Bible Strands
Proverbs 30:32
If you have foolishly exalted yourself or if you have plotted evil, put your hand over your mouth.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Agur addresses a listener within a wisdom discourse, immediately following a catalog of arrogant animals in Proverbs 30:31. The moment demands a direct response to the danger of self-exaltation and malicious intent.
The words — The text highlights נָבַ֥לְתָּ (na.Val.ta) = you have been foolish and זַ֝מּ֗וֹתָ (za.Mo.ta) = you have plotted, paired with the physical command to place יָד (yad) = hand over פֶּה (peh) = mouth.
The thread — The gesture of placing a hand over the mouth appears in Job 21:5 and Job 40:4 as a response to overwhelming reality. The warning against self-exaltation connects directly to Proverbs 26:12.
Why it lands — The verse states that foolish pride or evil plotting demands immediate silence. It asks the reader to recognize these internal conditions and physically restrain speech before they produce strife.
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
If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth.
Cross-references
- Job 21:5 Look at me and be appalled; put your hand over your mouth.
- Job 40:4 “Behold, I am insignificant. How can I reply to You? I place my hand over my mouth.
- Proverbs 26:12 Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
- Micah 7:16 Nations will see and be ashamed, deprived of all their might. They will put their hands over their mouths, and their ears will become deaf.
- Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
- Proverbs 17:28 Even a fool is considered wise if he keeps silent, and discerning when he holds his tongue.
- Ecclesiastes 8:3 Do not hasten to leave his presence, and do not persist in a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases.