Proverbs 12:13

Pro 12:13 The wicked is snared by the transgression of [his] lips: but the just shall come out of trouble.

Ver. 13. The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips.] His heart is oft so full of venom that it cannot be hid, but blisters his tongue, and breaks out at his lips to his own ruin, as it befell Story, Campian, Garnet, and other Popish poisonous spiders, who were swept down by the hand of justice, and drew their last thread in the triangle of Tyburn. Detexit facinus fatuus, et non implevit, as Tacitus saith of one that was sent by the senate to despatch Nero, but exposed and betrayed himself.

But the just shall come out of trouble.] They suffer sometimes for their bold and free invectives against the evils of the times, or otherwise for discharging their consciences, but they shall surely be delivered. "There is yet one man," saith Ahab, "Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil." {1Ki 22:8} It is very probable that Micaiah was that disguised prophet who brought to Ahab the fearful message of displeasure and death for dismissing Benhadad, for which he was ever since fast in prison, deep in disgrace. But God, "with the temptation, made a way for him to escape." So he did for Peter; {Act 12:7-11} Paul; {2Ti 4:6-8} all the apostles. {Act 4:13-21} John Baptist, indeed, was, without any law, right, or reason, beheaded in prison, as though God had known nothing at all of him, said George Marsh the martyr. {a} And the same may be said of sundry other faithful withesses to the truth, but then by death they entered into life eternal. Mors fuit aerumnarum requies, which was Chaucer’s motto. Besides that, heaven upon earth they had during their troubles. Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, being a long time prisoner under Charles V, was demanded what upheld him all that while. Respondit, divinas consolationes martyrum se sensisse, he answered - that he had felt the divine comforts of the martyrs. The best comforts are usually reserved for the worst times.

{a} Acts and Mon., fol. 1423.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pro_12:13

The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips.

Lies, the snare that liars are caught in

The Supreme has set many snares, in the constitution of things, for the detection and punishment of evil-doers. The liars own tongue betrays him. In some of its movements, ere he is aware, it touches the spring which brings down the avenging stroke. It is instructive to read with this view the detailed account of a criminal trial. In the faltering and fall of a false witness you should see and reverence the righteousness of God. When a man is not true, the great labour of his life must be to make himself appear true; but if a man be true, he need not concern himself about appearances. He may go forward, and tread boldly; his footing is sure. (R. F. Horton, D.D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pro 12:13-14. The wicked is snared — Brought into trouble; by the transgression of his lips — By his wicked speeches against God and men; but the just shall come out of trouble — Namely, by his wise, and holy, and inoffensive words, whereby he pacifieth men, and pleases God, and therefore is favoured with his protection. A man shall be satisfied, &c., by the fruit of his mouth — By his pious and profitable discourses. And the recompense of a man’s hands — That is, of his works, of which the hand is the great instrument; shall be rendered unto him — Namely, by God, to whom the work of retribution belongs.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Proverbs regarding injurious and beneficial words, wise hearing and prudent silence.

13 In the transgression of the lips there lies a dangerous snare;

The righteous escapeth from trouble.

The consecutive modus (ויּצא) is here of greater weight than e.g., at Pro 11:8, where the connection follows without it (ויּבא) from the idea of the change of place. The translation: but the righteous ... restores ויצא (ויצא), and ignores the syllogistic relation of the members of the proverb, which shows itself here (cf. the contrary, Pro 11:9) to a certain degree by ויּצא. Ewald displaces this relation, for he paraphrases: "any one may easily come into great danger by means of inconsiderate words; yet it is to be hoped that the righteous may escape, for he will guard himself against evil from the beginning." He is right here in interpreting צרה and מוקשׁ רע as the designation of danger into which one is betrayed by the transgressions of his lips, but "inconsiderate words" are less than פּשׁע שׂפתים. One must not be misled into connecting with פּשׁע the idea of missing, or a false step, from the circumstance that פּשׁע means a step; both verbs have, it is true, the common R. פש with the fundamental idea of placing apart or separating, but פּשׁע has nothing to do with פּשׁע (step = placing apart of the legs), but denotes (as Arab. fusuwḳ fisḳ, from the primary meaning diruptio, diremtio) a sinning, breaking through and breaking off the relation to God (cf. e.g., Pro 28:24), or even the restraints of morality (Pro 10:19). Such a sinning, which fastens itself to, and runs even among the righteous, would not be called פשׁע, but rather חטּאת (Pro 20:9). According to this the proverb will mean that sinful words bring into extreme danger every one who indulges in them - a danger which he can with difficulty escape; and that thus the righteous, who guards himself against sinful words, escapes from the distress (cf. with the expression, Ecc 7:18) into which one is thereby betrayed. רע is the descriptive and expressive epithet to מוקשׁ (cf. Ecc 9:12): a bad false trap, a malicious snare, for מוקשׁ is the snare which closes together and catches the bird by the feet. This proverb is repeated at Pro 29:6, peculiarly remodelled. The lxx has after Pro 12:13 another distich:

