Proverbs 27:19
in Proverbs 27As water reflects the face, so the heart reflects the true man.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
As in water face answereth to face, So the heart of man to man.
KJV
As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.
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This verse in Proverbs 27
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
As we see our own face when we look on the mirror-like surface of the water, so in every heart of man we may see our own likeness. In spite of all diversities we come upon the common human nature in which we all alike share. Others see in the reference to the reflection in the water the thought that we judge of others by ourselves, find them faithful or the reverse, as we ourselves are.
This site's exposition
As iron sharpens iron
on Proverbs 27:17-19
"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" states the use of friendship. "Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit" carries the same principle into labor. Verse 19 closes the three: "As water reflects the face, so the heart reflects the true man."
This site's exposition
As water reflects the face
Albert Barnes gives two readings. In one, a man looks into another heart and finds his own likeness, the common nature all share. Others take it to mean that people judge others by themselves and find them faithful or false as they are themselves.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
Desert FathersThe Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks · Written before 500.
proposed
This story was told: There were three friends, serious men, who became monks. One of them chose to make peace between men who were at odds, as it is written, 'Blessed are the peacemakers' (Matt. 5:9). The second chose to visit the sick. The third …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
As in water face answereth to face,.... As water is as a looking glass, in which a man may behold his own face and another's; or as the face in the water answers to the face of a man, and there is a great likeness between them.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
As in water face answereth to face - All men’s hearts are pretty nearly alike; water is not more like to water, than one heart is to another. Or, as a man sees his face perfectly reflected by the water, when looking into it; so the wise and penetrating man sees generally what is in the heart of another by considering the general tenor of his words and actions. “Surely, if each man saw another’s heart There would be no commerce; All would disperse, And live apart.” Hebert.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כַּ֭מַּיִם | kamayim | like <the> water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| הַפָּנִ֣ים | hapanim | the face | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| לַפָּנִ֑ים | lapanim | to the face | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| כֵּ֤ן | ken | so | H3651 → | 771 times |
| לֵֽב־ | lev- | [the] heart of | H3820 → | 595 times |
| הָ֝אָדָ֗ם | haadam | the person | H120 → | 551 times |
| לָאָדָֽם׃ | laadam | to the person | H120 → | 551 times |
כַּ֭מַּיִםlike <the> water
kamayimH4325 →581 times
הַפָּנִ֣יםthe face
hapanimH6440 →2123 times
לַפָּנִ֑יםto the face
lapanimH6440 →2123 times
כֵּ֤ןso
kenH3651 →771 times
לֵֽב־[the] heart of
lev-H3820 →595 times
הָ֝אָדָ֗םthe person
haadamH120 →551 times
לָאָדָֽם׃to the person
laadamH120 →551 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
Genesis 6:5Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time.
it leads to
- Matthew 15:19
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Romans 1:28–31
Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
- Mark 7:21–23
For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
- Jeremiah 4:14
Wash the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts within you?
- Matthew 15:19
Through
Mark 7:21For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
it leads to
- Romans 8:7–8
because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
- James 4:1–3
What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you?
- Galatians 5:19–21
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;
- Romans 8:7–8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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; Desert Fathers, The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).