Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 11:13

A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.

13. A talebearer ] Rather, He that goeth about as a talebearer. This, as indicated in A.V. marg. ( He that walketh being a talebearer), is the literal and more forcible rendering. It also brings out the warning more clearly, q.d. Don’t trust such a man.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

The man who comes to us with tales about others will reveal our secrets also. Faithfulness is shown, not only in doing what a man has been commissioned to do, but in doing it quietly and without garrulity.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 13. A talebearer] holech rachil, the walking busybody, the trader in scandal.

Revealeth secrets] Whatever was confided to him he is sure to publish abroad. The word means a hawker, or travelling chapman. Such are always great newsmongers; and will tell even their own secrets, rather than have nothing to say.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

A tale-bearer, or, he that goeth about (from one place or person to another, as the manner of such is) telling tales, making it his business to scatter reports, revealeth secrets; this tattling humour is so prevalent with him, that he cannot forbear to publish, either his neighbours secret faults, or such things as were committed to his trust with a charge of secrecy.

He that is of a faithful spirit, that hath a sincere, and constant, and faithful mind, which both can and will govern his tongue,

concealeth the matter, so far as he can lawfully do.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

13. tale-bearer(CompareMargin), one trading as a peddler in scandal, whose propensityto talk leads him to betray confidence.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

A talebearer revealeth secrets,…. The Arabic version adds, in the congregation, openly and publicly; that goes about with tales from place to place, who is like a walking merchant or peddler, as the word l signifies; who takes up his wares at one place, and exposes them to sale, and vends them at another; so a talebearer, he goes from house to house, and picks up tales at one place and carries them to another and tells them; and as by his going about he gets into the secrets of persons and families, or is intrusted with them, his character not being known, he reveals them to others, and so breaks the trust committed to him see 1Ti 5:13. The Targum and Syriac version render it “an accuser”; and the same name is given to the devil in the New Testament, and indeed such a man is no better;

but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter; that is “faithful” to his friend, that trusts him with his secrets, of which there are but few; he “conceals the matter” he is entrusted with: “the things”, as the Septuagint version; the secrets which are imparted to him; or “the word” m that he has heard, and has been spoken to him in privacy, and in strict friendship: or he “covers the matter” n or thing; he hides the infirmities of his friend and neighbour, and does not expose them as the talebearer does; see 1Pe 4:8.

l “obambulat ut mercator”, Tigurine version; “qui incedit nundinator”, Schultens. m “verbum”, Pagninus, Montanus, Mercerus, Baynus. n “tegit rem”, Junius Tremellius, Piscator “velat negotium”, Schultens.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

13 He who goeth about tattling revealeth secrets;

But he who is of a faithful spirit concealeth a matter.

The tattler is called (intensive form of ), from his going hither and thither. , Eze 22:9, are men given to tattling, backbiters; (cf. Lev 19:16), one of the tattlers or backbiters goes, a divulger of the matter, a tell-tale. It is of such an one that the proverb speaks, that he reveals the secret ( , properly the being close together for the purpose of private intercourse, then that intercourse itself, vid., at Psa 25:14); one has thus to be on his guard against confiding in him. On the contrary, a , firmus ( fidus ) spiritu , properly one who is established, or reflexively one who proves himself firm and true ( vid., at Gen 15:6), conceals a matter, keeps it back from the knowledge and power of another. Zckler rightly concludes, in opposition to Hitzig, from the parallelism that the is subject; the arrangement going before also shows that this is the “ground-word” (Ewald); in Pro 20:19 the relation is reversed: the revealer of secrets is rightly named (cf. Sir. 27:16, , … ).

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

13. A talebearer , holekh rakhil. The root of the first word means to walk, of the second, to go about as a trader, a pedler. Such persons gather up the news and carry the gossip from house to house and from place to place; hence, perhaps, the word came to signify a talebearer, a pedler of news, a newsmonger.

