Proverbs 20:5
in Proverbs 20The intentions of a man’s heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; But a man of understanding will draw it out.
KJV
Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.
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This verse in Proverbs 20
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
It is honorable for a man to resolve
on Proverbs 20:3-5
"It is honorable for a man to resolve a dispute, but any fool will quarrel," the wise response to conflict set against the fool. The intentions of a man's heart are "deep waters," and only "a man of understanding draws them out" with quiet, unhurried wisdom.
This site's exposition
a man of understanding draws them out
The intentions of the heart lie deep, like water in a well. A man of understanding draws them out with quiet patience. The verse closes verses 3 to 5, each praising the man who waits and works over the fool and the slacker.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water,.... Pure and undisturbed, but secret, hidden, and hard to be come at: such are the things of the spirit of a man, the thoughts of his mind, the devices of his heart; which, though easily known by the searcher of hearts, are not easily penetrated into by men; or it is not easily got out of them what is in them, especially in some men, who are very close and reserved.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Counsel in the heart of man - Men of the deepest and most comprehensive minds are rarely apt, unsolicited, to join in any discourse, in which they might appear even to the greatest advantage; but a man of understanding will elicit this, by questions framed for the purpose, and thus pump up the salubrious waters from the deep and capacious well. The metaphor is fine and expressive.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The contest between reticence on the one side and pertinacity in search on the other is represented as by a parable. The well may be very deep (compare the marginal reference), but the man of understanding” has enough skill to draw up the water even to the last drop. Every question is, as it were, a turning of the windlass.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מַ֣יִם | mayim | [is] water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| עֲ֭מֻקִּים | ʾamukim | deep | H6013 → | 17 times |
| עֵצָ֣ה | ʾetzah | a plan | H6098 → | 89 times |
| בְלֶב־ | velev- | in [the] heart of | H3820 → | 595 times |
| אִ֑ישׁ | ʾish | a person | H376 → | 1663 times |
| וְאִ֖ישׁ | veish | and a person of | H376 → | 1663 times |
| תְּבוּנָ֣ה | tevunah | understanding | H8394 → | 42 times |
| יִדְלֶֽנָּה׃ | yidlenah | he draws out it | H1802 → |
מַ֣יִם[is] water
mayimH4325 →581 times
עֲ֭מֻקִּיםdeep
ʾamukimH6013 →17 times
עֵצָ֣הa plan
ʾetzahH6098 →89 times
בְלֶב־in [the] heart of
velev-H3820 →595 times
אִ֑ישׁa person
ʾishH376 →1663 times
וְאִ֖ישׁand a person of
veishH376 →1663 times
תְּבוּנָ֣הunderstanding
tevunahH8394 →42 times
יִדְלֶֽנָּה׃he draws out it
yidlenahH1802 →
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
1 Corinthians 2:11For who among men knows the thoughts of man except his own spirit within him? So too, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
it leads to
- Proverbs 20:27
The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD, searching out his inmost being.
- 1 Corinthians 2:10
But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
- Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
- Romans 11:33–34
O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
- Proverbs 14:10
The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares in its joy.
- Proverbs 20:27
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 10:11
The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
- Colossians 4:6
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
- Proverbs 10:11
Through
Psalms 64:6They devise injustice and say, “We have perfected a secret plan.” For the inner man and the heart are mysterious.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:9–10
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
- Jeremiah 17:9–10
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); 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).