Proverbs 10:11

The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
mouth	פִּ֣י pi	H6310	the mouth (as the means of blowing) · noun, common masculine singular construct
righteous	צַדִּ֑יק tza.Dik	H6662	just · adjective, masculine singular absolute
well	מְק֣וֹר me.Kor	H4726	properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
life	חַ֭יִּים Chai.yim	H2416	alive · noun, common masculine plural absolute
violence	חָמָֽס cha.Mas	H2555	violence · noun, common masculine singular absolute
covereth	יְכַסֶּ֥ה ye.kha.Seh	H3680	properly · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
mouth	וּפִ֥י u.Fi	H6310	the mouth (as the means of blowing) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
wicked	רְ֝שָׁעִ֗ים re.sha.'Im	H7563	morally wrong · noun, common masculine plural absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Proverbs 13:14 The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.
Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the h…
Proverbs 10:6 Blessings are upon the head of the just: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.
Proverbs 10:20-21 The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth.
Proverbs 18:4 The words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook.
Psalms 37:30-31 The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.
Proverbs 10:32 The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.
Proverbs 15:7 The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish doeth not so.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 10:11

See here, 1. How industrious a good man is, by communicating his goodness, to do good with it: His mouth, the outlet of his mind, is a well of life; it is a constant spring, whence issues good discourse for the edification of others, like streams that water the ground and make it fruitful, and for their consolation, like streams that quench the thirst of the weary traveller. It is like a well of life, that is pure and clean, not only not poisoned, but not muddled, with any corrupt communication. 2. How industrious a bad man is, by concealing his badness, to do hurt with it: The mouth of the wicked covers violence, disguises the designed mischief with professions of friendship, that it may be…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 10:11

a well--or, "source" of good to himself and others (Joh 7:37-38). On last clause, see on Pro 10:6.

John Gill on Proverbs 10:11

The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life,.... Like a fountain of living water, continually running and flowing with water, wholesome, reviving, and refreshing; so the righteous man's mouth, out of the abundance of his heart, overflows with good things, which minister grace to the hearers, and are for the use of edifying; things that are pleasant and profitable, grateful and acceptable, comforting, refreshing, and pleasing, and which tend to the good of the life that now is, and that which is to come; but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked; so that nothing comes out of it but what is pernicious and hurtful; what savours of rapine and violence; nothing but lying and deceit, cursi…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 10:11

Another proverb, similar to the half of Pro 10:6 : A fountain of life is the mouth of the righteous; But the mouth of the godless hideth violence. If we understand 11b wholly as 6b: os improborum obteget violentia, then the meaning of 11a would be, that that which the righteous speaks tends to his own welfare (Fl.). But since the words spoken are the means of communication and of intercourse, one has to think of the water as welling up in one, and flowing forth to another; and the meaning of 11b has to accommodate itself to the preceding half proverb, whereby it cannot be mistaken that חמס (violence), which was 6b subj., bears here, by the contrast, the stamp of the obj.; for the possibility…

The Church Fathers

The mouth of the righteous is a well of life. And the Lord speaks of teachers, "He who believes in me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from his heart" (John VII).
— Bede, Commentary on Proverbs

And the mouth of the wicked covers iniquity. The wicked are those who conceal their own or their neighbor's faults, defending them so that they do not reach health. The prophet, detesting this, prays to the Lord that his heart might not incline to an evil word, to excuse excuses in sins (Psal. CXL).
— Bede, Commentary on Proverbs

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Poetry — Has been well defined as “the measured language of emotion.” Hebrew poetry deals almost exclusively with the great question of man’s relation to God. “Guilt, condemnation, punishment, pardon,…
Proverbs, Book of — A collection of moral and philosophical maxims of a wide range of subjects presented in a poetic form. This book sets forth the “philosophy of practical life. It is the sign to us that the Bible does…
Speaking · EVIL — EVIL
Wells · Illustrative: Of the mouth of the righteous — Illustrative: Of the mouth of the righteous

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Proverbs 10:11

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 10:11

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 10:11

John Gill on Proverbs 10:11

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 10:11

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 10:11

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 10:11

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 10:11

John Gill on Proverbs 10:11

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 10:11

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 10:11

Rashi on Proverbs 10:11