He that is of a faithful spirit A right thinking and right feeling man will cover up whatever word or thing comes to his knowledge that would be injurious to honest people. Compare Pro 20:19; Pro 25:9; Jeremiah 16:28; Lev 19:16; 1Pe 2:1, James 3; also Jas 4:11.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

v. 13. A talebearer revealeth secrets, his conduct in going about tattling and slandering results in the betrayal of many a thing which had better remained bidden; but he that is of a faithful spirit, one who proves himself trustworthy, one upon whom people can depend, concealeth the matter, secrets which were committed to him, things whose publication will result only in heartaches and not in edification. A different matter is that broached Matthew 18, 15-20.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Pro 11:13 A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.

Ver. 13. A talebearer revealeth secrets. ] Heb., A pedlar. See Trapp on “ Lev 19:16 “ See Trapp on “ 1Ti 5:13 “ Si sapis arcano vina reconde cado. God forbids us to chaffer with these petty chapmen. Pro 20:19

Concealeth the matter. ] Tacitus to him is the best historian – primus in historia. He is a rare friend that can both give counsel and keep counsel. One being hit in the teeth with his stinking breath, wittily excused it, that it was by reason of the many secrets committed to him, and concealed by him so long, till they were even rotten in his bosom.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

A talebearer = He that goes about talebearing: or, a peddler in scandal. Compare Lev 19:16. Jam 1:26. Illustrations: Doeg (1Sa 21:7; 1Sa 22:9, 1Sa 22:10. Psa 52:2, Compare Pro 24:28); the nobles of Judah (Neh 6:17-19).

secrets = a secret.

spirit. Hebrew. ruach. App-9.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Pro 11:13

Pro 11:13

“He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets; But he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth a matter.”

Of all the damaging habits of evil people, that of the gossip and the talebearer must rank very high indeed. “The one who comes to us with tales of others will also reveal our secrets. “Any person who tells secrets about other people can’t be trusted. But a person that can be trusted does not spread gossip. As DeHoff said it, “There is no bigger fool than the one who tells everything he knows.”

Pro 11:13. A double contrast: talebearer vs. faithful spirit and reveleth vs. concealeth. The first statement is found also in Pro 20:19. Wisdom dictates that some things should not be told. Both Lev 19:16 and 1Ti 5:13 show that talebearing is wrong.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

A tale bearer, Heb. He that walketh being a talebearer, Pro 20:19, Lev 19:16

revealeth: Pro 25:9, Pro 26:20-22, Neh 6:17-19

he: Pro 14:5, Jos 2:14, Jos 2:20, Jer 38:27

Reciprocal: Exo 20:16 – General Pro 12:23 – A prudent

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

TALEBEARING

A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.

Pro 11:13

I. A talebearer.One celebrated nation of antiquity used to express this mans character by a very significant figure. They called a talebearer a seedpicker. There are men in the world who live by going about here and there, from house to house, through a town large or small, and gathering together all the little stories which can be told about the neighbours who are dwelling securely by them, and ignorant of the calumnies by which they are assailed.

II. A talebearer revealeth secrets.Many motives go to make up a talebearer. (1) Perhaps he is a witty man. (2) Or he may be a man in whose own conscience there is a sore place. And it is a relief to him to hope that others are not so much better than himself. (3) There are others who cannot bear superiors. Their only comfort is in a general disbelief of virtue.

III. He that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.He does not say what matter. But we may understand it to include two things: that which has been entrusted to him in the secrecy of confidence, and that which has become known to him to anothers disparagement.

Dean Vaughan.

Illustration

It is hardly possible for a talebearer not to get into the habit of talking more about the faults of others than about their excellences. Most novelists feel that if there is no wickedness in their book it is almost sure to be dull; and most talebearers find that there is something much more effective in a story about the weaknesses, mistakes, or follies of others than in a story about their wisdom and virtue. You may speak of the good deeds of your friends incessantly, and never earn the name. The very word talebearer has come to mean one who tells tales to other peoples discredit; and we have not a word in the language which denotes one who habitually speaks of other mens excellences.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary