Proverbs 28:13

He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
covereth	מְכַסֶּ֣ה me.kha.Seh	H3680	properly · verb, piel active participle, masculine singular absolute
sins	פְ֭שָׁעָיו Fe.sha.'av	H6588	a revolt (national · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
prosper	יַצְלִ֑יחַ yatz.Li.ach	H6743	to push forward · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
confesseth	וּמוֹדֶ֖ה u.mo.Deh	H3034	physically · conjunction + verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular absolute
forsaketh	וְעֹזֵ֣ב ve.'o.Zev	H5800	to loosen · conjunction + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
mercy	יְרֻחָֽם ye.ru.Cham	H7355	to fondle · verb, pual imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular

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 John 1:8-10 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Psalms 32:3-5 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
Job 31:33 If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:
Luke 15:18-24 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
Jeremiah 3:12-13 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to f…
Psalms 51:1-5 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
Daniel 9:20-23 And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LOR…
Exodus 10:16-17 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you.

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 28:13

Here is, 1. The folly of indulging sin, of palliating and excusing it, denying or extenuating it, diminishing it, dissembling it, or throwing the blame of it upon others: He that thus covers his sins shall not prosper, let him never expect it. He shall not succeed in his endeavour to cover his sin, for it will be discovered, sooner or later. There is nothing hid which shall not be revealed. A bird of the air shall carry the voice. Murder will out, and so will other sins. He shall not prosper, that is, he shall not obtain the pardon of his sin, nor can he have any true peace of conscience. David owns himself to have been in a constant agitation while he covered his sins, Psa 32:3, Psa 32:4. W…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 28:13

(Compare Psa 32:3-5). Concealment of sin delivers none from God's wrath, but He shows mercy to the humble penitent (Psa 51:4).

John Gill on Proverbs 28:13

He that covereth his sins shall not prosper,.... God may cover a man's sins, and it is an instance of his grace, and it is the glory of it to do it, but a man may not cover his own: it is right in one good man to cover the sins of another, reproving him secretly, and freely forgiving him; but it is wrong in a man to cover his own: not that any man is bound to accuse himself before a court of judicature, or ought to expose his sins to the public, which would be to the hurt of his credit, and to the scandal of religion; but whenever he is charged with sin, and reproved for it by his fellow Christian, be should not cover it, that is, he should own it; for not to own and acknowledge it is to cov…

Read the whole note in the console

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 28:13

13 He that denieth his sin shall not prosper; But he that acknowledgeth and forsaketh it shall obtain mercy. Thus is this proverb translated by Luther, and thus it lives in the mouth of the Christian people. He who falsely disowns, or with self-deception excuses, if he does not altogether justify his sins, which are discernible as פּשׁעים, has no success; he remains, after Psa 32:1-11, in his conscience and life burdened with a secret ban; but he who acknowledges (the lxx has ἐξηγούμενος instead of ἐξομολογούμενος, as it ought to be) and forsakes (for the remissio does not follow the confessio, if there is not the accompaniment of nova obedientia) will find mercy (ירחם, as Hos 14:4). In…

The Church Fathers

"As confession and beauty are in the sight of God," so a sinner who confesses his sins and says, "My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness" loses his foul wounds and is made whole and clean. But "he that covers his sins shall not prosper."
— Jerome, LETTER 122.3

I address you too, the penitents. You should not keep back from yourselves this means of healing [confession] that has been given you. For it says in the Scripture, "He who confesses his sins and abandons them, on him God has mercy." Look at the son who squandered his wealth. And when he returned to his father, he received him in joy and slew the fatted ox for him. And his father rejoiced at his repentance and even invited his friends to rejoice with him. And his father embraced him and kept on kissing him, saying, "This my son was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found." And his father did not reprove him for the wealth he had squandered.
— Aphrahat the Persian Sage, DEMONSTRATIONS 7:12

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

Confession Of Sin · Promises to — Promises to
Impenitence · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Mercy Of God, The · Manifested: To repentant sinners — Manifested: To repentant sinners
Repentance · 4:29-31;10:16;30:1-3,8-10;32:29; — 4:29-31;10:16;30:1-3,8-10;32:29;
Self-Righteousness · 2:9; — 2:9;
Sin · Should be: Confessed — Should be: Confessed

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 28:13

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 28:13

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 28:13

John Gill on Proverbs 28:13

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 28:13

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 28:13

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 28:13

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 28:13

John Gill on Proverbs 28:13

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 28:13

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 28:13

Rashi on Proverbs 28:13