Proverbs 27:19

As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
water	כַּ֭מַּיִם Ka.ma.yim	H4325	water · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
face	הַפָּנִ֣ים ha.pa.Nim	H6440	the face (as the part that turns) · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
face	לַפָּנִ֑ים la.pa.Nim	H6440	the face (as the part that turns) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
heart	לֵֽב lev-	H3820	the heart · noun, common masculine singular construct
man	הָ֝אָדָ֗ם ha.'a.Dam	H120	ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
man	לָאָדָֽם la.'a.Dam	H120	ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · preposition with the article + 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

James 1:22-25 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
Psalms 33:15 He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works.
Mark 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
Genesis 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continu…

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 27:19

This shows us that there is a way, 1. Of knowing ourselves. As the water is a looking-glass in which we may see our faces by reflection, so there are mirrors by which the heart of a man is discovered to a man, that is, to himself. Let a man examine his own conscience, his thoughts, affections, and intentions. Let him behold his natural face in the glass of the divine law (Jam 1:23), and he may discern what kind of man he is and what is his true character, which it will be of great use to every man rightly to know. 2. Of knowing one another by ourselves; for, as there is a similitude between the face of a man and the reflection of it in the water, so there is between one man's heart and anoth…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 27:19

We may see our characters in the developed tempers of others.

John Gill on Proverbs 27:19

As in water face answereth to face,.... As water is as a looking glass, in which a man may behold his own face and another's; or as the face in the water answers to the face of a man, and there is a great likeness between them. All things through water appear greater, as Seneca (m) observes, and so more clear and plain; so the heart of man to man; one man's heart may be seen and discerned in some measure by another, as by his countenance; for though, as the poet (n) says, "frontis nulla fides", yet the countenance is often the index of the mind, though not an infallible one; wrath and anger in the breast may be seen in the face, as were in Cain's; thus Jacob saw some resentment at him in th…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 27:19

19 As it is with water, face correspondeth to face, So also the heart of man to man. Thus the traditional text is to be translated; for on the supposition that כּמּים must be used for כּבמּים, yet it might not be translated: as in waters face corresponds to face (Jerome: quomodo in aquis resplendent vultus respicientium), because כּ (instar) is always only a prep. and never conj. subordinating to itself a whole sentence (vid., under Psa 38:14). But whether כּמּים, "like water," may be an abridgment of a sentence: "like as it is with water," is a question, and the translation of the lxx (Syr., Targ., Arab.), ὥσπερ οὐχ ὅμοια πρόσωπα προσώποις, κ.τ.λ., appears, according to Bttcher's ing…

The Church Fathers

This story was told: There were three friends, serious men, who became monks. One of them chose to make peace between men who were at odds, as it is written, 'Blessed are the peacemakers' (Matt. 5:9). The second chose to visit the sick. The third chose to go away to be quiet in solitude. Now the first, toiling among contentions, was not able to settle all quarrels and, overcome with weariness, he went to him who tended the sick, and found him also failing in spirit and unable to carry out his purpose. So the two went away to see him who had withdrawn into the desert, and they told him their troubles. They asked him to tell them how he himself had fared. He was silent for a while, and then poured water into a vessel and said, 'Look at the water,' and it was murky. After a little while he said again, 'See now, how clear the water has become.' As they looked into the water they saw their own faces, as in a mirror. Then he said to them, 'So it is with anyone who lives in a crowd; because of the turbulence, he does not see his sins: but when he has been quiet, above all in solitude, then he recognizes his own faults.'
— Desert Fathers, The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks

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

Friendship · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

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 27:19

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 27:19

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 27:19

John Gill on Proverbs 27:19

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 27:19

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 27:19

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 27:19

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 27:19

John Gill on Proverbs 27:19

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 27:19

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 27:18

Rashi on Proverbs 27:19