Proverbs 11:22

As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
jewel	נֶ֣זֶם Ne.zem	H5141	a nose-ring · noun, common masculine singular construct
gold	זָ֭הָב za.ho	H2091	gold · noun, common masculine singular absolute
swine’s	חֲזִ֑יר cha.Zir	H2386	a hog (perhaps as penned) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
snout	בְּאַ֣ף be.'Af	H639	properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
fair	יָ֝פָ֗ה ya.Fah	H3303	beautiful (literally or figuratively) · adjective, feminine singular absolute
woman	אִשָּׁ֥ה 'i.Shah	H802	a woman · noun, common feminine singular absolute
without	וְסָ֣רַת ve.Sa.rat	H5493	to turn off (literal or figurative) · conjunction + verb, qal active participle, feminine singular construct
discretion	טָֽעַם Ta.'am	H2940	properly · noun, common masculine singular 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

1 Peter 3:3-4 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;
Proverbs 31:30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
Nahum 3:4-6 Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredom…
Proverbs 7:10 And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.
Proverbs 9:13 A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple, and knoweth nothing.
2 Peter 2:22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wal…
Genesis 24:47 And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bare unto him: and I put…
Ezekiel 16:15-22 But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that…

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 11:22

By discretion here we must understand religion and grace, a true taste and relish (so the word signifies) of the honours and pleasures that attend an unspotted virtue; so that a woman without discretion is a woman of a loose and dissolute conversation; and then observe, 1. It is taken for granted here that beauty or comeliness of body is as a jewel of gold, a thing very valuable, and, where there is wisdom and grace to guard against the temptations of it, it is a great ornament, (Gratior est pulchro veniens de corpore virtus - Virtue appears peculiarly graceful when associated with beauty); but a foolish wanton woman, of a light carriage, is fitly compared to a swine, though she be ever so h…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 11:22

Jewels were often suspended from the nose (Gen 24:47; Isa 3:21). Thus adorned, a hog disgusts less than a fair and indiscreet woman.

John Gill on Proverbs 11:22

As a jewel of gold in a swine's snout,.... The allusion seems to be to the ringing of swine, to prevent their rooting up the earth; which is usually done by putting an iron ring into their snout; which is much more proper and suitable than a gold ring, or a jewel set in gold, which is very unbecoming such a creature; and is soon had to the dunghill, or to some miry place, and there defiled; so is a fair woman which is without discretion; or, "has departed from taste" (y); from a taste of virtue and honour; lost all sense of modesty and chastity; forsaken her husband, and given up herself to the embraces of others. As her beauty is fitly expressed by a "jewel of gold", which is valuable and…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 11:22

The following proverbs are especially directed, as connected with this כן, against the contradiction of the external appearance and of the masked internal nature. 20 An abomination to Jahve are the crookedly dishonest of heart, And they who are of honest walk are his delight.

The Church Fathers

What is a holy appellation without merit but an ornament set in the mud? The holy Scriptures have testified to this in writing: "A golden ring in a swine's snout, a woman fair and foolish." And in us the appellation Christian is like a golden ornament. If we use it unworthily, we seem to be swine with an ornament.
— Salvian the Presbyter, THE GOVERNANCE OF GOD 4:1

Reason also forbids us to do violence to nature by piercing the lobes of the ear. Why not pierce the nostrils also? The Scriptures would then be accomplished indeed: "As a ring in the nose of the swine, so is beauty in a foolish woman." To conclude, if anyone thinks he is decorated when he wears gold, then he is less than his gold, and he who is less than gold is not its master.
— Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor Book 3

As for those who seem to have some semblance of knowledge and those who do not abandon the sins of the flesh even when they apply themselves diligently to the reading and memorizing of Scripture, Proverbs has the following well-put statement: "The beauty of a woman of evil ways is like a golden ring in the snout of a pig." What use is it for a man to possess the jewel of heaven's words and to give himself over to that most precious loveliness of Scripture if he himself is stuck fast in muddied works and thoughts?
— John Cassian, CONFERENCE 14:16

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

Boar — Occurs only in Ps. 80:13. The same Hebrew word is elsewhere rendered “swine” (Lev. 11:7; Deut. 14:8; Prov. 11:22; Isa. 65:4; 66:3, 17). The Hebrews abhorred swine’s flesh, and accordingly none of…
Nose-jewels — Only mentioned in Isa. 3:21, although refered to in Gen. 24:47, Prov. 11:22, Hos. 2:13. They were among the most valued of ancient female ornaments. They “were made of ivory or metal, and…
Swine — (Heb. hazir), regarded as the most unclean and the most abhorred of all animals (Lev. 11:7; Isa. 65:4; 66:3, 17; Luke 15:15, 16). A herd of swine were drowned in the Sea of Galilee (Luke 8:32, 33).…
Family · INFELICITY IN — INFELICITY IN
Nose · Jewels for — Jewels for
Ring · Worn in the nose — Worn in the nose
Swine · Jewels in the nose of — Jewels in the nose of

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 11:22

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 11:22

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 11:22

John Gill on Proverbs 11:22

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 11:22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 11:22

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 11:22

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 11:22

John Gill on Proverbs 11:22

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 11:22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 11:22

Rashi on Proverbs 11:22