Proverbs 18:7

The mouth of a fool is [the] defouling of him; and his lips be the falling of his soul.

Wycliffe Modern Spelling

In The King James Version

A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.

In Context

6The lips of a fool meddle themselves with chidings; and his mouth stirreth strives. (A fool’s lips mix, or mingle, themselves in with arguments; and his mouth stirreth up strife.)

8The words of a double-tongued man be as simple; and they come unto the inner things of the womb. Dread casteth down a slow man; forsooth the souls of men turned into women’s condition shall have hunger. (A gossip’s words be tasty; and they go down into the innermost parts. Fear casteth down the lazy; and those who be timid shall have hunger.)

Read all of Proverbs 18

Cross References

Judges 11:35And when he saw her, he rent his clothes, and said, Alas! my daughter, thou hast troubled me, and thou art troubled; for I opened my mouth to the Lord, and I may do none other thing. (And when he saw her, he tore his clothes, and said, Alas! my daughter, thou hast brought woe upon me, and woe upon thyself; for I opened my mouth to the Lord, and I may do no other thing.)

Psalms 64:8and the tongues of them be made sick against them. All men be troubled, that saw them; (And their tongues, that is, their own evil words, shall be their own undoing. And all who see them shall shake their heads;)

Proverbs 5:22The wickednesses of a wicked man take (hold of) him; and he is bound with the ropes of his sins.

Proverbs 10:8A wise man shall receive commandments with heart (or A wise person shall take commandments to heart); a fool is beaten with (his own) lips.

Proverbs 12:13For the sins of (his) lips, falling down nigheth to an evil man; but a just man shall escape from anguish (or but the righteous shall escape from anguish).

Proverbs 14:3The rod of pride is in the mouth of a fool; the lips of wise men keep them (or but the lips of the wise keep them safe).

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 18:7-8

6 A fool's lips enter into contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes. 7 A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul. Solomon has often shown what mischief bad men do to others with their ungoverned tongues; here he shows what mischief they do to themselves. 1. They embroil themselves in quarrels: A fool's lips, without any cause or call, enter into contention, by advancing foolish notions which others find themselves obliged to oppose, and so a quarrel is begun, or by giving… Read the whole commentary →

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Study Proverbs 18:7