He who is of mild countenance findeth mercy;

He who is litigious oppresseth souls.

(נפשׁות, or rather, more in accordance with the Hebrew original: oppresseth himself, נפשׁו.)

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

See here, 1. The wicked entangling themselves in trouble by their folly, when God in justice leaves them to themselves. They are often snared by the transgression of their lips and their throats are cut with their own tongues. By speaking evil of dignities they expose themselves to public justice; by giving ill language they become obnoxious to private resentments, are sued for defamation, and actions on the case for words are brought against them. Many a man has paid dearly in this world for the transgression of his lips, and has felt the lash on his back for want of a bridle upon his tongue, Psa 64:8. 2. The righteous extricating themselves out of trouble by their own wisdom, when God in mercy comes in for their succour: The just shall come out of such troubles as the wicked throw themselves headlong into. It is intimated that the just may perhaps come into trouble; but, though they fall, they shall not be utterly cast down, Psa 34:19.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The wicked is snared, &c.--The sentiment expanded. While the wicked, such as liars, flatterers, &c., fall by their own words, the righteous are unhurt. Their good conduct makes friends, and God rewards them.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 13. The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips] A man who deals in lies and false oaths will sooner or later be found out to his own ruin. There is another proverb as true as this: A liar had need of a good memory; for as the truth is not in him, he says and unsays, and often contradicts himself.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(13) The wicked is cursed by the transgression of his lips.—For his words, the product of his evil heart, while designed to injure others, often bring the offender himself into trouble (Psa_7:16), and moreover, as being the true index of the inner life of the soul, are being stored up as a witness against him at the day of judgment” (Mat_12:37). The “just man,” on the contrary, avoids all this “trouble.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. The wicked is snared] Rather:

In the transgression of the lips is a snare to the evil man,

R.V. text; comp. A.V. marg., and for the sentiment, Pro_18:7. This is preferable to the rendering of R.V. marg., an evil snare, because it preserves the balance of the verse: the evil man, by the wicked and deceitful words which he uses to prosecute his purposes, entangles himself in a snare: the righteous man, by his righteous dealing, though he fall into trouble, is delivered out of it and walks at liberty.

The LXX. add:

“He that hath regard to gentleness shall obtain mercy;

But he that opposeth men in the gates will trouble souls.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips,.... A wicked man often brings himself into trouble by giving his tongue too great a liberty, and by making free with the characters of others; sometimes by treasonable speeches against his sovereign; sometimes by bearing false Witness, and by lies and perjuries, of which he is convicted in open court; and by calumnies, reproaches, detraction, and scandal raised by him, and cast on his neighbour, who sues him for these things: or "in the transgression of the lips is an evil snare"; or "the snare of an evil man" (y); by the wicked things they say they lay a snare for others, which the simple and incautious are taken in; so heretics ensnare men by their good words and fair speeches, and plausibility of their doctrines; so antichrist, by lies in hypocrisy, and by his deceivableness of unrighteousness;

but the just shall come out of trouble; or escape it; he escapes the snare that is laid for him, and so the trouble consequent upon it; a just man escapes trouble by not giving his tongue the liberty wicked men do; and when he by any means falls into trouble, he gets out of it again by giving good words to those in whose hands he is; and by his prayers and supplications unto God. The righteous are sometimes in trouble, and in such sort of trouble as others are not; by reason of their own corruptions, Satan's temptations, the hidings of God's face, as well as various outward afflictions; out of all which the Lord delivers them sooner or later, in life or in death, Psa 34:19. Jarchi exemplifies this in the case of righteous Noah, who escaped the flood, when the world of the ungodly were destroyed by it, for the transgression of their lips, saying, as in Job 21:15, "what is the Almighty?" &c.

