Bible Strands
Proverbs 20:14
“Worthless, worthless!” says the buyer, but on the way out, he gloats.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The verse depicts a commercial transaction, describing a buyer’s conduct during and immediately after a purchase rather than addressing a specific audience.
The words — The text uses רַע (ra'), rendered as "worthless" or "bad," repeated twice by the buyer, and יִתְהַלֵּל (yithhallēl), meaning "he boasts," to describe his attitude after leaving.
The thread — This commercial dishonesty parallels the merchant with dishonest scales in Hosea 12:7 and aligns with the warning against exploiting others in 1 Thessalonians 4:6.
Why it lands — The passage states that deceptive bargaining and post-transaction gloating corrupt fair exchange, requiring readers to examine their own integrity in financial dealings.
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
It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.
Cross-references
- 1 Thessalonians 4:6 and no one should ever violate or exploit his brother in this regard, because the Lord will avenge all such acts, as we have already told you and solemnly warned you.
- Hosea 12:7 A merchant loves to defraud with dishonest scales in his hands.
- Ecclesiastes 1:10 Is there a case where one can say, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages before us.