The Meaning of Proverbs 14:23 Explained

Proverbs 14:23

KJV: In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.

YLT: In all labour there is advantage, And a thing of the lips is only to want.

Darby: In all labour there is profit; but the talk of the lips tendeth only to want.

ASV: In all labor there is profit; But the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

In all labour  there is profit:  but the talk  of the lips  [tendeth] only to penury. 

What does Proverbs 14:23 Mean?

Chapter Summary: Proverbs 14

1  A wise woman builds her house

What do the individual words in Proverbs 14:23 mean?

In all labor there is profit but chatter [leads] idle only to poverty
בְּכָל־ עֶ֭צֶב יִהְיֶ֣ה מוֹתָ֑ר וּדְבַר־ שְׂ֝פָתַ֗יִם אַךְ־ לְמַחְסֽוֹר

בְּכָל־  In  all 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
עֶ֭צֶב  labor 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֶצֶב 
Sense: pain, hurt, toil, sorrow, labour, hardship.
יִהְיֶ֣ה  there  is 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
מוֹתָ֑ר  profit 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מֹותָר  
Sense: pre-eminence, abundance, profit, superiority.
וּדְבַר־  but  chatter  [leads] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: דָּבָר  
Sense: speech, word, speaking, thing.
שְׂ֝פָתַ֗יִם  idle 
Parse: Noun, fd
Root: שָׂפָה  
Sense: lip, language, speech, shore, bank, brink, brim, side, edge, border, binding.
אַךְ־  only 
Parse: Adverb
Root: אַךְ  
Sense: indeed, surely (emphatic).
לְמַחְסֽוֹר  to  poverty 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מַחְסׄור  
Sense: need, poverty, thing needed.