Proverbs 31:8
in Proverbs 31Open your mouth for those with no voice, for the cause of all the dispossessed.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Open thy mouth for the dumb, In the cause of all such as are left desolate.
KJV
Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.
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This verse in Proverbs 31
Commentary
8 notes on this verseOpen thy mouth for the dumb,.... Not who are naturally so, but who cannot speak in their own behalf, either through want of elocution, or knowledge of the laws; or who are bashful, timorous, and fearful, being overawed by the majesty of a court of judicature, or by their prosecutors; or who, as they have not a tongue, so not a purse, to speak for them, the fatherless and the widow; which latter has her name, in the Hebrew language, from dumbness.
This site's exposition
Open your mouth for those with no voice
on Proverbs 31:8-9
"Open your mouth for those with no voice" turns the charge from private caution to public duty. The command repeats, making advocacy for the powerless the substance of righteous judgment. A king sober enough to judge and willing to speak for the voiceless is the portrait his mother builds.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Open your mouth for the mute, etc. For the cause of the poor, who cannot speak for themselves in judgment, remember to speak, and take care to defend those who, with the view of the heavenly fatherland, strive to pass more quickly through this life's …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The dumb - For such as cannot speak in their own cause, either through ignorance, or because of the dread of their more potent adversaries. Destruction - Who, without such succor from the Judges, are like to be utterly ruined.
(2.) He must, in all matters that come before him, judge righteously, and, without fear of the face of man, boldly pass sentence according to equity: Open thy mouth, which denotes the liberty of speech that princes and judges ought to use in passing sentence. Some observe that only wise men open their mouths, for fools have their mouths always open, are full of words.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Open thy mouth for the dumb - For such accused persons as have no counsellors, and cannot plead for themselves. Are appointed to destruction - בני חלוף beney chaloph, variously translated, children of passage - indigent travelers; children of desolation - those who have no possessions, or orphans. I believe it either signifies those who are strangers, and are travelling from place to place, or those who are ready to perish in consequence of want or oppression.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The proper use of such drinks is to restore tone to feeble bodies and depressed minds (compare Ps 104:15). Open . . . cause--Plead for those who cannot plead for themselves, as the orphan, stranger, &c. (compare Ps 72:12; Isa 1:17). appointed to destruction--who are otherwise ruined by their oppressors (compare Pr 29:14, 16).
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
In contrast with the two besetting sins of Eastern monarchs stands their one great duty, to give help to those who had no other helper. Such as are appointed to destruction - literally, “children of bereavement,” with the sense, either, as in the text, of those “destined to be bereaved of life or goods,” or of “bereaved or fatherless children.”
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| פְּתַח־ | petach- | open | H6605 → | 144 times |
| פִּ֥יךָ | pikha | mouth your | H6310 → | 498 times |
| לְאִלֵּ֑ם | leilem | for [the] dumb | H483 → | |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| דִּ֝֗ין | din | [the] cause of | H1779 → | 20 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בְּנֵ֥י | benei | [the] sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| חֲלֽוֹף׃ | chalof | passing away | H2475 → |
פְּתַח־open
petach-H6605 →144 times
פִּ֥יךָmouth your
pikhaH6310 →498 times
לְאִלֵּ֑םfor [the] dumb
leilemH483 →
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
דִּ֝֗ין[the] cause of
dinH1779 →20 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
בְּנֵ֥י[the] sons of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
חֲלֽוֹף׃passing away
chalofH2475 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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 26:24Nevertheless, Ahikam son of Shaphan supported Jeremiah, so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 22:12–14
and commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the servant of the king:
- Jeremiah 1:18–19
Now behold, this day I have made you like a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of…
- Jeremiah 39:14
had Jeremiah brought from the courtyard of the guard, and they turned him over to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him home. So Jeremiah remained among his own people.
- Jeremiah 40:5–7
But before Jeremiah turned to go, Nebuzaradan added, “Return to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him…
- 1 Kings 18:4
for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.)
- 2 Kings 22:12–14
Where this verse is studied
By subject
Justice34 verses
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
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; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.