Bible Strands
Proverbs 25:19
Like a broken tooth or a foot out of joint is confidence in a faithless man in time of trouble.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker addresses a community receiving collected wisdom, placing this saying immediately after a warning about false witnesses and before an observation about insensitive comfort. The instruction targets listeners seeking dependable support during crises.
The words — מִבְטָ֥ח (miv.Tach) means trust or confidence, and בּ֝וֹגֵ֗ד (bo.Ged) means one who acts treacherously. The text literally equates placing that trust in such a person with relying on a broken tooth or a slipped foot.
The thread — The motif of unreliable support runs through Isaiah 36:6 and Ezekiel 29:6, where Egypt is called a splintered reed that pierces the hand of anyone leaning on it. Job 6:14 extends the warning by stating that abandoning a friend in despair breaks the duty of basic kindness.
Why it lands — The text requires verification of a person’s character before placing reliance on them. It instructs readers to test loyalty during peace rather than discovering betrayal during crisis.
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
Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 36:6 Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.
- Ezekiel 29:6 Then all the people of Egypt will know that I am the LORD. For you were only a staff of reeds to the house of Israel.
- Job 6:14 A despairing man should have the kindness of his friend, even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
- 2 Chronicles 28:20 Then Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came to Ahaz but afflicted him rather than strengthening him.
- 2 Timothy 4:16 At my first defense, no one stood with me, but everyone deserted me. May it not be charged against them.
- Isaiah 30:1 “Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin.