Proverbs 11:25
in Proverbs 11A generous soul will prosper, and he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The liberal soul shall be made fat; And he that watereth shall be watered also himself.
KJV
The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.
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This verse in Proverbs 11
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThe soul that blesses will be enriched, etc. He who outwardly blesses by preaching receives inwardly the fatness of increase. And while he ceases not to drench the minds of his hearers with sacred discourse, he himself grows fat with the multiple drink of grace.
This site's exposition
The desire of the righteous leads only to good
on Proverbs 11:23-27
The proverbs that follow work out the same contrast in the economics of giving. “One gives freely, yet gains even more,” and “A generous soul will prosper”. In famine “The people will curse the hoarder of grain, but blessing will crown the one who sells it”.
This site's exposition
he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed
A generous soul will prosper, and Albert Barnes renders the Hebrew literally as the soul that blesses. Prosper translates a word for growing fat, the Eastern picture of health and plenty. He who refreshes others with water is refreshed himself.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The liberal soul shall be made fat,....
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Liberal soul - literally, “the soul that blesses,” i. e., gives freely and fully. The similitudes are both of them essentially Eastern. Fatness, the sleek, well filled look of health, becomes the figure of prosperity, as leanness of misfortune Pro 13:4; Pro 28:25; Psa 22:29; Isa 10:16. Kindly acts come as the refreshing dew and soft rain from heaven upon a thirsty land.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The scope of the whole is a comment on Pr 11:23. Thus liberality, by God's blessing, secures increase, while penuriousness, instead of expected gain, procures poverty.
THE general principle is that in living for the good of others we shall be profited ourselves. We must not isolate our own interests but feel that we live for others. This teaching is sustained by the analogy of nature, for in nature there is a law that no one thing can be independent of the rest of creation, but there is a mutual action and reaction of all upon all. All the constituent parts of the universe are bound to one another by invisible chains and there is not a single creature in it which springs up, or flourishes, or decays itself alone. The very planets, though they float far from one another, exercise attraction. And the fixed stars, though they seem to be infinitely remote, are still linked to one another by mysterious bonds. God has so constituted this universe that selfishness is the greatest possible offense against His Law and living for others and ministering to others is the strictest obedience to His will. Our surest road to our own happiness is to seek the good of our fellows. We store up in God's own bank what we generously expend on the behalf of our race. The little spring bubbling forth from the ancient pipe on the hillside overflows the stone basin and liberally supplies all the villagers with pure and cooling drink. In its flowing it does not waste itself, for the deep fountains in the heart of the earth continue unceasingly to supply it and both in winter's frost and summer's drought the springhead yields its crystal stream. The little brook which babbles through the woods, hiding among stones, leaping down the moss-grown rocks and soon deepening and swelling its stream, pours all its gatherings into the river hoarding not a drop.
THE general principle is that in living for the good of others we shall be profited ourselves. We must not isolate our own interests but feel that we live for others. This teaching is sustained by the analogy of nature, for in nature there is a law that no one thing can be independent of the rest of creation, but there is a mutual action and reaction of all upon all.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The liberal soul shall be made fat - He who gives to the distressed, in the true spirit of charity, shall get a hundred fold from God’s mercy. How wonderful is the Lord! He gives the property, gives the heart to use it aright, and recompenses the man for the deed though all the fruit was found from himself! He that watereth - A man who distributes in the right spirit gets more good himself than the poor man does who receives the bounty. Thus it is more blessed to give than to receive.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| נֶֽפֶשׁ־ | nefesh- | a person of | H5315 → | 754 times |
| בְּרָכָ֥ה | berakhah | blessing | H1293 → | 69 times |
| תְדֻשָּׁ֑ן | tedushan | he will be made fat | H1878 → | 11 times |
| וּ֝מַרְוֶ֗ה | umarveh | and [one who] gives water | H7301 → | 14 times |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| ה֥וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| יוֹרֶֽא׃ | yore' | he will be given water | H3384 → | 80 times |
נֶֽפֶשׁ־a person of
nefesh-H5315 →754 times
בְּרָכָ֥הblessing
berakhahH1293 →69 times
תְדֻשָּׁ֑ןhe will be made fat
tedushanH1878 →11 times
וּ֝מַרְוֶ֗הand [one who] gives water
umarvehH7301 →14 times
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
ה֥וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
יוֹרֶֽא׃he will be given water
yore'H3384 →80 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
Matthew 5:7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
it leads to
- Ephesians 4:32
Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.
- Matthew 6:14–15
For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
- 2 Samuel 22:26
To the faithful You show Yourself faithful, to the blameless You show Yourself blameless;
- Matthew 18:33–35
Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had on you?’
- Psalms 18:25
To the faithful You show Yourself faithful, to the blameless You show Yourself blameless;
- Ephesians 4:32
Through
Isaiah 32:8But a noble man makes honorable plans; he stands up for worthy causes.
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 9:1–13
Then David asked, “Is there anyone left from the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for the sake of Jonathan?”
- Proverbs 11:24–25
One gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds what is right, only to become poor.
- Acts 11:29–30
So the disciples, each according to his ability, decided to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.
- 2 Samuel 9:1–13
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; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 626: “The Waterer Watered” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.