseReason also forbids us to do violence to nature by piercing the lobes of the ear. Why not pierce the nostrils also? The Scriptures would then be accomplished indeed: "As a ring in the nose of the swine, so is beauty in a foolish woman." To conclude, if anyone thinks he is decorated when he wears gold, then he is less than his gold, and he who is less than gold is not its master.
This site's exposition
They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the Lord
on Proverbs 11:20-22
They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the Lord echoes the false balance of verse 1, bracketing the chapter's first half on the same word, abomination, now applied to the heart rather than the hand. Though hand join in hand states a Hebrew idiom for a pledge or conspiracy, and the proverb answers it: no alliance secures the wicked from punishment, while the righteous line is delivered regardless. The jewel of gold in a swine's snout is the chapter's sharpest image, beauty without discretion pictured as treasure wasted on an animal that cannot value it, a comparison Bridges calls one of the most vivid in the book.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
As for those who seem to have some semblance of knowledge and those who do not abandon the sins of the flesh even when they apply themselves diligently to the reading and memorizing of Scripture, Proverbs has the following well-put statement: "The beauty of a woman of evil ways is like a golden ring in the snout of a pig." What use is it for a man to possess the jewel of heaven's words and to give himself over to that most precious loveliness of Scripture if he himself is stuck fast in muddied works and thoughts?
The foundation must by all means first be laid but over it, as the Apostle says, the edifice of gold and precious gems must be built; for so is the doing of the commandment put by the Prophet who cries, "I have loved Thy commandment above gold and many a precious stone." Let the virtuous life have for its substructure the love of virginity; but upon this let every result of virtue be reared. If virginity is believed to be a vastly precious thing and to have a divine look (as indeed is the case, as well as men believe of it), yet, if the whole life does not harmonize with this perfect note, and it be marred by the succeeding discord of the soul, this thing becomes but "the jewel of gold in the swine's snout" or "the pearl that is trodden under the swine's feet."
What is a holy appellation without merit but an ornament set in the mud? The holy Scriptures have testified to this in writing: "A golden ring in a swine's snout, a woman fair and foolish." And in us the appellation Christian is like a golden …
The Medieval Church1 voice
A golden ring in its nose, etc. Even if you fix a golden ring in its nose, it will still turn the earth with its nose and hurry to immerse itself in a wallow of mud; so, if a foolish woman receives the beauty of …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
As a jewel of gold in a swine's snout,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A jewel of gold in a swine’s snout - That is, beauty in a woman destitute of good breeding and modest carriage, is as becoming as a gold ring on the snout of a swine. Coverdale translates thus: “A fayre woman without discrete maners, is like a ringe of golde in a swyne’s snoute.” In Asiatic countries the nose jewel is very common: to this the text alludes.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The most direct proverb, in the sense of “similitude,” which has as yet met us. Jewel of gold - Better, ring; i. e., the nose-ring Gen 24:22, Gen 24:47; Isa 3:21. Without discretion - literally, “without taste,” void of the subtle tact and grace, without which mere outward beauty is as ill-bestowed as the nose-ring in the snout of the unclean beast. If we may assume that in ancient Syria, as in modern Europe, swine commonly wore such a ring to hinder them doing mischief, the similitude receives a fresh vividness.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
And the king said to Haman: "The money is given to thee, and the people too, to do with them as it seems best in thy sight.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 1 further source is cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| נֶ֣זֶם | nezem | a ring of | H5141 → | |
| זָ֭הָב | zaho | gold | H2091 → | 389 times |
| בְּאַ֣ף | beaf | in [the] nose of | H639 → | 276 times |
| חֲזִ֑יר | chazir | a pig | H2386 → | |
| אִשָּׁ֥ה | ʾishah | a woman | H802 → | 781 times |
| יָ֝פָ֗ה | yafah | beautiful | H3303 → | |
| וְסָ֣רַת | vesarat | and [who] turns aside from | H5493 → | 299 times |
| טָֽעַם׃ | taam | <of> discernment | H2940 → |
נֶ֣זֶםa ring of
nezemH5141 →
זָ֭הָבgold
zahoH2091 →389 times
בְּאַ֣ףin [the] nose of
beafH639 →276 times
חֲזִ֑ירa pig
chazirH2386 →
אִשָּׁ֥הa woman
ʾishahH802 →781 times
יָ֝פָ֗הbeautiful
yafahH3303 →
וְסָ֣רַתand [who] turns aside from
vesaratH5493 →299 times
טָֽעַם׃<of> discernment
taamH2940 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 31:30Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
it leads to
- Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
- 1 Peter 3:4–5
but from the inner disposition of your heart, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in God’s sight.
- Proverbs 8:13
To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech.
- 1 Peter 1:24
For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
- Esther 1:11–12
to bring Queen Vashti before him, wearing her royal crown, to display her beauty to the people and officials. For she was beautiful to behold.
- Proverbs 1:7
Through
2 Peter 2:22Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”
it leads to
- Proverbs 26:11
As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.
- Proverbs 26:11
Through
Proverbs 9:13The woman named Folly is loud; she is naive and knows nothing.
it leads to
- Proverbs 7:11
She is loud and defiant; her feet do not remain at home.
- Proverbs 5:6
She does not consider the path of life; she does not know that her ways are unstable.
- Proverbs 7:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor Book 3; Gregory of Nyssa, On Virginity, Chapter XVII; John Cassian, CONFERENCE 14:16; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Salvian the Presbyter, THE GOVERNANCE OF GOD 4:1.