Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 18:4
The words of a man’s mouth [are as] deep waters, [and] the wellspring of wisdom [as] a flowing brook.
4. a man’s mouth ] The second clause of the verse limits and interprets the first. It is of a wise man’s mouth that the proverb speaks. His words are “as deep waters,” because they are no mere shallow talk, but are full of depth and meaning, “The well-spring of wisdom,” which is their source, does not soon run dry, but is “as a flowing brook,” in its full, clear, steady course. Such were Solomon’s own words to the queen of Sheba, 1Ki 10:1; 1Ki 10:3.
Somewhat similarly the LXX. make the first clause refer to the still unuttered word in the heart, and the second to its leaping forth thence like the stream from the spring:
“Deep water is a word in the heart of a man,
But it leaps forth as a river and a fountain of life.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The parallelism of the two clauses is probably one of contrast. If so, the proverb is a comparison between all teaching from without and that of the light within. The words of a mans mouth are dark as the deep waters of a pool, or tank (deep waters being associated in the Old Testament with the thought of darkness and mystery; compare Pro 20:5; Psa 69:2; Ecc 7:24); but the wellspring of wisdom is as a flowing brook, bright and clear. The verse presents a contrast like that of Jer 2:13.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Pro 18:4
The words of a mans mouth are as deep waters.
The importance of language
Language is one of the principal tests and standards of civilisation. The study of language is one of the most naturally interesting and naturally elevating studies with which the human mind can occupy itself.
I. It is of great intellectual importance. Only through the instrumentality of language can the thoughts of the mind be revealed and displayed. Nothing bewrays more obviously the rustiness and disorganisation of the intellect than inaccuracy and dulness of language.
II. The moral importance of language is still greater. As a rule the relations between intellect and conscience are harmonious. When the intellect is illuminated it brightens the conscience; when the conscience is quickened it animates the intellect. Language is often a standard of morals. Exactitude of utterance is seldom compatible with great frequency of utterance. Modern writing and modern speech are impotent because they are slipshod. Language is also a great moral force in the world by reason of its variety. A world of one language would not be a very interesting world.
III. The great religious importance of language. The utmost solemnity is attached in the Bible to the use of language. What man can think that words are light and little things when he remembers that it is through the instrumentality of words inspired that God has made known His greatest revelations to mankind? (Canon Diggle.)
The words of inspired wisdom
There are some who regard the two clauses of this verse as antithetic. The former indicating hidden depths of evil in the wicked man. The words of his mouth are as deep waters. That is, he is so full of guile and deceit that you cannot reach his meaning. The latter indicating the transparent communications of the wise and the good. The wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook. The communications of the one are guileful–the words conceal rather than reveal. The words of the other are honest and lucid. There are others who regard the two clauses as a parallelism. The character of the former clause is to be taken from the latter. The words of a mans mouth–that is, according to the second clause, of a wise mans mouth–are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook. We shall use the words thus as a parallelism to illustrate the words of inspired wisdom which are wise in the highest sense.
I. They are full. They are as deep waters. The world abounds with shallow words, mere empty sounds. The words in the general conversation of society and in the popular literature of the day are empty, shells without a kernel, mere husks without grain. But the words of inspired men are full, brimful, full of light and full of power.
1. The greatest thinkers have failed to exhaust their meaning.
2. Every modern thinker discovers new significance. Every paragraph has a continent of thought.
There lie vast treasures unexplored,
And wonders yet untold.
II. They are flowing. A flowing brook. The words of eternal truth are always in motion. They pulsate in thousands of souls every hour, and onward is their tendency.
1. They flow from the eternal wellspring of truth.
2. They flow through human channels. Divine wisdom speaks through man as well as through other organs. Holy men spake as they were moved, etc. The highest teacher was a man, Christ, the Logos. The words of His mouth were indeed as deep waters. Since Heaven has thus made man the organ of wisdom, it behoves man–
(1) Devoutly to realise the honour God has conferred upon his nature;
(2) Earnestly to aspire to the high honour of being a messenger of the Eternal. Man should not only be the student, but the revealer of God.
III. They are fertilising. They are here compared to waters and to a flowing brook. What water is to all physical life the words of heavenly wisdom are to souls. They quicken and satisfy.
