Proverbs 25: The right word at the right time | Bible study
These sayings use pictures like golden apples, cold water and honey to teach us how to talk and how to act. Don't show off, be gentle, keep secrets, and be kind even to people who are mean to you.
Proverbs 25:1
Here are more wise sayings from King Solomon. The helpers of Hezekiah, king of Judah, copied them down.
These also are Solomon's proverbs, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.
A heading for chapters 25 to 29. The sayings are Solomon's, but they were gathered into this collection about two hundred and fifty years after him by scribes working for King Hezekiah. 'Also' links it to the earlier Solomon collection that began at 10:1.
משל · mashal · a comparison
From a root meaning to be like. This chapter shows the form at its plainest: many sayings simply set a picture beside a person.
שלמה · Shelomoh · from shalom, peace
1 Kings 4:32 says he spoke three thousand proverbs, far more than the book contains.
חזקיה · Chizqiyyah · YHWH strengthens
King of Judah around 700 BC, known for religious reform (2 Kings 18).
מלך · melek · king
The first of several uses in this chapter. The opening sayings are about kings.
עתק · ataq · move, copy over
Literally to move something from one place to another. Here it means to transfer sayings from older sources into a new written collection.
Royal courts in the ancient Near East employed scribes to copy, collect and preserve older writings. Hezekiah's reign was a time of reform and renewed interest in Israel's heritage, and this verse shows his scribes editing Solomon's material.
Proverbs 25:2
God is great because He keeps some things hidden. Kings are great when they dig and dig to find things out.
God's glory is in hiding a thing;
God is honoured by how much lies beyond us. He has made a world and governs it in ways that are not open to view, and that hiddenness shows his greatness.
the glory of kings is in searching a thing out.
The contrast. A king earns honour the opposite way, by investigating. A ruler who gets to the bottom of a case or a problem before deciding is doing his job well.
כבוד · kavod · weight, honour
From a root meaning heavy. What gives someone weight in others' eyes.
אלהים · Elohim · God
The general word for God, not the covenant name. The saying is about God as creator and ruler of all.
סתר · satar · hide
To hide. A noun from this root appears in verse 23 for secret talk.
דבר · davar · word, thing, case
A word, a thing, or a legal case. With a king in view, a case to be judged fits well.
מלך · melek · king
Plural: kings in general.
חקר · chaqar · probe, investigate
To explore thoroughly, as one examines a case or explores a land.
Proverbs 25:3
Nobody can measure how high the sky is or how deep the earth is. In the same way, nobody can work out what a king is thinking.
The sky for its height, the earth for its depth,
Two things no one in the ancient world could measure: how high the sky goes and how deep the earth goes.
and the heart of kings: there is no searching them out.
A third thing is added to the list. Verse 2 said kings search things out; this verse says no one can search out the king. He knows more than his subjects and does not show his thinking, so do not assume you can read him.
שמים · shamayim · sky, heavens
The sky above.
רום · rum · height
From the verb to be high.
עמק · omeq · depth
From a root meaning deep.
לב · lev · heart, mind
The mind and intentions.
מלך · melek · king
The same plural as in verse 2.
אין חקר · ein cheqer · no searching out
Cheqer is the noun from chaqar in verse 2. The searcher cannot himself be searched.
Proverbs 25:4
Take the dirty bits out of silver, and the silver worker can make a lovely cup.
Remove the dross from silver,
A picture from metalwork. Raw silver has waste mixed into it that must be burned or skimmed off.
and a vessel comes out for the silversmith.
Once the waste is gone, the metal can be made into something useful. The picture is explained in verse 5.
הגה · hagah · remove
A rare verb meaning to remove or separate. It is repeated at the start of verse 5 to tie the two together.
סיג · sig · dross
The waste that separates from metal in refining.
כסף · keseph · silver
Silver, also the ordinary word for money.
כלי · keli · vessel, article
Any made object: a cup, a tool, an ornament.
צרף · tsoreph · refiner, smith
From tsaraph, to smelt and refine. The one who purifies and works metal.
