Proverbs › Chapter 25

Proverbs 25

28 verses, grouped into the passages they belong to.

These also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied:

A new collection begins, and the verse tells you who gathered it: scribes working for King Hezekiah, roughly two and a half centuries after Solomon. The Bible is describing its own editing, out loud, in its own text.

Proverbs 25:2

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

God's greatness shows in what He does not explain. A king's shows in what he digs up. The verse gives the same word to both and points them in opposite directions.

Proverbs 25:3

As the heavens for height and the earth for depth, So the heart of kings is unsearchable.

You will not get to the bottom of what a king is thinking. The verse measures that against the sky and the ground and says the distance is the same.

Dross from Silver

Proverbs 25:4–5

Read the whole unit The two verses open with the identical Hebrew verb, הָגוֹ , take away, which is what makes them one saying rather than two.

Proverbs 25:4

Take away the dross from silver, And it will go to the silversmith for jewelry.

Get the impurity out of the silver and a craftsman can make something of it. The verse is a metallurgy note that turns out to be about a government.

Proverbs 25:5

Take away the wicked from before the king, And his throne will be established in righteousness.

Same instruction, different material. Clear the wicked out of the king's presence and the throne itself becomes stable.

Do Not Exalt Yourself Before the King

Proverbs 25:6–7

Read the whole unit The counsel is prudential before it is moral, and it works by arithmetic.

Proverbs 25:6

Do not exalt yourself in the presence of the king, And do not stand in the place of the great;

Do not put yourself forward at court, and do not take a seat that was not offered. The saying is about self-promotion in a room where rank is visible.

Proverbs 25:7

For it is better that he say to you, “Come up here,” Than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince, Whom your eyes have seen.

Because there are only two ways it ends, and one of them happens in front of everybody. Being invited up is better than being moved down.

Do Not Go Hastily to Court

Proverbs 25:8–10

Three verses on a single scenario: a dispute with a neighbor, and the temptation to escalate it publicly before thinking.

Proverbs 25:8

Do not go hastily to court; For what will you do in the end, When your neighbor has put you to shame?

Do not rush to sue. The verse makes you finish the story first and asks what your plan is if you lose in public.

Proverbs 25:9

Debate your case with your neighbor, And do not disclose the secret to another;

Take it up with the person you have the problem with, and do not spend somebody else's confidence to win.

Proverbs 25:10

Lest he who hears it expose your shame, And your reputation be ruined.

The person listening becomes the next problem. Once your name is damaged, the verse says, it does not come back.

Proverbs 25:11

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold In settings of silver.

The right words at the right moment are a made object, valuable and finished. The verse treats good speech as craftsmanship rather than luck.

Proverbs 25:12

Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold Is a wise rebuker to an obedient ear.

Correction that lands well is jewelry, not injury. The verse needs both halves to work: a wise corrector and an ear willing to hear.

Proverbs 25:13

Like the cold of snow in time of harvest Is a faithful messenger to those who send him, For he refreshes the soul of his masters.

A messenger you can trust feels like cold in the heat. The verse is about relief arriving when it was needed and not expected.

Proverbs 25:14

Whoever falsely boasts of giving Is like clouds and wind without rain.

Announcing a gift you never gave is weather that promises and does not deliver. The verse picks the cruelest possible image for it.

Proverbs 25:15

By long forbearance a ruler is persuaded, And a gentle tongue breaks a bone.

Patience gets further with powerful people than pressure does, and the second line puts it as a paradox: soft speech breaks bone.

Proverbs 25:16

Have you found honey? Eat only as much as you need, Lest you be filled with it and vomit.

Good things have a quantity. The verse says it about honey and makes the consequence unpleasant enough to remember.

Proverbs 25:17

Seldom set foot in your neighbor's house, Lest he become weary of you and hate you.

Even welcome company has a limit. The verse applies the honey principle to friendship, one verse after stating it.

Proverbs 25:18

A man who bears false witness against his neighbor Is like a club, a sword, and a sharp arrow.

Perjury is assault with three weapons. The verse refuses to treat lying about someone as a speech problem.

Proverbs 25:19

Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble Is like a bad tooth and a foot out of joint.

Relying on someone unreliable when it matters is not neutral, it is painful. The two images are both about a part of you that fails under load.

Proverbs 25:20

Like one who takes away a garment in cold weather, And like vinegar on soda, Is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.

Cheerfulness aimed at someone in grief does harm, not good. The verse compares it to stripping a coat off a cold man, which is how badly it misses.

Feed Your Enemy

Proverbs 25:21–22

Read the whole unit The first verse is the plainest thing in the chapter and the hardest.

Proverbs 25:21

If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;

Feed him. The saying does not ask whether he deserves it, whether he has changed, or whether he is still your enemy, and the omission is the instruction.

Proverbs 25:22

For so you will heap coals of fire on his head, And the LORD will reward you.

The reason is an image nobody agrees about, coals of fire on his head, followed by a promise the reader can rely on: the LORD will reward you.

Proverbs 25:23

The north wind brings forth rain, And a backbiting tongue an angry countenance.

Certain winds bring certain weather, and certain talk brings certain faces. The verse pairs two reliable causes.

Proverbs 25:24

It is better to dwell in a corner of a housetop, Than in a house shared with a contentious woman.

The identical saying, repeated across collections. Peace in a bad spot beats conflict in a good one, and the verse is about a household at war rather than about women.

Proverbs 25:25

As cold water to a weary soul, So is good news from a far country.

News you have been waiting for lands like cold water on a thirsty person. The verse is about relief arriving from out of reach.

Proverbs 25:26

A righteous man who falters before the wicked Is like a murky spring and a polluted well.

When a good man gives way under pressure, something a community depended on stops being drinkable. The verse measures the loss in public terms.

Proverbs 25:27

It is not good to eat much honey; So to seek one's own glory is not glory.

Too much of a sweet thing is bad for you, and chasing your own reputation works the same way. The comparison is clear even where the Hebrew is not.

Proverbs 25:28

Whoever has no rule over his own spirit Is like a city broken down, without walls.

Self-control is infrastructure. Without it a person is not weak so much as undefended, open to whatever arrives.

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