Bible Strands
Proverbs 18:7
A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The author addresses readers within a structured collection of wisdom sayings, positioning this statement between the adjacent warnings that a fool's lips provoke conflict (18:6) and that gossip infiltrates the innermost being (18:8).
The words — The text employs כְּסִיל (khe.sil) for fool, מְחִתָּה (me.chi.tah) for ruin, and מוֹקֵשׁ (mo.kesh) for snare, while נַפְשׁוֹ (naf.sho) denotes his soul or life. The verse literally declares that the fool's mouth constitutes his own destruction and his lips operate as a trap for his own being.
The thread — This warning runs parallel to Proverbs 13:3 on guarding speech to preserve life, Proverbs 10:14 on the fool's mouth courting destruction, and Proverbs 12:13 on rebellious speech trapping the wicked.
Why it lands — The text asserts that reckless speech functions as self-inflicted damage rather than merely external offense. It requires readers to treat their words as active mechanisms that must be restrained to prevent personal ruin.
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
A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 13:3 He who guards his mouth protects his life, but the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.
- Proverbs 10:14 The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of the fool invites destruction.
- Proverbs 12:13 An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech, but a righteous man escapes from trouble.
- Psalms 64:8 They will be made to stumble, their own tongues turned against them. All who see will shake their heads.
- Psalms 140:9 May the heads of those who surround me be covered in the trouble their lips have caused.
- Ecclesiastes 10:11 If the snake bites before it is charmed, there is no profit for the charmer.
- Proverbs 6:2 if you have been trapped by the words of your lips, ensnared by the words of your mouth,
- Proverbs 10:8 A wise heart will receive commandments, but foolish lips will come to ruin.
- Acts 23:14 They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves with a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul.
- Judges 11:35 As soon as Jephthah saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “No! Not my daughter! You have brought me to my knees! You have brought great misery upon me, for I have given my word to the LORD and cannot take it back.”