Silver was refined by heating the ore until the base metals separated and could be removed as dross. Only then could a smith shape it. Refining is a common biblical picture for removing what is worthless (Isaiah 1:25).
Proverbs 25:5
Take bad people away from the king, and he will rule for a long time by doing what is right.
Remove the wicked man from the king's presence,
The application of verse 4. Corrupt officials and advisers are the dross in a government. They have to be taken out of the court.
and his throne will be made firm by righteousness.
The result matches the vessel of verse 4. With the corrupt gone, the king's rule becomes stable, and what holds it up is doing right. A reign is secured by justice more than by force.
הגה · hagah · remove
The same opening word as verse 4.
רשע · rasha · wicked, guilty
The person in the wrong. Here, one who has the king's ear.
מלך · melek · king
Literally 'from before the king', the language of serving at court.
כסא · kisse · seat, throne
The seat of rule, standing for the reign itself.
כון · kun · set firm
To be made secure. The same claim is made in 16:12.
צדק · tsedeq · what is right
Conformity to what is right. It is named as the foundation of the throne.
Proverbs 25:6
Don't show off in front of the king. Don't push in to stand where the important people stand.
Do not make yourself look grand in front of the king,
Advice for anyone at court, and for anyone near people with power. Do not put on importance to be noticed.
and do not stand in the place that belongs to the great.
The concrete form of the same thing: taking a position reserved for those of higher rank. Verse 7 gives the reason.
הדר · hadar · honour, adorn
Hadar is splendour. The form here means to give yourself splendour, to claim honour.
מלך · melek · king
The last of the opening sayings about the king.
עמד · amad · stand
To take up a position. To stand before a king was to hold an office.
גדול · gadol · great
Plural: the great ones, the high officials.
Proverbs 25:7
It is much better to be told, come up here, than to be sent to a lower place in front of the prince.
For it is better to be told, 'Come up here,'
The reason for verse 6. If you take a modest place, the only move left is upward, and the invitation honours you in front of everyone.
than to be put lower in front of a noble
The other outcome. If you take a high place uninvited, you may be told to move down, and the demotion happens publicly, before the very person you wanted to impress.
whom your eyes have seen.
As NASB arranges it, this finishes the sentence: the noble is right there in your sight, so the humiliation is face to face. Jesus builds his teaching about seats at a banquet on this saying (Luke 14:7-11).
עלה · alah · go up
To go up, here to a higher place of honour.
שפל · shaphel · be made low
To be brought low, humbled. The opposite of going up.
נדיב · nadiv · noble
A noble, a man of rank. The root idea is generous or willing.
עין · ayin · eye
Eye. The phrase is literally 'what your eyes have seen'.
The last line is literally 'what your eyes have seen'. NASB attaches it to the noble of verse 7. Many versions attach it to verse 8 instead: 'what your eyes have seen, do not hastily bring to court'. The Hebrew allows either.
Proverbs 25:8
Don't rush off to argue with your neighbour in front of everyone. What will you do in the end if he shows you were wrong and you look silly?
Do not rush out to start a dispute,
A warning against going quickly to law or to a public quarrel. The stress is on haste: acting before you have the whole picture.
or what will you do when it is over,
Think ahead to how the case ends, not how it feels to begin it.
when your neighbour puts you to shame?
The risk spelled out. He may have facts you did not know, and you lose in public. You wanted to embarrass him and it is you who are embarrassed.
מהר · maher · quickly
In a hurry. The same root describes feet hurrying to shed blood in 1:16.
ריב · riv · dispute, lawsuit
A quarrel, and specifically a legal case.
אחרית · acharit · what comes after
The outcome. Literally 'at its end', the end of the dispute.
רע · rea · neighbour, fellow
The person you live alongside. He appears again in verses 9, 17 and 18.
כלם · kalam · shame, disgrace
To put to public shame.
Proverbs 25:9
Talk it over with your neighbour, just the two of you. And don't tell a secret that someone trusted you with.
