The Meaning of Proverbs 15:28 Explained

Proverbs 15:28

KJV: The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things.

YLT: The heart of the righteous meditateth to answer, And the mouth of the wicked uttereth evil things.

Darby: The heart of a righteous man studieth to answer; but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things.

ASV: The heart of the righteous studieth to answer; But the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

The heart  of the righteous  studieth  to answer:  but the mouth  of the wicked  poureth  out evil things. 

What does Proverbs 15:28 Mean?

Context Summary

Proverbs 15:18-33 - Words In Season
Learn to be slow to anger. This paragraph describes the even temper which is blessed to live with and blessed to die with. Temper is said to be nine-tenths of Christianity. What best proves a Christian is an even temper. It is told of a Japanese gentleman, who was led by a tract to renounce the use of intoxicants and to accept Jesus Christ, that the immediate effect on his temper was so great that his wife, who had often suffered from his uncontrollable fits of anger, said, "If this is the result of Christianity, I want to become a Christian." When the missionaries afterward visited the place, they found her and ten other persons awaiting baptism.
As these proverbs suggest, the quickest method of overcoming and eradicating the wrong is, in the power of God, to cultivate the right. By this we shall tread the way of the wise that goeth upward toward the heavenly life of the angels, and we shall be saved from a hell of misery. See Proverbs 15:24, r.v. Philippians 3:20; Colossians 3:1. [source]

Chapter Summary: Proverbs 15

1  A gentle answer turns away wrath

What do the individual words in Proverbs 15:28 mean?

The heart of the righteous studies how to answer but the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil
לֵ֣ב צַ֭דִּיק יֶהְגֶּ֣ה לַעֲנ֑וֹת וּפִ֥י רְ֝שָׁעִ֗ים יַבִּ֥יעַ רָעֽוֹת

לֵ֣ב  The  heart 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: לֵב 
Sense: inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding.
צַ֭דִּיק  of  the  righteous 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: צַדִּיק  
Sense: just, lawful, righteous.
יֶהְגֶּ֣ה  studies  how 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: הָגָה  
Sense: to moan, growl, utter, muse, mutter, meditate, devise, plot, speak.
לַעֲנ֑וֹת  to  answer 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: לְעַנּׄות 
Sense: to answer, respond, testify, speak, shout.
וּפִ֥י  but  the  mouth 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: פֶּה  
Sense: mouth.
רְ֝שָׁעִ֗ים  of  the  wicked 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural
Root: רָשָׁע  
Sense: wicked, criminal.
יַבִּ֥יעַ  pours  forth 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: נָבַע  
Sense: to flow, pour out, pour, gush forth, spring, bubble up, ferment.
רָעֽוֹת  evil 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural
Root: רַע 
Sense: bad, evil.