(y) "in praevaricatione labiorum laqueos malus", Montanus, Michaelis, Schultens, so Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius; "vel laqueus hominis mali", Mercerus, Gejerus.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Lips. Liars often become the victims of their own deceit.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The wicked is snared, i.e. brought into trouble,

by the transgression of his lips, by his wicked speeches against God and men. The just shall come out of trouble, to wit, by his wise, and holy, and inoffensive speeches, whereby he pacifieth men, and gaineth God’s favour and protection.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. Wicked… snared — Well rendered by Conant: “In the transgression of the lips is an evil snare.” A man is often ensnared by his malicious or envious talk, or by his prevarications and falsehoods. Compare Ecc_10:12. Trouble — Strait or distress.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips; rather, in the transgression of the lips is an evil snare. (Pro_18:7) A man by speaking unadvisedly or intemperately brings trouble upon himself, involves himself in difficulties which he did not foresee. Often when he has spoken in order to injure others, the slander or the censure has redounded on himself. (comp. Psa_7:15, 16 9:16) The just; the man who does not offend with his lips, avoids these snares. The Septuagint here introduces a couplet not found in the Hebrew: "He who looketh gently (oo blepwn leia ) shall obtain mercy; but he who frequents the gates or, "contends in the gates," sunantwn en pulaiv will harass souls." This seems to mean the man who is calm and considerate for others will himself be treated with pity and consideration; (Mat_5:7) but he who is a gossip, or a busybody, or litigious, will be always vexing his neighbours.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

We have seen the intense desire of the wicked to snare others in the net. Here he is snared himself: The transgressions of his lips become the snare of his life. (Pro 18:7 . Psa 64:8 .) ’Many have felt the lash upon their backs for the want of a bridle on their tongues.’†1 Such a snare were the lips of the Amalekite bringing the tidings of Saul’s death. Expecting a reward, he found his death. (2Sa 4:9-12 .) Such also was Adonijah’s deceitful petition (1Ki 2:22-23 ); the hypocritical loyalty of Daniel’s enemies (Dan 6:7-8, Dan 6:24 ); the fearful imprecation of the devoted nation. (Mat 27:25 .) The lips of the wicked miss their mark, and become the instruments of his ruin. (Psa 35:8 .)

On the other hand, the godly exercise of the lips often delivers out of the trouble, into which the wicked rush headlong. (Jer 26:12-16 .) The noble confession of Caleb and Joshua brought them safe out of the trouble, which was frowning upon their rebellious brethren. (Num 14:6-10, Num 14:24 .) And even when the just "are overtaken with" a transgression of the lips, still their faithful God makes a difference. He will not indeed wink at sin in his own children. (Amo 3:2 .) But while his covenant provides stripes for their transgressions, it ensures deliverance in the end. (Psa 89:32-33 .) Thus a presumptuous confidence is restrained; and a humbling, self-abasing, tender confidence is established.

Footnotes:

†1 Henry in loco.

Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

v. 13. The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips, his own speeches prove a dangerous snare to him, so that he is overthrown; but the just shall come out of trouble, escaping from the net which was placed for his feet.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

An evil person is trapped by his wicked talk

"Trapped" represents being caught in a snare or being tricked. This can be stated in active form. AT: "The wicked things an evil person says will trap him" (See: Metonymy and Active or Passive)

just as the work of his hands rewards him

The phrase, "the work of his hands" represents work done by physical labor. AT: "just as the good work he does rewards him" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

evil

trouble

fruit

word

works

reward

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Because of the transgression of the lips Because of the transgression of the lips of the generation of the Flood, who said (Job 21:15): “What is the Almighty that we should serve Him?” an evil snare came upon them, and Noah, the righteous man, came out of the trouble.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.