Bible Strands
Proverbs 20:19
He who reveals secrets is a constant gossip; avoid the one who babbles with his lips.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The wisdom tradition of Proverbs addresses learners with practical instructions, placing this warning between commands about military counsel and parental honor. The speaker presents the observation as a general principle for navigating community trust.
The words — The Hebrew סּ֭וֹד (Sod) literally means secret counsel, and רָכִ֑יל (ra.Khil) identifies the speaker as a slanderer or gossip. These terms describe the deliberate uncovering of confidential matters through habitual speech.
The thread — The text repeats this warning in Proverbs 11:13, which contrasts the gossip with the trustworthy keeper of confidence, and in Proverbs 13:3 and 18:8, which link loose speech to personal ruin and irresistible temptation. The motif consistently treats unguarded speech as a relational hazard.
Why it lands — The text commands readers to actively avoid individuals who habitually disclose confidential matters. It frames gossip not as harmless chatter but as a reliable indicator of untrustworthiness that demands practical distance.
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
He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 11:13 A gossip reveals a secret, but a trustworthy person keeps a confidence.
- Proverbs 13:3 He who guards his mouth protects his life, but the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.
- Proverbs 18:8 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels that go down into the inmost being.
- Romans 16:18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
- Leviticus 19:16 You must not go about spreading slander among your people. You must not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the LORD.
- Proverbs 24:21 My son, fear the LORD and the king, and do not associate with the rebellious.
- Proverbs 16:29 A violent man entices his neighbor and leads him down a path that is not good.
- Proverbs 26:20 Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, a conflict ceases.