Proverbs 25

These are more proverbs of Solomon, copied out by the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah.

1These are also proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.

NoteHezekiah ruled Judah about 715-686 BC, roughly 250 years after Solomon. "The men of Hezekiah" were the scribes and scholars of his court, whose work was to collect and copy older writings. The line marks the start of a new collection within the book; chapters 25-29 are what these copyists assembled.

2God is honored when he keeps a matter hidden; kings are honored when they search a matter out.

2It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.

3The sky is high and the earth is deep, and in the same way the hearts of kings cannot be searched out.

3The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable.

4Take the waste material out of the silver, and the silversmith has what he needs to make a vessel.

4Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.

NoteSilver ore was melted so that the impurities in it, the dross, rose to the surface and could be skimmed off. Until that was done the metal could not be worked, so the refining was not a finishing touch but the thing that made a vessel possible at all.

5Take wicked men out of the king's presence, and his throne will be made secure by doing what is right.

5Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.

6Do not push yourself forward when you are in the king's presence, and do not stand in the place kept for important men.

6Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men:

7It is better to be told, "Come up here," than to be moved down to a lower place in front of a noble you have seen with your own eyes.

7For better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen.

NoteAt a royal court and at feasts, seats were assigned by rank, with the places nearest the king counting as the highest. To be moved down the line in public was a visible loss of standing, which is why it is worth taking a low seat and being called up. The last phrase, "a noble you have seen with your own eyes," is placed differently by different translators: in Hebrew the words "what your eyes have seen" can end this verse or begin the next one, giving "do not hastily bring what you have seen to court."

8Do not rush out to take someone to court. If you do, what will you do in the end when your neighbor puts you to shame?

8Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame.

9Argue your case with your neighbor face to face, and do not give away a secret that belongs to someone else.

9Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself; and discover not a secret to another:

10If you do, whoever hears it will shame you, and your bad name will never go away.

10Lest he that heareth it put thee to shame, and thine infamy turn not away.

11A word spoken at just the right time is like golden apples in settings of silver.

11A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.

NoteThe exact object is unknown. The words describe gold fruit set in or against silver, perhaps ornamental fruit resting in a silver dish or basket, perhaps gold inlay worked into silver carving. Either way the point is a costly, carefully made piece of craftsmanship, where each part sets off the other.

12A wise correction spoken to an ear that will listen is like a gold earring or a piece of jewelry made of fine gold.

12As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.

NoteThe Hebrew word covers a ring worn in the ear or in the nose; both were common items of gold jewelry. The image is of something valuable placed on the ear, matching the ear that listens.

13A messenger who can be trusted is, to the men who send him, like the cold of snow at harvest time; he refreshes the spirits of his masters.

13As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters.

NoteHarvest fell in the hottest, driest part of the year, with no rain at all. Snow was gathered from the mountains and packed away to cool drinks, a rare luxury in that season, which is the point of the comparison.

14A man who brags about a gift he never gives is like clouds and wind that bring no rain.

14Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain.

15Being patient for a long time can win a ruler over, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.

15By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone.

Note"Breaking a bone" was a proverbial way of saying that something soft overcomes something hard. The bone stands for stubborn resistance, not for injury.

16Have you found honey? Eat only as much as you need, or you will have too much of it and throw it up.

16Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.

17Set foot in your neighbor's house only now and then, or he will get tired of you and come to hate you.

17Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour’s house; lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee.

18A man who tells lies about his neighbor in court is like a heavy club, a sword, and a sharp arrow.

18A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.

NoteA maul is a heavy war club. Under Israelite law a case was decided by the testimony of witnesses rather than by investigation, so a lying witness could destroy a neighbor's property, freedom, or life as surely as a weapon.

19Relying on an untrustworthy man when trouble comes is like chewing with a broken tooth or walking on a foot that is out of joint.

19Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint.

20Singing cheerful songs to someone with a heavy heart is like taking away a person's coat on a cold day, or pouring vinegar on soda.

20As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart.

Note"Nitre" is natron, a natural mineral soda dug from dry lake beds and used as a cleaning agent. Pouring vinegar on it makes it fizz violently and ruins it. Some translators instead read the Hebrew as vinegar poured on a wound; the two readings differ by very little in the text.

21If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.

21If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:

22For by doing this you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.

22For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.

NoteThe image was already proverbial and its sense is disputed. It has been connected to an Egyptian ritual in which a person carried a pan of burning coals on the head as a public sign of repentance, and also to the ordinary burning sensation of shame. The verse itself does not explain it.

23The north wind brings rain, and an angry face goes with a tongue that talks behind people's backs.

23The north wind driveth away rain: so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue.

NoteIn Israel the rain came off the Mediterranean from the west; the north wind was the dry one. The Hebrew verb can mean either "brings forth" or "drives away," so translations differ on whether the north wind produces rain or clears it, and correspondingly on whether the angry face causes the gossip or stops it. This rendering follows the first; the King James takes the second.

24It is better to live in a corner up on the roof than to share a whole house with a woman who is always quarreling.

24It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house.

NoteHouses had flat roofs used for sleeping, drying grain, and sitting in the evening, reached by an outside stair. A corner of the roof meant a cramped, exposed spot with no shelter from sun or weather, deliberately the least desirable place in the house.

25Good news that comes from a country far away is like cold water to a person who is thirsty.

25As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

26A good man who gives way in front of the wicked is like a spring that has been muddied or a well that has been fouled.

26A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring.

NoteIn a dry country a spring or well was the source of a whole community's drinking water, and fouling one was a public disaster, not a private loss. The comparison is to something everyone depended on being ruined for everyone.

27It is not good to eat too much honey, and it is no honor to go hunting for honor for yourself.

27It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory.

NoteThe second half of this verse is damaged or unclear in the Hebrew. It reads roughly "and the searching out of their glory is glory"; translators supply a negative or an extra word to make sense of it, which is why versions of this line differ so widely.

28A man who has no control over his own temper is like a city whose walls have been broken down and left open.

28He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.