1. It is a perennial brook. It has streamed down these centuries, imparting life and beauty in its course.
2. It is an accumulating brook. As brooks in nature swell into rivers by the confluence of contributory streams, so the brook of Divine truth widens and deepens by every contribution of holy thought. And never was it so broad and deep as now. (Homilist.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 4. The words of a man’s mouth] That is, the wise sayings of a wise man are like deep waters; howsoever much you pump or draw off, you do not appear to lessen them.
The well-spring of wisdom] Where there is a sound understanding, and a deep, well-informed mind, its wisdom and its counsels are an incessant stream, mekor chochmah, “the vein of wisdom,” ever throwing out its healthy streams: but mekor chaiyim, “the vein of LIVES,” is the reading of eight of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s MSS., and is countenanced by the Septuagint, , “the fountain of life.” And so the Arabic, [Arabic]. This is the more likely to be the true reading, because the figure of the heart propelling the blood through the great aorta, to send it to all parts of the animal system, is a favourite with Solomon, as it was with his father, David. See Clarke on Ps 36:9; “Pr 10:11“, &c.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
A mans, i.e. a wise mans, as the next clause explains this; who is worthy of the name and hath the understanding of a man in him. This Hebrew word ofttimes notes an eminent or excellent person, and therefore is opposed to Adam, which designs any ordinary man.
As deep waters; full of deep wisdom.
The well-spring of wisdom as a flowing brook; that wisdom which is in his heart is continually pouring forth wise and good counsels.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. Wise speech is like anexhaustless stream of benefit.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 in him; a well of living water, springing up unto everlasting life; and from thence it flows freely and constantly; communicating itself liberally unto others, and ministering grace to the hearers, for their edification.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
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 is meant in an ideal sense; but thus meant, , like , 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 , has not read , but (as Pro 20:5, ). But that “of many” is certainly not a right translation, yet right in so far as (as at Pro 12:14) is thought of as made prominent: the proverb expresses, in accordance with the form of narrative proverbs which present an example, what occurs in actual life, and is observed. Three different things are said of the words from a man’s mouth: they are deep waters, for their meaning does not lie on the surface, but can be perceived only by penetrating into the secret motives and aims of him who speaks; they are a bubbling brook, which freshly and powerfully gushes forth to him who feels this flow of words, for in this brook there never fails an always new gush of living water; it is a fountain or well of wisdom, from which wisdom flows forth, and whence wisdom is to be drawn. Hitzig supposes that the distich is antithetic; , or rather , “waters of the deep,” are cistern waters; on the contrary, “a welling brook is a fountain of wisdom.” But means deep, not deepened, and deep water is the contrast of shallow water; a cistern also may be deep (cf. Pro 22:14), but deep water is such as is deep, whether it be in the ocean or in a ditch. 4b also does not suggest a cistern, for thereby it would be indicated that the description, , is not here continued; the “fountain of wisdom” does not form a proper parallel or an antithesis to this subject, since this much rather would require the placing in contrast of deep and shallow, of exhausted (drained out) and perennial. And: the fountain is a brook, the well a stream – who would thus express himself! We have thus neither an antithetic nor a synonymous (lxx after the phrase , Jerome, Venet., Luth.), but an integral distich before us; and this leads us to consider what depths of thought, what riches of contents, what power of spiritual and moral advancement, may lie in the words of a man.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
4 The words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook.
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.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
True Source of Wisdom
Verse 4 appears to contrast the darkness, lack of clarity, in the thoughts of man with divine wisdom clear and pure as a flowing brook, Pro 20:5; Psa 119:2; Ecc 7:24; Jer 2:13. This suggests that man would be wise to draw from wisdom rather than his own ideas.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Pro. 18:4. The last clause of this verse may be divided into two smaller ones and placed in apposition, thus: a bubbling brook,a fountain of wisdom. Fausset remarks that the Hebrew word used for man is ish, a good man, not adam, the general term for man.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro. 18:4
A GOOD MANS MOUTH
We must understand Solomon here to refer to a good manto a man whose words are in harmony with the mind of God. Of such a man it may be said that his words are as deep waters and as a living spring.
I. Because his soul is in communication with an exhaustless source of spiritual life and wisdom. Rivers and wells that are fed from the mountain recesses which are filled with eternal snows never dry upthey are fed from a source that is never exhausted. So long as the lasting hills remain, and the present natural laws govern the world they must give forth every day abundant streams. A communication has been established between the soul of a good man and the living Godhe holds constant communion with a source of spiritual life which can never fail, and consequently he can never be at a loss for subjects upon which to discoursehis mind is always filled with new thoughts of God, and new hopes of heaven upon which to meditate himself and which he can communicate to others.
