Proverbs 16:27 Commentary and Bible Study

This proverb may be read as if the ungodly man is like a rotten journalist who investigates all sorts of matter because he is looking for trouble. He searches through scandal and tittle tattle trying to find something which he can make a story out of, which will allow him to report other people’s evil deeds and retail other people’s gossip. But no, the proverb is about how hard the ungodly have to work in order to be ungodly. It is not limited to evil about other people though it may include this. It is about all evil, both evil reports of others and evil acts which the ungodly intend to carry out themselves. The pursuit of evil is not necessarily easy. It does not lie on the surface so that a man comes across it while walking along the path. He has to search for it, turning over stones, looking in caves, quarrying for it. It costs him considerable effort. He has to meddle in all sorts of matters which are none of his business, or he has to make plans which are hard to execute, which require cunning and concealment. What is the result of this? It is that ‘in his lips there is a burning fire’. His evil intentions are expressed with evil words. These may be destructive reports about others which destroy reputations even of the righteous; they may be false reports which turn people against each other and bring about strife and quarrelling, but they may equally be pure cruelty, malice, or hostility. An evil man trades in evil and because evil is constantly revolving in his heart it is not surprising that it finds its way to his lips. He delights to be hurtful. He speaks proud words that crush others, that take away credit where it is due, that bring false charges in an attempt to boost himself. He has abandoned the truth and embraced every form of evil that he can find and much of this involves speech.