Bible Strands
Ecclesiastes 10:12
The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool consume him.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Qohelet states a general maxim contrasting wise and foolish speech, positioned between a proverb about the snake charmer (v. 11) and a description of the fool's incoherent talk (v. 13). No specific addressee is named.
The words — חֵן (chen) means "favor" or "grace," the quality the text assigns to the wise man's words. תּבַלענֻ (teval'enu) is "it swallows him," from בלע (bal'ah, "to devour"); the lips are the subject and the object is the fool himself.
The thread — Proverbs 15:2 pairs the wise tongue with knowledge and the fool's mouth with folly in the same contrastive structure. Colossians 4:6 and Luke 4:22 both use the corresponding Greek idea of gracious speech (charis) as a mark of the speaker's quality.
Why it lands — The verse treats speech as something that acts back on its speaker: the fool's own lips are the instrument of his destruction. It asks the reader to determine whether their words are building or consuming.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.
Cross-references
- Colossians 4:6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
- Luke 4:22 All spoke well of Him and marveled at the gracious words that came from His lips. “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” they asked.
- Proverbs 15:2 The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool spouts folly.
- Proverbs 22:11 He who loves a pure heart and gracious lips will have the king for a friend.
- Ephesians 4:29 Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.
- Proverbs 10:13 Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, but a rod is for the back of him who lacks judgment.
- Proverbs 10:20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked has little worth.
- Proverbs 10:31 The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but a perverse tongue will be cut out.
- Job 4:3 Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands.
- Proverbs 12:18 Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.