Take up your dispute with your neighbour himself,
The right alternative to verse 8. If you have a complaint, go to the person and settle it between the two of you.
and do not expose another person's secret,
A limit on how you argue. In the heat of a dispute it is tempting to use something told to you in confidence, by him or by a third party. Do not win that way. Verse 10 says what it will cost.
ריב · riv · dispute, lawsuit
The word of verse 8, used twice here: dispute your dispute. Compare Matthew 18:15.
רע · rea · neighbour, fellow
Deal with him directly, not with an audience.
גלה · galah · uncover
To uncover, to lay bare.
סוד · sod · confidential talk
Private conversation among close friends, and so what is said in confidence. Compare 11:13.
Proverbs 25:10
If you do, whoever hears it will make you feel ashamed. People will never stop saying you can't be trusted.
or whoever hears it will shame you,
The consequence of breaking a confidence. Anyone listening learns that you cannot be trusted, and says so.
and your bad name will never go away.
It goes further than one bad moment. A reputation as someone who betrays secrets follows you permanently. You may win the argument and lose your name.
שמע · shama · hear
The hearer here is anyone who learns what you did. In verse 12 hearing is a virtue.
חסד · chasad · reproach, shame
A rare verb meaning to reproach. It is spelled like chesed, loyal love, but is a separate word with the opposite sense.
דבה · dibbah · bad report
Whispered talk about someone, a bad reputation. It is the word for the spies' report in Numbers 13:32.
שוב · shuv · turn back
Literally 'will not turn back'. Once out, the report cannot be recalled.
Proverbs 25:11
The right words said at the right time are like golden apples set in shining silver.
Golden apples in a silver setting:
A picture of fine craftsmanship, gold fruit set off against worked silver. The value is in the material and also in how well the pieces fit together.
that is a word spoken in the right way at the right moment.
The comparison. The right word is like the gold, and the right moment and manner are like the silver setting. What you say and when and how you say it together make something beautiful.
תפוח · tappuach · apple (a fruit)
A fragrant fruit, traditionally apple. Here it is an ornament shaped like the fruit.
זהב · zahav · gold
The usual word for gold. It returns in verse 12.
משכית · maskit · carved work, setting
Something shaped or engraved to be looked at. The same word is used for carved figures in Leviticus 26:1.
כסף · keseph · silver
As in verse 4.
דבר · davar · word, thing
The Hebrew repeats the root: a word worded, a saying said.
על אפניו · al ophnav · in its right way
The noun occurs only here and its exact sense is uncertain. See the translation note.
The phrase rendered 'at the proper time' is found nowhere else. It may be related to the word for wheel, giving something like 'on its wheels', running smoothly, or it may mean 'in its circumstances'. Versions choose between 'fitly', 'aptly' and 'at the right time'. All agree the word suits its occasion.
Proverbs 25:12
When a wise person tells you that you are wrong and you listen, his words are as lovely as a gold earring or a fine gold necklace.
A gold ring and an ornament of fine gold:
A second jewellery picture, following verse 11. These are things a person is glad to wear.
that is a wise person's correction on an ear that listens.
The surprise is what is being compared to jewellery: a rebuke. When the one correcting is wise and the one corrected is willing, the correction hangs on the ear like an earring. It takes both parties.
נזם · nezem · ring
A ring worn in the ear or the nose. With the ear in the next line, an earring fits.
חלי · chali · ornament
A piece of jewellery; the word also appears in Song of Songs 7:1.
כתם · ketem · pure gold
A poetic word for gold of high quality, different from zahav earlier in the line.
יכח · yakach · correct, reprove
To show someone where they are wrong. The verb behind tokachat, correction.
אזן שמעת · ozen shoma'at · an ear that hears
Ozen is ear; the participle is from shama, to hear and heed.
Proverbs 25:13
A messenger you can trust is like an icy drink on a hot day in the fields. He makes the people who sent him feel fresh again.
Like the coolness of snow on a harvest day
Harvest is the hottest part of the year. The picture is the relief of something ice-cold in that heat, most likely a drink cooled with snow.
is a reliable messenger to those who send him;
The comparison. A messenger who delivers the message accurately and does what he was sent to do gives the sender that same relief.
he revives his masters' spirits.
The reason stated plainly. Sending someone means worry until you know it was done. The dependable man takes the worry away.
צנה · tsinnah · coolness
Cold, coolness.
שלג · sheleg · snow
Snow. Actual snowfall at harvest would be a disaster (26:1), so this is snow brought in to cool.
קציר · qatsir · harvest
The grain harvest, in the heat of early summer. Its sound is echoed by tsir in the next line.
אמן · aman · be reliable
The form means dependable, one who can be counted on. It is the root of amen.
ציר · tsir · envoy
An envoy sent with a message. Contrast the lazy messenger of 10:26.
שוב · shuv · bring back, restore
Literally he 'brings back the soul' of his masters. The same phrase is in Psalm 23:3.
Snow and ice from the heights of Lebanon and Hermon could be packed and stored, then used to cool drinks in summer. All important business that could not be done in person depended on messengers, so a trustworthy one was highly valued.
Proverbs 25:14
Someone who brags about presents he never gives is like clouds and wind that bring no rain.
Clouds and wind and no rain:
In a dry land, clouds and a rising wind are the signs farmers wait for. When they pass and nothing falls, it is a bitter disappointment.
that is a man who brags about a gift he never gives.
The comparison. He announces his generosity, raises everyone's hopes, and delivers nothing. The show is all there is. Jude 12 uses the same picture.
נשיא · nasi · rising mist, cloud
From nasa, to lift up: vapours that rise. Plural here.
רוח · ruach · wind, spirit
Wind here; the same word is spirit in verse 28.
גשם · geshem · rain
A heavy shower. It returns in verse 23.
הלל · halal · praise, boast
The verb to praise, as in hallelujah. The form here means to praise oneself.
מתת · mattat · gift
From natan, to give.
שקר · sheqer · falsehood
Literally 'a gift of falsehood': a gift that is a lie because it does not exist.
Proverbs 25:15
If you stay calm and wait, you can change a ruler's mind. Soft, gentle words can break through something as hard as a bone.
With patience a commander can be won over,
A person with power cannot be forced, and losing your temper with him ends the conversation. Staying calm over a long time is what changes his mind.
and a soft tongue breaks a bone.
A deliberate paradox that pushes the first line further. The softest part of the body breaks the hardest. Gentle speech gets through resistance that force cannot.
ארך אפים · orek appayim · length of anger
Literally length of nostrils, meaning slow to anger. It is the phrase used of God in Exodus 34:6.
קצין · qatsin · commander, leader
A chief or military commander, one who decides.
פתה · patah · entice, win over
The verb usually used for enticing the naive. Here it is used in a good sense: to bring someone round.
רך · rak · soft, tender
Soft. The same word describes the answer that turns away wrath in 15:1.
לשון · lashon · tongue
The tongue, standing for speech.
גרם · gerem · bone
A less common word for bone, the hardest thing in the body.
Proverbs 25:16
Did you find some honey? Eat just enough, because if you eat too much you will throw up.
If you have found honey, eat what is enough for you,
Wild honey was a lucky find and a real pleasure. The saying does not forbid it. It tells you to stop at what you need.
or you will have your fill of it and throw it up.
The consequence of not stopping. Too much of a good thing makes you sick, and you lose even what you enjoyed. Honey stands for any pleasure, and verse 17 applies the rule to friendship.
מצא · matsa · find
To come upon. The honey is a find, like Samson's or Jonathan's (1 Samuel 14:27).
דבש · devash · honey
The sweetest food available. See 24:13, where eating it is commended.
די · day · enough
Sufficiency: what is enough, and no more.
שבע · saba · be full, sated
To be filled, here overfilled. The same verb is used in verse 17.
קיא · qi · vomit
To vomit.
Proverbs 25:17
Don't go to your neighbour's house too often. He will get tired of you and start to hate you.