II. Because that which flows from his lips is beneficial and refreshing to others. The waters in a shallow and stagnant pond give little or no refreshment to the thirsty traveller; they may even be the means of imparting disease to those who drink of them, or who live near them. But the water from a well, or from a deep and flowing stream, is generally pure and wholesome to the taste, and refreshing to the land through which it flows. And so it is with the speech of a godly man. Very mighty are the influence of words for good or for ill. Our first parents lost Eden by listening to the words of the tempter, and the speech of the wicked always diffuses an unwholesome moral atmosphere around it, if it does not eject a deadly poison into the soul. But the conversation and teaching of the godly are always a means of moral health to others; by their words they witness for the truth of God, and are the means of opening mens eyes, and turning them from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God (Act. 26:13). And, like their Divine Master, they know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary (Isa. 50:4), and thus that which flows from their lips is as refreshing and healthful to weary and struggling men and women on the highway of life as the living, cooling watercourse is to the dusty and thirsty traveller.
III. Because the flow is natural and spontaneous. Water may be sent through a tract of country by artificial means; fields may be watered and reservoirs filled by calling in science to supply natural deficiencies. But there is, after all, no comparison between this kind of forced irrigation and that which is the result of natural causes. If there is water beneath the surface of the earth it must force its way and find an outlet; it needs no hand of man to come to its aid; it penetrates the soil and forms a fertilising stream in obedience to natural law. And so the speech of a good man has nothing forced or artificial about it. It is the overflow of heartfelt experience. Like the apostles of old, he cannot but speak the things which he has seen and heard (Act. 4:20). The good things of his lips are the natural outcome of the good treasure of his heart, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh (Mat. 12:24-25).
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Talleyrand defined speech to be the art of concealing ones opinions. Speech, even without any attempt at concealment, must be endlessly deep and wide as uttering all our being. Who can translate all its outgoings? If this be so with man, who shall judge of God and censure His obscurer revelations? Solomon is satisfied with one great difference,that while mans speech is deep, Gods speech is both deep and living. One has a vital source, the other is dead and stagnant. Grant that both are obscure. One is the darkness of a pool, the other the breadth and gush of an overflowing water. We ought to submit to mystery in God, for the tide of His utterance is to flow on for ever.Miller.
One greater than Solomon astonished the people by the clearness, no less than by the depth of the waters (Mat. 7:28-29). No blessing is more valuable than a rich indwelling of the word, ready to be brought out on all suitable occasions of instruction. If the wise man sometimes spares his words, it is not for want of matter, but for greater edification. The stream is ready to flow, and sometimes can scarcely be restrained. The cold-hearted, speculative professor has his flowsometimes a torrent of words, yet without a drop of profitable matter; chilling, even when doctrinally correct; without life, unction, or love. Lord! deliver us from this barren talk of the lips (chap. Pro. 14:23). May our waters be deep, flowing from thine own inner sanctuary, refreshing and fertilising the Church of God!Bridges.
In the two clauses of the verse, on the principle of parallelism, there appears to be an inversion of the same sentiment; for, properly speaking, the words uttered are not the deep waters, but the stream that issues from them; and, on the other hand, the wellspring of wisdom is not the flowing brook, but the deep and copious fountain or reservoir from which it issues. Another passage may serve to confirm this view. Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out. Here, the counsel is the deep water, not the words. But the words are the stream which the deep waters send forth. The words bring out and contain the counsel.Wardlaw.
It must be remembered that deep waters are associated in the Old Testament with the thought of darkness and mystery (Pro. 20:5; Psa. 69:2; Ecc. 7:24), and we get a more profound thought if we see in the proverb a comparison between all teaching from without and that of the light within. The words of a mans mouth are dark as the deep waters of a pool, or tank; but the well-spring of wisdom is as a flowing brook, bright and clear. So taken the verse presents a contrast like that of Jer. 2:13.Plumptre.
