Proverbs 12:22
in Proverbs 12Lying lips are detestable to the LORD, but those who deal faithfully are His delight.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Lying lips are an abomination to Jehovah; But they that deal truly are his delight.
KJV
Lying lips are abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are his delight.
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This verse in Proverbs 12
Commentary
3 notes on this verseThis 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
Lying lips are detestable to the LORD
The verse closes a run on true and false speech that began at verse 17. Faithful dealing delights the LORD. Truth here reaches from the lips into the whole of a man's dealings.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Lying lips are abomination to the Lord,....
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| תּוֹעֲבַ֣ת | toavat | [are] [the] abomination of | H8441 → | 117 times |
| יְ֭הוָה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| שִׂפְתֵי־ | siftei- | lips of | H8193 → | 176 times |
| שָׁ֑קֶר | shaker | falsehood | H8267 → | 113 times |
| וְעֹשֵׂ֖י | veosei | and doers of | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֱמוּנָ֣ה | ʾemunah | faithfulness | H530 → | 49 times |
| רְצוֹנֽוֹ׃ | retzono | [are] delight his | H7522 → | 56 times |
תּוֹעֲבַ֣ת[are] [the] abomination of
toavatH8441 →117 times
יְ֭הוָהYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
שִׂפְתֵי־lips of
siftei-H8193 →176 times
שָׁ֑קֶרfalsehood
shakerH8267 →113 times
וְעֹשֵׂ֖יand doers of
veoseiH6213 →2628 times
אֱמוּנָ֣הfaithfulness
ʾemunahH530 →49 times
רְצוֹנֽוֹ׃[are] delight his
retzonoH7522 →56 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
Jeremiah 9:24But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, who exercises loving devotion, justice and righteousness on the earth—for I delight in these things,”…
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 10:17
Rather, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
- Galatians 6:14
But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
- 1 Corinthians 1:31
Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
- Micah 6:8
He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
- Micah 7:18
Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?
- 2 Corinthians 10:17
Through
Revelation 22:15But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
it leads to
- Revelation 21:8
But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Galatians 5:19–21
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;
- Philippians 3:2
Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh!
- Revelation 21:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Proverbs

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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).
