Proverbs 18:4

“The words of a man’s mouth [are as] deep waters, etc.] The words of a great and mighty man; of an excellent and valuable man, as Jarchi; or of a wise man, as Aben Ezra. The doctrines which such a man has imbibed, and his heart is full of and his mouth utters, are like to “waters”, pure, purifying, and refreshing; to “deep waters”, which make no noise, and cannot be easily fathomed: such are the deep mysteries of grace, the wisdom of God in a mystery, spoken among them that are perfect; of which a good man makes no boast, but humbly declares; out of the abundance of his heart, his mouth speaks; [and] the wellspring of wisdom [as] a flowing brook; there is a spring of spiritual wisdom and…”

“Wise speech is like an exhaustless stream of benefit.”

“The parallelism of the two clauses is probably one of contrast. If so, the proverb is a comparison between all teaching from without and that of the light within. “The words of a man’s mouth” are dark as the “deep waters” of a pool, or tank (“deep waters” being associated in the Old Testament with the thought of darkness and mystery; compare Proverbs 20:5; Psalms 69:2; Ecclesiastes 7:24); but “the wellspring of wisdom is as a flowing brook,” bright and clear. The verse presents a contrast like that of Jeremiah 2:13. return to 'Top of Page'”

“A man's - A wise man's. As a brook - That wisdom which is in his heart is continually pouring forth wise and good counsels. Proverbs 18:8”

“18:4 Words flow from one’s character as water bubbles up from the earth (see also 10:20; 12:23; 16:23; cp. Jas 3:10-12).”

“words: Pro 10:11, Pro 13:14, Pro 16:22, Pro 20:5; Mat 12:34; Joh 4:14, Joh 7:38, Joh 7:39; Col 3:16, Col 4:6 the wellspring: Psa 78:2 Proverbs 18:5”

“4 Deep waters are the words from a man's mouth, A bubbling brook, a fountain of wisdom. Earlier, we added to hominis the supplement sc. sapientis, but then an unnecessary word would be used, and that which is necessary omitted. Rather it might be said that אישׁ is meant in an ideal sense; but thus meant, אישׁ, like גּבר, denotes the valiant man, but not man as he ought to be, or the man of honour; and besides, a man may be a man of honour without there being said of him what this proverb expresses. Ewald comes nearer the case when he translates, "deep waters are the heart-words of many." Heart-words - what an unbiblical expression! The lxx, which translates λόγος ἐν καρδίᾳ, has not read…”