Make your foot scarce in your neighbour's house,
The rule of verse 16 applied to visiting. Your company is the honey. Do not turn up so often that it stops being welcome.
or he will have his fill of you and hate you.
The same verb as in verse 16: he becomes sated with you. A good relationship can be spoiled by overuse, and the end is dislike.
יקר · yaqar · be rare, precious
The verb means to be precious or rare. Literally 'make your foot precious': what is rare is valued.
רגל · regel · foot
The foot, standing for your visits. It returns in verse 19.
שבע · saba · be full, sated
The verb of verse 16. He has had too much of you, as of honey.
שנא · sane · hate
To hate. In verse 21 the one who hates you is to be fed.
Proverbs 25:18
Telling lies about your neighbour to get him into trouble hurts him like a club, a sword, or a sharp arrow.
A club, a sword and a sharpened arrow:
Three weapons. One crushes, one cuts, one kills from a distance. Together they cover every way of doing bodily harm.
that is a man who testifies falsely against his neighbour.
The comparison. Lying about someone in court is violence. In a system where testimony could decide a man's property or life, false words did what weapons do.
מפיץ · mephits · war club, mace
A weapon that shatters; the word is related to a root meaning to scatter or smash.
חרב · cherev · sword
The standard word for sword.
חץ שנון · chets shanun · sharpened arrow
Chets is arrow; shanun is whetted, from the verb to sharpen.
עד שקר · ed sheqer · false witness
Literally 'answers against his neighbour as a witness of falsehood', the wording of the ninth commandment in Exodus 20:16.
רע · rea · neighbour, fellow
The fellow citizen he ought to protect.
Proverbs 25:19
Counting on someone you can't trust when trouble comes is like chewing with a bad tooth or walking on a wobbly foot.
A rotten tooth and a foot that gives way:
Two things you use without thinking until the moment they fail. You bite down or put your weight on them, and there is sudden pain and no support.
that is trusting a traitor on the day of trouble.
The comparison. An unreliable person seems fine until you actually need him. When the pressure comes, relying on him lets you down and hurts as well.
שן רעה · shen ro'ah · broken or bad tooth
Shen is tooth. The describing word may mean bad or breaking; either way the tooth cannot bear a bite.
רגל מועדת · regel mu'adet · slipping foot
Regel is foot; the participle is from ma'ad, to slip or wobble.
מבטח · mivtach · trust, reliance
From batach, to trust: the thing or person you lean on.
בוגד · boged · one who betrays
From bagad, to act faithlessly, to break trust.
צרה · tsarah · a tight place
From a root meaning narrow. The 'day of distress' of 24:10.
Proverbs 25:20
Singing happy songs to someone who is very sad is like taking their coat away on a cold day. It only makes them feel worse.
Like someone who strips off a coat on a freezing day, or like vinegar poured on soda,
Two pictures of doing the wrong thing to something. Taking a coat off in the cold makes the cold worse. Vinegar on soda fizzes violently and ruins the soda.
is the one who sings songs to a heavy heart.
The comparison. Cheerful music aimed at someone in grief does not help. It leaves them more exposed and stirs up the pain, however kindly it was meant. Comfort has to fit the person's state.
בגד · beged · garment
Clothing. It shares its consonants with boged, the traitor of verse 19, which may be why the two sayings were placed together.
יום קרה · yom qarah · day of cold
Qarah is cold; the related adjective describes the cold water of verse 25.
חמץ · chomets · vinegar
Sour wine, an acid.
נתר · neter · natron, soda
A mineral alkali used for washing (Jeremiah 2:22). Acid makes it foam and destroys it.
שיר · shir · sing
Literally 'one who sings with songs'.
לב רע · lev ra · a sad heart
Literally a bad heart. Ra here means in a bad state, sorrowful, not morally evil.
The ancient Greek version has 'vinegar on a wound' in place of 'vinegar on soda', and some English versions follow it. The Hebrew text has neter, soda. Both give the same sense: something that makes a bad condition worse.
Proverbs 25:21
If someone who is mean to you is hungry, give him food. If he is thirsty, give him a drink of water.
If the one who hates you is hungry, give him bread to eat,
A command about a personal enemy in real need. You are to give him food yourself. Refusing to gloat (24:17) is not enough.
and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
The second basic need, treated the same way. Bread and water are the plainest necessities, so no one can say the demand is out of reach.
שנא · sane · hate
The Hebrew is 'the one who hates you', from the verb of verse 17. The hatred is on his side.
רעב · ra'ev · hungry
Hungry, in want of food.
לחם · lechem · bread
Bread, the staple, and so food in general.
צמא · tsame · thirsty
Thirsty.
מים · mayim · water
Water. It returns in verse 25 as cold water for the weary.
Proverbs 25:22
Your kindness will make him feel sorry and ashamed, like hot coals on his head. And God will reward you.
For you will be scooping burning coals onto his head,
The effect on him. The picture is most likely the burning pain of shame: kindness he has not earned makes his hostility hard to keep up, and may bring him to change. Paul quotes verses 21 and 22 in Romans 12:20 as the way to overcome evil with good.
and the LORD will repay you.
The effect for you. Whether or not the enemy changes, the kindness is not wasted. God himself takes on the debt.
חתה · chatah · scoop up (coals)
A verb used specifically for taking up fire or coals, as with a firepan.
גחלת · gachelet · live coal
A glowing coal. Plural here.
ראש · rosh · head
The head.
יהוה · YHWH · God's covenant name
The only use of the divine name in this chapter. He is the one who settles the account.
שלם · shalam · repay, make whole
From the root of shalom. To pay in full, to make complete.
The meaning of the coals is debated. Most take them as the burning sting of shame that leads to a change of heart. Others see a picture of judgment that the enemy brings on himself if he stays hostile. The promise of reward in the second line shows that the act itself is good, not a disguised revenge.
Proverbs 25:23
The north wind brings rain. In the same way, talking about people behind their backs brings angry faces.
A north wind gives birth to rain,
A statement of cause and effect from the weather. A certain wind reliably produces rain.
and a tongue that talks in secret brings angry faces.
The comparison. Talk behind people's backs produces anger just as surely as that wind produces rain. When the talk comes out, the faces turned toward the speaker are furious.
רוח צפון · ruach tsaphon · wind of the north
Ruach is wind; tsaphon is north.
חול · chul · bring to birth
To writhe in labour, and so to bring forth. The wind gives birth to the rain.
גשם · geshem · rain
As in verse 14.
לשון סתר · leshon seter · tongue of secrecy
Lashon is tongue; seter is a hiding place, from satar, to hide (verse 2). Speech that works under cover.
פנים נזעמים · panim niz'amim · indignant faces
Panim is face; the participle is from za'am, to be indignant.
In Israel rain normally comes from the west, off the Mediterranean, so the mention of a north wind has puzzled readers. It may mean a north-westerly wind, or the saying may come from a place where the north wind is the rain wind. The logic of the comparison does not depend on the answer.
Proverbs 25:24
It is better to live in a tiny corner on the roof than in a house with a wife who is always arguing.
Better to live on a corner of the roof
The flat roof was exposed to sun, cold and rain. A corner of it is cramped and uncomfortable, about the worst place in the house to live.
than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.
The comparison. Constant quarrelling makes the best house worse than that corner. Peace matters more than space or comfort. The saying is from the husband's side, but the point holds for any home. It repeats 21:9.
פנה · pinnah · corner
A corner.
גג · gag · flat roof
The flat housetop.
אשת מדינים · eshet midyanim · wife of quarrels
Literally a woman, or wife, of quarrels. Midyanim is from the same root as madon, strife.
בית חבר · beit chaver · house of company
Bayit is house; chaver is association, company. A house lived in together.
Houses had flat roofs reached by an outside stair. They were used for drying crops, for sleeping in summer and sometimes for a small extra room, but they were open to the weather.
Proverbs 25:25
Good news from far away is like a drink of cold water when you are tired and thirsty.
Cold water on a worn-out throat:
Anyone who has been exhausted and thirsty in the heat knows this. The water is life coming back.
that is good news from a far country.
The comparison. News from far away was rare, slow, and waited for anxiously. When it finally comes and it is good, the relief is physical, like that drink.
מים קרים · mayim qarim · cold water
Mayim is water; qar is cold, from the root of the 'cold day' in verse 20. There cold hurt; here it revives.
נפש עיפה · nephesh ayephah · a faint, thirsty self
Nephesh is the self, and also the throat. Ayeph means faint with exhaustion or thirst.
שמועה טובה · shemu'ah tovah · a good report
Shemu'ah is something heard, from shama, to hear.
ארץ מרחק · erets merchaq · land of distance
Erets is land; merchaq is a far-off place.
Proverbs 25:26
A good person who gives in to bad people is like a spring someone has stomped mud into, or a well full of dirty water.
A spring churned to mud and a fountain fouled:
A village depended on its spring. Once it has been trampled or polluted, the water is useless to everyone who relied on it.
that is a righteous person who totters before the wicked.
The comparison. Others draw on a righteous person for truth and help. When he gives way to a wicked person, through fear or for advantage, the source is spoiled. The damage reaches everyone who depended on him.
מעין נרפש · ma'yan nirpas · a muddied spring
Ma'yan is a spring. The participle is from raphas, to stamp or foul with the feet.
מקור משחת · maqor moshchat · a ruined fountain
Maqor is a source of flowing water. The participle is from shachat, to ruin or corrupt.
צדיק · tsaddiq · in the right
Elsewhere his mouth is called a maqor, a fountain of life (10:11). That is the fountain being fouled here.
מוט · mot · totter, slip
To sway and slip. He loses his footing in front of the wicked person.
רשע · rasha · wicked, guilty
The one verse 5 said must be removed from the king's presence.
Proverbs 25:27
Eating too much honey is not good for you. Trying to get people to praise you is not good either.
Eating a lot of honey is not good,
Verse 16 again, in short form. A good thing taken in excess stops being good.
and searching out one's own glory is no glory.
The application. Honour is like honey: pleasant when it comes, sickening when you chase it. The person who goes looking for praise loses the respect he was after. This picks up the words 'glory' and 'search out' from verse 2.
דבש · devash · honey
As in verse 16.
כבוד · kavod · weight, honour
The word of verse 2, used twice in this line.
חקר · cheqer · a searching out
The noun of verse 3. Searching out a matter is a king's glory; searching out glory for yourself is not.
The second line is one of the hardest in Proverbs. The Hebrew reads literally 'and the searching out of their glory is glory', with no 'not'. NASB and most versions carry the negative over from the first line. Others adjust the text to 'searching out weighty things is burdensome'. The link with honey favours the sense given here, but the wording is uncertain.
Proverbs 25:28
A person who can't control himself is like a city that robbers have broken into, with no walls left to keep it safe.
A city breached, with no wall:
A city without a wall could be entered by anyone at any time. It had no protection against raiders and nothing inside it was safe.
that is a man who has no restraint on his spirit.
The comparison. A person who cannot hold back his temper, appetite or impulses is open to whatever comes. Any provocation or temptation walks straight in. Self-control is pictured as a defence that protects you, where we might think of it as a limit. Compare 16:32, where ruling your spirit is better than capturing a city.
עיר · ir · city, town
A walled settlement.
פרץ · parats · break through
To breach a wall. The city has been broken open.
חומה · chomah · city wall
The defensive wall around a city.
מעצר · ma'tsar · restraint
From atsar, to hold back or shut in. The noun occurs only here.
רוח · ruach · wind, spirit
The inner drive of a person: temper, impulse, mood. The same word was wind in verses 14 and 23.
The wall was what made a town a place of safety. A city whose wall was broken was exposed and disgraced, which is why Nehemiah wept over Jerusalem's ruined walls (Nehemiah 1:3-4).