Proverbs 11:13 Commentary and Bible Study

The Hebrew word translated secret is simply ‘session’. Here is something which is known to some people who have met in session or in council. The secret may be a sinful deed or offence or foolish act which has been acknowledged by the offender, and forgiven by the party wronged. Few people know of it, and the matter now lies in the past. But a talebearer hears of it and betrays to many what was known only to a few.The motivations of a talebearer are dishonourable, and yet he wants to present what he has done in a different way. He makes himself out to be one who cares about the truth, who exposes the sins of others that they would like to hide, and who laments the deterioration of standards that can allow such behaviour. But the truth is otherwise, for what he really wishes is to hurt his enemies, to bring down those he is jealous of, to draw attention to the sins of others in order to justify his own sins, and to promote himself at the expense of the community at large. If others knew his true motives and if he was not so good at disguising them, he would be ashamed to act, for his talebearing would be far worse than the matters about which he tattles. His zeal to expose the sins of others betrays pride in his own comparative merits, and a delight in being the one to uncover minor failures in his neighbour. If he really wanted to help his brother to improve, he would make it as easy as possible for him to turn from those failings, and speak privately giving the maximum opportunity for recovery. The faithful man proceeds in another way. He loves his brother and sister in Christ, and he loves the community of God’s people. He knows that all have come out of sin, and are in the process of being sanctified, and he knows the process of sanctification is not yet complete. He thinks of how he can best advance the holiness of others and he rejects any opportunity to exalt himself at the expense of others. Such cheap gains are obnoxious to him, and so, whether he can see any advantage for himself or not, he works to help those around him. He is not the judge, but the Lord is, and therefore he does not take over God’s role but remembers that he too must stand before Christ on the last day. He does to others as he would have them do to him, and covers over minor matters in the hope that they will become a thing of the past.