Proverbs 12:18
in Proverbs 12Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
There is that speaketh rashly like the piercings of a sword; But the tongue of the wise is health.
KJV
There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.
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This verse in Proverbs 12
Commentary
2 notes on this verseThere is that speaketh - Instead of בוטה boteh, blabbing out, blustering, several MSS. have בוטח boteach, Trusting: and instead of כמדקרות kemadkeroth, As the piercings, seven MSS., with the Complutensian Polyglot, have במדקרות bemadkeroth, In the piercings. “There is that trusteth in the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.” But I suppose the former to be the true reading.
This site's exposition
He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness
on Proverbs 12:17-22
The chapter gathers six proverbs on the tongue into one sustained cluster, opening with truth shown forth in speech against the false witness who shows deceit instead. Words are pictured first as a weapon, piercings of a sword, and then as medicine, the tongue of the wise bringing health, and truth is given permanence, established for ever, while a lying tongue lasts only a moment before it is found out. The cluster closes on the chapter's own key theme of deceit, no evil happening to the just while the wicked are filled with mischief, and lying lips named an abomination to the Lord exactly as the false balance was at 11:1, with those who deal truly called his delight.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יֵ֣שׁ | yesh | there | H3426 → | 140 times |
| בּ֭וֹטֶה | boteh | [is one who] speaks rashly | H981 → | |
| כְּמַדְקְר֣וֹת | kemadkerot | like thrusts of | H4094 → | |
| חָ֑רֶב | charev | a sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| וּלְשׁ֖וֹן | uleshon | and [the] tongue of | H3956 → | 117 times |
| חֲכָמִ֣ים | chakhamim | wise [people] | H2450 → | 138 times |
| מַרְפֵּֽא׃ | marpe' | [is] healing | H4832 → | 16 times |
יֵ֣שׁthere
yeshH3426 →140 times
בּ֭וֹטֶה[is one who] speaks rashly
botehH981 →
כְּמַדְקְר֣וֹתlike thrusts of
kemadkerotH4094 →
חָ֑רֶבa sword
charevH2719 →413 times
וּלְשׁ֖וֹןand [the] tongue of
uleshonH3956 →117 times
חֲכָמִ֣יםwise [people]
chakhamimH2450 →138 times
מַרְפֵּֽא׃[is] healing
marpe'H4832 →16 times
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 16:24Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
it leads to
- Proverbs 24:13–14
Eat honey, my son, for it is good, and the honeycomb is sweet to your taste.
- Proverbs 4:22
For they are life to those who find them, and health to the whole body.
- Proverbs 25:11–12
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.
- Proverbs 23:16
My inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
- Proverbs 3:8
This will bring healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.
- Proverbs 24:13–14
Through
Proverbs 15:4A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:24
Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
- Proverbs 18:8
The words of a gossip are like choice morsels that go down into the inmost being.
- Proverbs 3:18
She is a tree of life to those who embrace her, and those who lay hold of her are blessed.
- Proverbs 16:24
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament.