Click
here to show/hide instructions.
Instructions on how to use the page:
The commentary for the selected verse is is displayed below.
All commentary was produced against the King James, so the same verse from that translation may appear as well. Hovering your mouse over a commentary's scripture reference attempts to show those verses.
Use the browser's back button to return to the previous page.
Or you can also select a feature from the Just Verses menu appearing at the top of the page.
Selected Verse: Proverbs 6:12 - King James
Verse |
Translation |
Text |
Pr 6:12 |
King James |
A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
A naughty person--literally, "A man of Belial," or of worthlessness, that is, for good, and so depraved, or wicked (compare Sa1 25:25; Sa1 30:22, &c.). Idleness and vice are allied. Though indolent in acts, he actively and habitually (walketh) is ill-natured in speech (Pro 4:24). |
Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
A naughty person - literally, "a man of Belial," i. e., a worthless man (see the Deu 13:13 note). This is the portrait of the man who is not to be trusted, whose look and gestures warn against him all who can observe. His speech is tortuous and crafty; his wink tells the accomplice that the victim is already snared; his gestures with foot and hand are half in deceit, and half in mockery. |
Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
There follows now a third brief series of instructions, which run to a conclusion with a deterring prospect similar to the foregoing.
12 A worthless man, a wicked man,
Is he who practiseth falsehood with his mouth;
13 Who winketh with his eyes, scrapeth with his foot,
Pointeth with his fingers.
14 Malice is in his heart,
He deviseth evil at all times,
He spreadeth strife.
15 Therefore suddenly his destruction shall come,
Suddenly shall he be destroyed, and there is no remedy.
It is a question, what is the subject and what the predicate in Pro 6:12. Thus much is clear, that upon him who is here described according to his deceitful conduct the sentence of condemnation shall fall. He who is so described is thus subject, and אדם בּליּעל is without doubt predicate. But does the complex subject begin with אישׁ און? Thus e.g., Hitzig: "A worthless man is the wicked man who...." But the interchange of עדם and אישׁ is a sign of parallel relation; and if 12b belonged attributively to אישׁ און, then since אישׁ האון is not used, it ought at least to have been continued by ההולך. The general moral categories, 12a, are thus predicates, as was indeed besides probable; the copious division of the subject demands also in point of style a more developed predicate. Pro 16:27 is simpler in plan, and also logically different. There the expression is, as is usual, אישׁ בליעל. Since אדם און is not possible, the author uses instead בליעל. This word, composed of בּלי and יעל (from יעל, ועל, to be useful, to be good for), so fully serves as one word, that it even takes the article, Sa1 25:25. It denotes worthlessness, generally in a chain of words in the genitive, but also the worthless, Job 34:18; and it is to be so taken here, for אדם does not form a constructivus, and never governs a genitive. בליעל is thus a virtual adjective (as nequam in homo nequam); the connection is like that of אדם רשׁע, Pro 11:7, and elsewhere, although more appositional than this pure attributive. Synonymous with בליעל is און (from an, to breathe), wickedness, i.e., want of all moral character. Thus worthless and wicked is he who practises deceit with his mouth (cf. Pro 4:24), i.e., who makes language the means of untruthfulness and uncharitableness. עקּשׁוּת פּה is meant in a moral sense, but without excluding that distortion of the mouth which belongs to the mimicry of the malicious. It is the accus. of the object; for הלך is also bound in a moral sense with the accusative of that which one practises, i.e., dealing with, exercises himself in, Pro 2:7; Pro 28:18, Isa 33:15.
Pro 6:13
קורץ בּעיניו is translated according to the sense: who winks (nictat) with his eyes; but that is not the proper meaning of the word, for קרץ is used not only of the eyes. Pro 10:10 (cf. Pro 16:30, qui oculos morsicat or connivet), Psa 35:19, but also of the lips, Pro 16:30. Thus Lwenstein's explanation: who opens up the eyes, is incorrect. The verb קרץ unites in it the meanings of Arab. qrts, to pinch off with a sharp implement, and Arab. qrd, with a blunt instrument (Arab. miḳraḍ, pincers). It means to pince, to nip, as Arab. ḳarṣ, pincer - e.g., ḳarṣ balskyn alarsasat, he cuts off with the knife the leaden seal - hence frequently, to nip together the eyes, provincially: to wink ("zwickern," frequent. of "zwicken," to nip) with the eyes - the action of the deceiver, who thereby gives the sign to others that they help or at least do not hinder him from bantering and mocking, belying and deceiving a third person (Fl.); cf. Ali's proverb, "O God, pardon to us the culpable winking with the eye (ramzat)," and Fleischer's notes thereon, the Proverbs of Ali, p. 100f.
That the words which follow, בּרגליו מולל, are meant of discourse, i.e., the giving of signs, with the feet, and, so to say, significant oratio pedestris (lxx, Aben-Ezra, Bertheau, Hitzig, and others), is very improbable, since the usage of language has set apart the Piel מלּל for the meaning loqui, and מולל admits another suitable signification, for מולל means in Talmudic fricare, confricare - e.g., המולל מלילות, he who grinds the parched ears of corn (b. Beza 12b; Ma'seroth, iv. 5) - after which Syr., Targ., תכס (stamping), Aq. τρίβων, Symm. προστρίβων, Jerome, (qui) terit pede, and Rashi משׁפשׁף (grinding, scratching); it means one who scrapes with his feet, draws them backwards and forwards on the ground in order thereby to give a sign to others; also the Arab. mll, levem et agilem esse, which as the synonym of Arab. sr is connected with Arab. fı̂ of the way, signifies properly to move the feet quickly hither and thither (Fl.).
(Note: The root-idea of the Arab. mall is unquietness of motion; the Arab. noun mallt signifies the glow with its flickering light and burning: glowing ashes, inner agitation, external haste; Arab. malil (מלל) is the feverish patient, but also one quickly hastening away, and generally an impatient or hasty person (vid., Wetstein in Baudissin in his Job. Tischendorfianus, vii. 6). The grinding is made by means of a quick movement hither and thither; and so also is speaking, for the instrument of speech, particularly the tongue, is set in motion. Only the meaning praecidere, circumcidere, does not connect itself with that root-idea: מל in this signification appears to be a nance of מר, stringere.)
מרה appears here, in accordance with its primary signification (projicere, sc. brachium or digitum = monstrare), connected with בּעצבּעתיו; another expression for this scornful, malicious δακτυλοδεικνεῖν is שׁלח אצבּע, Isa 58:9.
Pro 6:14
In this verse is continued the description of the subject, only once returning to the particip. The clauses are arranged independently, but logically according to the complex conception of the subject. תּהפּכות .tce are just the knaveries, i.e., the malicious wickedness which comes to light in word and deportment as עקשׁות פה. Regarding the double figure of the smithy and of agriculture underlying חרשׁ, machinari, vid., at Pro 3:29, and regarding the omission of the הוּא to חרשׁ, at Psa 7:10. The phrase שׁלּח מדנים (as Pro 6:19, Pro 16:28), to let loose disputes, so that they break forth, reminds us rather of the unfettering of the winds by Aeolus than of the casting in of the apple of discord. Instead of מדנים the Kerı̂ has מדינים; on the other hand, מדנים remains uncorrected Pro 6:19; Pro 10:12. The form מדינים occurs once, Pro 18:18, and its constr. מדיני once, Pro 19:13. Everywhere else the text has מדונים, for which the Kerı̂ has מדינים, Pro 18:19; Pro 21:9, Pro 21:19; Pro 23:29; Pro 25:24; Pro 26:21; Pro 27:15. The forms מדין and מדן are also recognised: the former stands alone without any analogous example; the latter is compared at least with מצד, Arab. masâd (Psalmen, p. 163, 3). Probably these two forms are warranted by Gen 25:2, cf. Gen 37:28, Gen 37:36, where מדין and מדן occur as the names of two sons of Abraham by Keturah. But the national name מדינים is no reason for the seven times laying aside of the regular form מדונים, i.e., מדונים, which is the plur. of מדון after the forms מאורים, מעורים, although מדוּנים, after the forms מבוּשׁים, מצוּקים, is also found.
Pro 6:15
With the 14th verse the description terminates. A worthless and a wicked person is he who does such things. The point lies in the characteristic out of which the conclusion is drawn: therefore his ruin will suddenly come upon him, etc. Regarding איד, the root-meaning of which is illustrated by Amo 2:13, vid., at Pro 1:26. פּתאם is an old accus. of an absol. פּתא, of the same meaning as פּתע, used as an adverbial accus., both originating in the root-idea of splitting, opening, breaking out and breaking forth. "Shall be broken to pieces" (as a brittle potter's vessel, Psa 2:9; Isa 30:14; Jer 29:11) is a frequent figure for the destruction (שׁבר) of an army (cf. Arab. ânksar âljysh), of a city or a state, a man. ואין continues the ישּׁבר as Pro 29:1 : there shall be as it were no means of recovery for his shattered members (Fl.). Without the Vav this אין מרפּא would be a clause conceived of accusatively, and thus adverbially: without any healing. |
Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
A naughty person - אדם בליעל adam beliyal, "Adam good for nothing." When he lost his innocence. A man apostata; Old MS. Bible.
A wicked man - איש און ish aven. He soon became a general transgressor after having departed from his God. All his posterity, unless restored by Divine grace, are men of Belial, and sinners by trade; and most of them, in one form or other, answer the character here given. They yield their members instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. |
24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
22 Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them ought of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart.
25 Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.
13 Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;
1 He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
14 And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.
9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
13 Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.
15 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.
36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard.
28 Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
2 And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.
15 A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.
21 As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife.
24 It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house.
29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
19 It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman.
9 It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.
19 A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.
13 A foolish son is the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping.
18 The lot causeth contentions to cease, and parteth between the mighty.
12 Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.
19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
28 A froward man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends.
19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
10 My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.
29 Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.
14 Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.
9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
30 He shutteth his eyes to devise froward things: moving his lips he bringeth evil to pass.
19 Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause.
30 He shutteth his eyes to devise froward things: moving his lips he bringeth evil to pass.
10 He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow: but a prating fool shall fall.
13 He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers;
15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;
18 Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved: but he that is perverse in his ways shall fall at once.
7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
7 When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish: and the hope of unjust men perisheth.
18 Is it fit to say to a king, Thou art wicked? and to princes, Ye are ungodly?
25 Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.
27 An ungodly man diggeth up evil: and in his lips there is as a burning fire.
12 A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.