Proverbs 10:18 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Proverbs 10:18

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Look at this little piece of counsel: ‘He that hideth hatred with lying lips’, not, ‘has lying lips.’ The modem versions try to tidy this up, and say something like, 'He that hides hatred has lying lips, and he that utters a slander is a fool', as though there are two disconnected thoughts. But the Authorised Version has pointed us in the right direction. The meaning is all tied up in the word fool. The Hebrew emphasises this and is literally, ‘and whoever utters a slander: he – a fool’, and it is the same person in both parts of the verse. The word fool here is the word for fool which means silly fool, absurd fool, ludicrous fool. This is the person who is not one hundred percent right in the head, the person who behaves in a silly exhibitionist manner, who cannot help it, and so you do not take him seriously. The illustration is of a dull-witted person who decides to slander another, but his slander is so transparent that it is easy to see through. It is obvious that he does not have a genuine grievance but is building a fictitious case. Supposing somebody came up to you, and said in a most extraordinary and bizarre manner, ‘Oh I am Napoleon, and I was at the battle of Austerlitz, and this is how it happened.’ What is your reaction going to be? ‘Oh that is very interesting, I will make notes of this. This is primary source material.’ Of course not. You are going to humour the person, you are going to feel sorry for the person, I trust, but you are not going to take the person seriously, because the whole bizarre manner and behaviour tells you that they are not quite right. This is the idea here: a person who comes and really is jealous, or full of hate, or animosity, or disregard, and tries to conceal it by the things they say, might just as well be a raving fool, because it is so obvious. When a person slanders another and engages in gossip, you know perfectly well what is going on. This is one of the most obvious things of human conduct is it not? What Solomon is saying is this: phoney words are always pretty obvious. So the verse says be genuine, be honest, be real, cure the hatred, get over it, confess it before God, and speak true words. However skilful you may think you are doing it, you are playing the fool.

Application

Hatred in the heart is a fatal problem and no amount of smooth talking is going to disguise it. The attempt to conceal hatred – because the speaker knows it is wrong, but still wishes to express it – only manages to produce lying lips, false statements that are not convincing. The second half of the verse goes with the first, for slander is an example of the speech of one who hates and tries to conceal his hatred. The slander is an attempt to justify his ill feeling and to get others on side to support his hostility, but the real cause is the hatred that is rooted in his heart. The slander is itself a lie and he knows that he is bearing false witness against his neighbour. God’s solution always addresses the root of the problem, and the root here is the hostility in the heart. Unless that is removed, the speech will always be corrupted and we deceive ourselves if we think we can deal with it by adjusting our words. Christ tells us that we are to love our enemies, and do good to all. This must be our starting point, for if we love our enemies then we may indeed point out failings in them; then what we say is no longer the fruit of hatred, but is said in genuine concern for the righteous standards of God and to deliver those who oppose him.

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Proverbs 10:18 Commentary and Bible Study