Proverbs 25:20
in Proverbs 25Like one who removes a garment on a cold day or vinegar poured on a wound is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
As one that taketh off a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon soda, So is he that singeth songs to a heavy heart.
KJV
As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart.
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This verse in Proverbs 25
Commentary
6 notes on this verseAs vinegar upon nitre - The original word נתר nather is what is known among chemists as the natron of the ancients and of the Scriptures, and carbonate of soda. It is found native in Syria and India, and occurs as an efflorescence on the soil. In Tripoli it is found in crystalline incrustations of from one third to half an inch thiek. It is found also in solution in the water of some lakes in Egypt and Hungary.
This site's exposition
beareth false witness against his neighbour
on Proverbs 25:18-20
A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow stacks three weapons for one sin, a false word as capable of ruin as any blade. Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint moves from the weapon to the disappointment, trust placed where it cannot bear weight, and the final image, singing songs to a heavy heart, compared to taking away a garment in cold weather and vinegar upon nitre, is Bridges's example of the collection's care for emotional timing, comfort offered wrongly doing real harm rather than none.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Vinegar upon niter, etc. Niter took its name from the province of Nitria, where it is especially accustomed to be produced; nor does it differ much from the appearance of ammoniac salt. For just as salt is made on the seashore by the heat of …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Not only is the incongruity of songs (that is, joyful) and sadness meant, but an accession of sadness, by want of sympathy, is implied. As metals are melted by heaping coals upon them, so is the heart softened by kindness.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Examples of unwisdom and incongruity sharpen the point of the proverb. Pouring vinegar upon nitre or potash utterly spoils it. The effervescence caused by the mixture is perhaps taken as a type of the irritation produced by the “songs” sung out of season to a heavy heart. The verb rendered “taketh away” may have the sense (as in Eze 16:11) of “adorning oneself,” and the illustration would then be, “as to put on a fine garment in time of cold is unseasonable, so is singing to a heavy heart.”
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מַ֥עֲדֶה | maadeh | [one who] removes | H5710 → | |
| בֶּ֨גֶד׀ | beged | a garment | H899 → | 217 times |
| בְּי֣וֹם | beyom | on a day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| קָ֭רָה | karah | coldness | H7135 → | |
| חֹ֣מֶץ | chometz | vinegar | H2558 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| נָ֑תֶר | nater | soda | H5427 → | |
| וְשָׁ֥ר | veshar | and [one who] sings | H7891 → | |
| בַּ֝שִּׁרִ֗ים | bashirim | <with> the songs | H7892 → | |
| עַ֣ל | ʾal | to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| לֶב־ | lev- | a heart | H3820 → | 595 times |
| רָֽע׃ פ | ra' | sad | H7451 → | 662 times |
מַ֥עֲדֶה[one who] removes
maadehH5710 →
בֶּ֨גֶד׀a garment
begedH899 →217 times
בְּי֣וֹםon a day of
beyomH3117 →2304 times
קָ֭רָהcoldness
karahH7135 →
חֹ֣מֶץvinegar
chometzH2558 →
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
נָ֑תֶרsoda
naterH5427 →
וְשָׁ֥רand [one who] sings
vesharH7891 →
בַּ֝שִּׁרִ֗ים<with> the songs
bashirimH7892 →
עַ֣לto
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
לֶב־a heart
lev-H3820 →595 times
רָֽע׃ פsad
ra'H7451 →662 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
Romans 12:15Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 12:26
If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
- Hebrews 13:3
Remember those in prison as if you were bound with them, and those who are mistreated as if you were suffering with them.
- Psalms 35:13–14
Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, but my prayers returned unanswered.
- John 11:33–36
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
- 1 Corinthians 12:26
Through
Isaiah 58:7Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your home, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to turn away from your own…
it leads to
- Matthew 25:35–45
For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in,
- Luke 3:11
John replied, “Whoever has two tunics should share with him who has none, and whoever has food should do the same.”
- Ezekiel 18:7
He does not oppress another, but restores the pledge to the debtor. He does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.
- Proverbs 28:27
Whoever gives to the poor will not be in need, but he who hides his eyes will receive many curses.
- Matthew 25:35–45
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
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; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).