Proverbs 27 · Verse 19

Proverbs 27:19

As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.

Proverbs 27:19, King James Version

Proverbs 27:19 in other translations

BSB	As water reflects the face, so the heart reflects the true man.
WEB	Like water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.
ASV	As in water face answereth to face, So the heart of man to man.
YLT	As in water the face is to face, So the heart of man to man.
DARBY	As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.
BBE	Like face looking at face in water, so are the hearts of men to one another.
Webster	As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.

What does Proverbs 27:19 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

19. We may see our characters in the developed tempers of others.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 19 As in water face answereth to face - All men's hearts are pretty nearly alike; water is not more like to water, than one heart is to another. Or, as a man sees his face perfectly reflected by the water, when looking into it; so the wise and penetrating man sees generally what is in the heart of another by considering the general tenor of his words and actions. "Surely, if each man saw another's heart There would be no commerce;All would disperse,And live apart." Hebert.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

One corrupt heart is like another; so are sanctified hearts: the former bear the same image of the earthly, the latter the same image of the heavenly. Let us carefully watch our own hearts, comparing them with the word of God.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Proverbs 27:19 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

כַּ֭מַּיִםKa.ma.yimlike <the> waterH4325

הַפָּנִ֣יםha.pa.Nimthe faceH6440

לַפָּנִ֑יםla.pa.Nimto the faceH6440

כֵּ֤ןkensoH3651

לֵֽב\־lev-[the] heart ofH3820

הָ֝אָדָ֗םha.'a.Damthe personH120

לָאָדָֽם\׃la.'a.Damto the personH120

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Proverbs 27:19

James 1:22-25
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Psalms 33:15
He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works.
Mark 7:21
For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
Genesis 6:5
And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

in.
Jas 1:22-25
so.
Ge 6:5; Ps 33:15; Mr 7:21

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Proverbs 27:18
Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof: so he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured.
Proverbs 27:19
As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.
Proverbs 27:20
Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.

Read all of Proverbs 27

Proverbs 27:19 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Como un agua se parece á otra, así el corazón del hombre al otro.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Comme dans l’eau le visage répond au visage, ainsi le cœur de l’homme répond à l’homme.
German Elberfelder 1871	Wie im Wasser das Angesicht dem Angesicht entspricht, so das Herz des Menschen dem Menschen.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Quomodo in aquis resplendent vultus prospicientium, sic corda hominum manifesta sunt prudentibus.