Proverbs 18

A man who cuts himself off from others is chasing what he himself wants, and he fights against all sound judgment.

1Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom.

NoteThe Hebrew of this verse is unusually difficult and translators divide sharply over it. The King James reads it as praise: a man withdraws from company in order to hunt down wisdom. Most modern translations, including the one rendered here, read the same words as criticism: a man who cuts himself off is chasing his own cravings and quarreling with good sense. The wording itself will not settle which is meant.

2A fool takes no pleasure in understanding. All he wants is to air his own opinions.

2A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself.

3When a wicked man arrives, scorn comes with him, and along with shame comes disgrace.

3When the wicked cometh, then cometh also contempt, and with ignominy reproach.

4The words a man speaks are like deep water. The spring that wisdom flows from is like a bubbling brook.

4The words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook.

NoteThe image of deep water can be taken two ways, and Proverbs uses it both ways elsewhere: water that is deep because it is rich and inexhaustible, and water that is deep because you cannot see into it or trust what is under the surface. The second line, the running brook, is plainly positive.

5It is not good to take the side of a guilty man, or to deny justice to someone who has done no wrong.

5It is not good to accept the person of the wicked, to overthrow the righteous in judgment.

Note"Take the side of" translates a Hebrew idiom, literally "lift the face of", to look on someone with favor, to show partiality. The setting is a lawsuit: the "guilty man" and "someone who has done no wrong" are the two parties in a case, not people described in general moral terms. Ordinary disputes were heard by the town's elders sitting at the gate, with no professional judges or lawyers.

6A fool's words drag him into quarrels, and his mouth invites a beating.

6A fool’s lips enter into contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes.

NoteA beating is not just a tavern brawl here. Flogging was a standard court penalty, so the fool's mouth is pictured as summoning the punishment that his words have earned him.

7A fool's mouth ruins him, and his own words are a trap that catches him.

7A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.

8The words of a gossip are like choice bits of food. People swallow them, and they sink deep inside.

8The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.

NoteThe Hebrew word behind "choice bits of food" appears only here and in a repetition of this proverb at 26:22, and its meaning is uncertain; the King James translators guessed "wounds." The usual modern reading is dainty morsels that people swallow eagerly. "Deep inside" is literally "the chambers of the belly": Hebrew located thought and feeling in the internal organs, much as English speakers say a thing is felt in the gut.

9Anyone who is lazy in his work is a close relative of the man who destroys things.

9He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.

NoteCalling one thing the "brother" of another is a Hebrew idiom for belonging to the same family or class. The point is that the lazy worker and the vandal are two of a kind, not that they are related.

10The name of the LORD is a strong tower. Those who do right run into it and are safe.

10The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.

NoteIn Hebrew usage a person's name stands for the person (their character, reputation and power to act), so "the name of the LORD" means the LORD himself as one who can be appealed to. "LORD" printed in capitals stands for the personal name of Israel's God, which Jewish practice avoided pronouncing aloud. A strong tower was the fortified keep inside a walled town, the last refuge if attackers broke through the outer defenses.

11A rich man's money is his walled city. In his own mind it is a high wall around him.

11The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, and as an high wall in his own conceit.

NoteThis proverb is built as a deliberate echo of the one before it: the same picture of a place of safety, but a wall the rich man has built for himself out of money, and one the verse says exists chiefly in his imagination.

12Before a man falls, his heart is proud. But humility comes before honor.

12Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility.

Note"Heart" in Hebrew is the seat of thinking, planning and deciding, closer to the English "mind" than to the emotions. The same word is rendered "heart" here and "mind" in verse 15.

13If a person answers a matter before he has heard it, that is foolish, and it shames him.

13He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.

14A person's spirit can carry him through sickness. But if the spirit itself is crushed, who can bear that?

14The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?

Note"Spirit" here translates the Hebrew word for breath or wind, used of the inner vitality that keeps a person going. The first line says that vitality can carry a body through illness; the second asks what is left when the vitality itself is the thing that has been broken.

15The mind of a person with good sense takes in knowledge, and the ear of a wise person goes looking for it.

15The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge.

16A man's gift opens the way for him and brings him in front of important people.

16A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.

Note"Gift" is the ordinary word for a present given to open a door: it covers everything from a courtesy offering to what we would call a bribe. The proverb observes what such gifts accomplish; the Hebrew does not say whether giving one is right.

17The first person to state his case sounds right, until the other side comes and questions him closely.

17He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.

NoteAnother courtroom scene at the town gate. There were no lawyers: each party spoke for himself, and "questions him closely" translates a verb meaning to search, probe or examine, what we would call cross-examination.

18Casting lots puts an end to arguments and settles matters between strong opponents.

18The lot causeth contentions to cease, and parteth between the mighty.

NoteCasting lots meant throwing or drawing marked stones or sticks to produce a yes-or-no answer or to pick between people. Israelites used it to divide land, assign duties and choose men for tasks. Its value in a quarrel was that the result lay outside anyone's control, so neither side could claim the other had fixed the outcome.

19A brother you have offended is harder to win back than a walled city, and quarrels are like the barred gates of a fortress.

19A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.

NoteThe gates of a fortified town were secured by heavy wooden or bronze bars dropped into brackets across them, the point an attacker found hardest to force. The first line of this verse is difficult in Hebrew and the exact wording is uncertain, though the comparison to a fortified city is clear.

20A man's stomach is filled by what comes out of his mouth. He is satisfied by the harvest his lips bring in.

20A man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.

NoteA standing Hebrew idiom: what a person says is pictured as a crop grown from his own mouth, which he then has to harvest and eat. The proverb does not say whether the harvest is good or bad, only that he consumes what he produced.

21The tongue has the power of death and of life, and those who love using it will eat what it produces.

21Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

Note"Those who love it" means those who love the tongue, that is, people who love to talk. They too will eat the crop it grows, which the first line has just said can be either death or life.

22The man who finds a wife has found something good, and he receives kindness from the LORD.

22Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.

Note"Receives kindness from the LORD" uses the standard Hebrew phrase for gaining someone's favorable regard. Some early copies, including the ancient Greek translation, read "a good wife" in the first line, which turns the saying into a comment on the kind of wife found rather than on marrying as such.

23A poor man begs for mercy, but a rich man answers harshly.

23The poor useth intreaties; but the rich answereth roughly.

24A man with many companions can come to ruin, but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother.

24A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

NoteThe first line is textually uncertain. Two Hebrew readings differ by a single letter: one gives "a man of many companions comes to ruin," which most modern translations follow; the other gives roughly "a man of companions must show himself friendly," which the King James followed. The second line is not in doubt.