Proverbs 6:12 - Exposition

A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth. The teacher begins by stating in general terms the nature and character of the man whom he now holds up as a warning to others, dud then proceeds to point out the various features in his conduct and behaviour by which he may be known. In concise terms he is described as "a naughty person, a wicked man." This is pre-eminently his character, and the first feature in it is that his life is one of wilful and injurious misreprescntation of the truth. A naughty person, a wicked man. In apposition and mutually explanatory. The grammatical arrangement of the sentences which follow, each of which is introduced by a participle, and is thus coordinate to the ethers, as well as the parallel terms, "person" ( adam ) and "man" ( ish ) , determine this apposition. So Bertheau and Delitzsch. Others (as Zockler, Noyes, Kamph), however, connect the second expression with the series of characteristics which follow, and render, "A worthless person is a deceiver, who," etc; but wrongly. A naughty person (Hebrew, adam b'liyyaal ); literally, a man of Belial ; Vulgate, homo apostata ; LXX ; ἀνὴρ ἄφρων . The word "Belial" is derived from b'li, "without," and yaal, "profit" ( i.e. "without profit"), or from b'li and ol , "yoke" ( i.e. "without yoke"), and strictly signifies either a worthless or a lawless person. The latter derivation is, however, rejected by Gesenius and others. Its abstract signification is worthlessness, uselessness; its concrete or adjectival, worthless. The word "naughty" (Anglo-Saxon, naht, ne aht, "not anything," equivalent to "nothing"), in the sense of good-for-nothing, ne'er-do-well, adopted in the Authorized Version, exactly reproduces its strict etymological meaning. The word, however, always carries with it the idea of moral turpitude. In the present instance its meaning is determined by the appositional phrase, "a man of iniquity," or "a wicked man," and such iniquity as takes the form of mischief making, deceit, and sowing discord among brethren. The "man of Belial" is not therefore simply, as its etymological derivation would imply, a worthless individual, one who is of no use either to himself or to the community at large, but a positively wicked, iniquitous, and despicable character. The meaning of the word varies in other passages. Thus in Deuteronomy 13:13 , where it first occurs, it is used to designate those who have fallen sway into idolatry, and induce others to follow their example. In this sense it corresponds with the Vulgate, apostata, as signifying a defection from the worship of the true God. Again, in 1 Samuel 1:16 it is applied to the profanation of sacred places. When Hannah is accused by Eli of drunkenness in God's house at Shiloh, she replies, "Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial." In the historical books ( e.g. Judges, 1 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Chronicles), where it is of frequent occurrence, it has the general meaning of "wickedness," under whatever form it appears. So in the Psalms ( Psalms 18:4 ; Psalms 41:8 ; Psalms 101:3 ) and Nahum ( Nahum 1:11 , Nahum 1:15 ). In the Book of Job ( Job 34:18 , once only) it is used adjectively and as a term of reproach, "Is it fit to say to a king, Thou art wicked [ b'liyyaal ; i.e. 'worthless']?" Individuals possessing the qualities of worthlessness, profanity, or wickedness are designated in Holy Scripture either as "sons," "children," "daughters," or "men of Belial." The word only occurs in two other passages in the Proverbs—Pr 16:27 and Proverbs 19:28 . In the New Testament ( 2 Corinthians 6:15 ) the word "Belial" (Greek, βελίαρ or βελίαλ ) appears as an appellative of Satan, ὁ πονηρὸς , "the evil one," as the representative of all that is bad, and as antichrist. A wicked man (Hebrew, ish aven ); literally, a man of vanity or iniquity ; Vulgate, vir inutilis ; LXX ; ἀνὴρ παράνομος . The radical idea of aven (from un , "nothing") is that of emptiness or vanity, and has much, therefore, in common with b'liyaal. Its secondary meaning, and that which it usually bears in Scripture, is iniquity. "A man of iniquity" is one who is altogether deficient in moral consciousness, and who goes about to work wickedness and do hurt and injury to others (cf. Proverbs 19:18 and Job 22:15 ). Walketh with a froward mouth. His first characteristic, as already observed. His whole life and conduct are marked by craftiness, deceit, perversion, and misrepresentation, and an utter want of truth. "Walking" is here, as elsewhere in Scripture, used of some particular course of conduct. So we find the LXX . paraphrase, πορεύεται ὁδοὺς οὐκ ἀγαθάς . "he enters or walks not in good ways." With a froward mouth (Hebrew, ik'shuth peh ); literally, with perversity of mouth ; Vulgate, ore perverse. Symmachus has στρεβλύμασι στόματος , "with perversity of mouth." The mouth, or speech, is the vehicle by which this person gives outward expression to the evil thoughts which are inwardly filling his heart. The phrase occurs before in Proverbs 4:24 . The meaning of the passage is well illustrated in Psalms 10:7 , "His mouth is full of misery, deceit, and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity."