a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
mouth
פִיfi-
H6310
the mouth (as the means of blowing) · noun, common masculine singular construct
deep
עֲ֭מֻקִּים'A.mu.kim
H6013
deep (literally or figuratively) · adjective, masculine plural absolute
waters
מַ֣יִםMa.yim
H4325
water · noun, common masculine plural absolute
wellspring
מְק֣וֹרme.Kor
H4726
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
wisdom
חָכְמָֽהchokh.mah
H2451
wisdom (in a good sense) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
flowing
נֹ֝בֵ֗עַno.Ve.a'
H5042
to gush forth · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
brook
נַ֥חַלNa.chal
H5158
a stream · 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
Proverbs 20:5 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.
Proverbs 10:11 The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.
Colossians 4:6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
Proverbs 13:14 The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.
John 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of…
John 7:38-39 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, sing…
Psalms 78:2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 18:4
The similitudes here seem to be elegantly transposed. 1. The well-spring of wisdom is as deep waters. An intelligent knowing man has in him a good treasure of useful things, which furnishes him with something to say upon all occasions that is pertinent and profitable. This is as deep waters, which make no noise, but never run dry. 2. The words of such a man's mouth are as a flowing brook. What he sees cause to speak flows naturally from him and with a great deal of ease, and freedom, and natural fluency; it is clean and fresh, it is cleansing and refreshing; from his deep waters there flows what there is occasion for, to water those about him, as the brooks do the low grounds.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 18:4
Wise speech is like an exhaustless stream of benefit.
John Gill on Proverbs 18:4
The words of a man's mouth are as deep waters,.... The words of a great and mighty man; of an excellent and valuable man, as Jarchi; or of a wise man, as Aben Ezra. The doctrines which such a man has imbibed, and his heart is full of and his mouth utters, are like to "waters", pure, purifying, and refreshing; to "deep waters", which make no noise, and cannot be easily fathomed: such are the deep mysteries of grace, the wisdom of God in a mystery, spoken among them that are perfect; of which a good man makes no boast, but humbly declares; out of the abundance of his heart, his mouth speaks;
and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook; there is a spring of spiritual wisdom and knowledge i…
4 Deep waters are the words from a man's mouth,
A bubbling brook, a fountain of wisdom.
Earlier, we added to hominis the supplement sc. sapientis, but then an unnecessary word would be used, and that which is necessary omitted. Rather it might be said that אישׁ is meant in an ideal sense; but thus meant, אישׁ, like גּבר, denotes the valiant man, but not man as he ought to be, or the man of honour; and besides, a man may be a man of honour without there being said of him what this proverb expresses. Ewald comes nearer the case when he translates, "deep waters are the heart-words of many." Heart-words - what an unbiblical expression! The lxx, which translates λόγος ἐν καρδίᾳ, has not read…
The Church Fathers
"The word in the heart of man is a deep water, and a river and fountain of life spring forth." By "deep water" he [Solomon] means "abundant" water which can often produce many rivers instead of one. Or, he says: it contains it deeply hidden in itself. As water is immeasurable, so the word in the heart of the person who lives according to God is without limit. Therefore, he uses "word" for knowledge. This is the one in whose heart a fountain of water is made when he hears the words of Jesus. He [Solomon] then speaks of it "springing forth," raining upon or watering the fields which makes them fertile.
Deep water, the words from the mouth of a man, etc. The words of the wise are compared to water because they both wash the minds of the listeners and irrigate them, lest they remain deformed by the filth of sins, or waste away through lack of heavenly doctrine, and as if perish through harmful dryness. And because in these same words of teachers, certain mystical and hidden things lie, which are comprehended by more diligent effort, while certain other things flow openly and easily to be understood by all who listen; rightly do they call these both deep water and an overflowing torrent. But it can also be distinguished in this way, that because the Scripture of the Old Testament is given typically, it is said of it, Deep water, words from the mouth of a man, because the Lord and the apostles openly revealed the mysteries of both Testaments to the world, it is added concerning them, And an overflowing torrent, a fountain of wisdom.
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
Brooks · Illustrative: Of wisdom — Illustrative: Of wisdom
Fountains And Springs · Illustrative: Of spiritual wisdom — Illustrative: Of spiritual wisdom
Speaking · WISDOM IN — WISDOM IN
Water · Illustrative: (Deep,) of the words of the wise of the wise — Illustrative: (Deep,) of the words of the wise of the wise
Wells · Illustrative: Of wisdom and understanding in man — Illustrative: Of wisdom and understanding in man
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).
Words flow from one’s character as water bubbles up from the earth (see also 10:20; 12:23; 16:23; cp. Jas 3:10-12).
Rashi on Proverbs 18:4
the wellspring of wisdom is like a flowing stream and like deep water.
The words of a man’s mouth Heb. איש. Every instance of איש in Scripture is an expression of a mighty man, one who is great in might.
