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Proverbs 12:19

in Proverbs 12

Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

The lip of truth shall be established for ever; But a lying tongue is but for a moment.

KJV

The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.

This verse in Proverbs 12

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Proverbs · Written before 735.

The lip of truth shall be established forever, etc. The faith of the Church shall always remain. But he who suddenly introduces new dogmas is a minister of the heretic.

This site's exposition

He who speaks the truth declares what is right

on Proverbs 12:17-22

Verses 17 to 22 gather proverbs on the tongue. Rash words are “like a piercing sword,” but “the tongue of the wise brings healing,” and “Truthful lips endure forever”. “Lying lips are detestable to the LORD,” as dishonest scales are at 11:1, and “those who deal faithfully are His delight”.

This site's exposition

Truthful lips endure forever

Truth and lies are measured here by how long they last. Bede applies the first line to the faith of the Church, which always remains. A lying tongue lives only a moment.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

The lip of truth shall be established for ever,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

A lying tongue is but for a moment - Truth stands for ever; because its foundation is indestructible: but falsehood may soon be detected; and, though it gain credit for a while, it had that credit because it was supposed to be truth.

The words behind it

8 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • שְֽׂפַת־a lip of

    sefat-H8193 →176 times

  • אֱ֭מֶתreliability

    ʾemetH571 →127 times

  • תִּכּ֣וֹןit will be established

    tikonH3559 →217 times

  • לָעַ֑דfor ever

    laadH5703 →

  • וְעַד־and until

    vead-H5704 →1261 times

  • אַ֝רְגִּ֗יעָהI will grant rest

    ʾargiahH7280 →

  • לְשׁ֣וֹןa tongue of

    leshonH3956 →117 times

  • שָֽׁקֶר׃falsehood

    shakerH8267 →113 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Job 20:5

    the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?

    it leads to

    • Psalms 37:35–36

      I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree,

    • Job 18:5–6

      Indeed, the lamp of the wicked is extinguished; the flame of his fire does not glow.

    • Job 27:8

      For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?

    • Acts 12:22–23

      And they began to shout, “This is the voice of a god, not a man!”

    • Job 8:12–13

      While the shoots are still uncut, they dry up quicker than grass.

  • Through

    Proverbs 19:9

    A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who pours out lies will perish.

    it leads to

    • Revelation 22:15

      But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

    • Proverbs 19:5

      A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who utters lies will not escape.

    • Revelation 19:20

      But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and…

Where this verse is studied

About Proverbs

The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).