When this word vir is used for man in sacred Scriptures it signifieth one who is strong and mighty, and for his strength great and excellent, and then by a man here we may understand him who is mighty and great in knowledge; the words of such a man are as deep waters, to the bottom whereof the shallow capacity of every one is not able to reach. But yet where the spring of those waters is a well-spring of wisdom, though sometimes it send forth deep waters, yet it doth not always; for that were to overwhelm the hearers. But at other times it is as a flowing brook, more shallow for capacity, but more forcible also in the stream of it, and either by persuasive exhortation carrying on the hearers to a pursuit of virtue and godliness, or else by a dissuasive reproof carrying them away from the practice of wickedness, and in both washing away the stains of their sinful lives. Wherefore St. Gregory saith, so must every preacher deal with his hearers as God dealeth with him; he must not preach to the simple as much as he knoweth because himself doth not know of heavenly mysteries as much as they are.Jermin.
The subject of Pro. 18:5 has been treated in the Homiletics on chap. 17, Pro. 17:15 and Pro. 17:26.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(4) The words of a mans mouth are as deep waters . . .i.e., the words of a man, properly so called, are as deep waters which cannot be easily fathomed; they are a copious stream, which flows from a never failing source; they are a fountain of wisdom which is never exhausted.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. A flowing brook A gushing stream. The clause may be rendered: “The words of a man’s mouth are a gushing stream, a fountain of wisdom.” Though it is not expressed, the proverb implies (see second clause) that the words are those of a wise man, from whose mind, as from an inexhaustible fountain, flow continually excellent lessons of instruction. Comp. Pro 10:11; Pro 20:5; Ecc 7:24.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
v. 4. The words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 18:4 The words of a man’s mouth [are as] deep waters, [and] the wellspring of wisdom [as] a flowing brook.
Ver. 4. The words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters.] Fitly are the words of the wise resembled to waters, saith one, inasmuch as they both wash the minds of the hearers, that the foulness of sin remain not therein, and water them in such sort that they faint not, nor wither by a drought and burning desire of heavenly doctrine. Now these words of the wise are of two sorts – some are as deep waters, and cannot easily be fathomed, as Samson’s riddles and Solomon’s apothegms, so very much admired by the Queen of Sheba, 2Ch 9:1-9 ; some again are plain, and flow so easily, as a flowing brook, that the simplest may understand them. The same may be affirmed of the holy Scriptures — those “words of the wise and their dark sayings.” Pro 1:6 The Scriptures, saith one, are both text and gloss; one place opens another; one place hath that plainly, that another delivers darkly. The Rabbis have one saying, That there is a mountain of sense hangs upon every apex of the word of God; and another they have, Nulla est obiectio in lege quae non habet solutionem in latere – i.e., There is not any doubt in the law but may be resolved by some other text. Parallel scriptures cast a mutual light one upon another; and is there not a thin veil laid over the word, which is more rarefied by reading, and at last wholly worn away? A friend, says Chrysostom, that is acquainted with his friend, will get out the meaning of a letter or phrase which another could not that is a stranger; so it is in the Scripture.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
words. Hebrew. dabar. App-73.
wisdom. Hebrew. chakmah. See note on Pro 1:2.
flowing brook = a gushing torrent. Hebrew. nahal.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 18:4
Pro 18:4
“The words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters; The wellspring of wisdom is as a flowing brook.”
The two clauses contrast man’s teachings (the words of a man’s mouth) with the true wisdom. “Deep waters in the Old Testament are associated with the thought of darkness and mystery (Psa 59:2; Ecc 7:24; Pro 20:3).” On the other hand, the true wisdom (God’s Words) are like the happy sparkling waters of a flowing brook. Christ seems to have had this passage in mind (Joh 7:37-38) on that last day of the feast.
Pro 18:4. The verse is not talking about just any mouth but the mouth of wisdom. A wise mans mouth is likened to a deep, flowing spring. Such is a great blessing to all around him, and to such they turn for counsel and guidance.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
words: Pro 10:11, Pro 13:14, Pro 16:22, Pro 20:5, Mat 12:34, Joh 4:14, Joh 7:38, Joh 7:39, Col 3:16, Col 4:6
the wellspring: Psa 78:2
Reciprocal: 2Ch 9:2 – all Pro 18:21 – Death Mat 13:52 – which
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 18:4. The words of a mans mouth Of a wise mans; are as deep waters Full of deep wisdom; and the well-spring of wisdom as a flowing brook That wisdom which is in his heart is continually pouring forth wise and good counsels.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
18:4 The words of a man’s mouth [are as] deep {d} waters, [and] the wellspring of wisdom [as] a flowing brook.
(d) Which can never be drawn empty, but always bring profit.