Proverbs 18:20

Study note

Setting — Attributed to a wisdom teacher addressing a general reader, this verse sits between an observation on reconciling an offended brother (18:19) and a warning about the tongue’s power over life and death (18:21).

The words — מִפְּרִי (mippri) translates literally to "from the fruit of," paired with פִי (pi, "mouth of") and תְּבוּאָת (tevu'at, "produce/harvest of") to frame speech as a crop. The verbs תִּשְׂבַּע (tisba') and יִשְׂבַּע (yisba') both mean "is satisfied," describing the belly’s fulfillment.

The thread — The agricultural metaphor for speech appears in Proverbs 13:2, which contrasts the good things enjoyed from a man’s lips with the violence sought by the faithless. Similar language on the value of well-timed speech runs through Proverbs 25:11, while Proverbs 12:13 links harmful words to being trapped by one’s own speech.

Why it lands — The text states that a person’s physical and emotional satisfaction comes directly from the output of their speech. It requires the reader to examine their own words as a measurable crop that will inevitably yield either nourishment or lack thereof.

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.