Proverbs 10:11
in Proverbs 10The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life; But violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.
KJV
The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.
⋯
This verse in Proverbs 10
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Compare Pro 10:6. Streams of living water (like the “fountain of living waters” of Jer 2:13; Jer 17:13, and the “living water” of Joh 4:10), flow from the mouth of the righteous, but that of the wicked is “covered,” i. e., stopped and put to silence by their own violence.
This site's exposition
The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life
on Proverbs 10:11-14
The tongue cluster opens here and runs to the chapter's end, setting “a fountain of life” against a mouth that “conceals violence”. The two clauses of 10:12, “Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers all transgressions,” state the chapter's case for what speech does to a household.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
The mouth of the righteous is a well of life. And the Lord speaks of teachers, "He who believes in me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from his heart" (John VII).
And the mouth of the wicked covers iniquity. The wicked are those who conceal their own or their neighbor's faults, defending them so that they do not reach health. The prophet, detesting this, prays to the Lord that his heart might not incline to an …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life - מקור חיים mekor chaiyim, is the vein of lives; an allusion to the great aorta, which conveys the blood from the heart to every art of the body. The latter clause of this verse is the same with that of Pro 10:6.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked, etc. Their mouth conceals the violence that is in their heart, for they talk smoothly with their lips, but hatred is hidden in their heart.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
He who winks his eye causes grief That is the one who entices a person to evil with his winks.
Hatred arouses quarrels Even a sin that was forgotten is remembered though additional iniquities.
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. 2 further sources are 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מְק֣וֹר | mekor | [is] a fountain of | H4726 → | 18 times |
| חַ֭יִּים | chaiyim | life | H2416 → | 498 times |
| פִּ֣י | pi | [the] mouth of | H6310 → | 498 times |
| צַדִּ֑יק | tzadik | a righteous [person] | H6662 → | 206 times |
| וּפִ֥י | ufi | and [the] mouth of | H6310 → | 498 times |
| רְ֝שָׁעִ֗ים | reshaim | wicked [people] | H7563 → | 263 times |
| יְכַסֶּ֥ה | yekhaseh | it conceals | H3680 → | 152 times |
| חָמָֽס׃ | chamas | violence | H2555 → | 60 times |
מְק֣וֹר[is] a fountain of
mekorH4726 →18 times
חַ֭יִּיםlife
chaiyimH2416 →498 times
פִּ֣י[the] mouth of
piH6310 →498 times
צַדִּ֑יקa righteous [person]
tzadikH6662 →206 times
וּפִ֥יand [the] mouth of
ufiH6310 →498 times
רְ֝שָׁעִ֗יםwicked [people]
reshaimH7563 →263 times
יְכַסֶּ֥הit conceals
yekhasehH3680 →152 times
חָמָֽס׃violence
chamasH2555 →60 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
Ephesians 4:29Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.
it leads to
- Colossians 4:6
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Therefore encourage and build one another up, just as you are already doing.
- Ecclesiastes 10:12
The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool consume him.
- Proverbs 15:7
The lips of the wise spread knowledge, but not so the hearts of fools.
- Colossians 3:8–9
But now you must put aside all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
- Colossians 4:6
Through
Proverbs 18:4The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.
it leads to
- Proverbs 20:5
The intentions of a man’s heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out.
- John 4:14
But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”
- Proverbs 20:5
Through
Proverbs 10:6Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:2
And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the voice of the LORD your God:
- Deuteronomy 28:2
Where this verse is studied
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; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).