An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.
Parallel Translations
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An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.
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Every man shall kiss his lips that giveth a right answer.
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He kisseth the lips that giveth a right answer.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Proverbs 24:26 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 15:23 Joy comes to a man with the reply of his mouth. How good is a word at the right time!
- Genesis 41:38-57 Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?” Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has shown you all of this, there is no one so discreet and wise as you. You shall be over my house. All my people will be ruled according to your word. Only in the throne I will be greater than you.” Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in robes of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. He made him ride in the second chariot which he had. They cried before him, “Bow the knee!” He set him over all the land of Egypt. Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh. Without you, no man shall lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.” Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-Paneah. He gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On as a wife. Joseph went out over the land of Egypt. Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. In the seven plenteous years the earth produced abundantly. He gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities. He stored food in each city from the fields around that city. Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he stopped counting, for it was without number. To Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him. Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, “For”, he said, “God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.” The name of the second, he called Ephraim: “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” The seven years of plenty, that were in the land of Egypt, came to an end. The seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do.” The famine was over all the surface of the earth. Joseph opened all the store houses, and sold to the Egyptians. The famine was severe in the land of Egypt. All countries came into Egypt, to Joseph, to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the earth.
- Proverbs 25:11-12 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver. As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover to an obedient ear.
- Job 6:25 How forcible are words of uprightness! But your reproof, what does it reprove?
- Proverbs 16:1 The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from Yahweh.
- Daniel 2:46-48 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, worshiped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an offering and sweet odors to him. The king answered to Daniel, and said, “Of a truth your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you have been able to reveal this secret.” Then the king made Daniel great, and gave him many great gifts, and made him rule over the whole province of Babylon, and to be chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon.
- Mark 12:17-18 Jesus answered them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” They marveled greatly at him. Some Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection, came to him. They asked him, saying,
- Mark 12:32-34 The scribe said to him, “Truly, teacher, you have said well that he is one, and there is none other but he, and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from God’s Kingdom.” No one dared ask him any question after that.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 24:26 [Every man] shall kiss [his] lips that…
Pro 24:26 [Every man] shall kiss [his] lips that giveth a right answer.
Ver. 26. Every man shall kiss his lips.] That is, Shall do him honour, as Gen 41:40. All the people shall kiss at thy mouth, saith Pharaoh to Joseph; and Samuel kissed Saul when he anointed him king; {1Sa 10:1} and, "Kiss the Son," saith David. {Psa 2:12} That is, Give unto him the honour due unto his name.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Every man shall kiss his lips, shall highly respect…
Every man shall kiss his lips, shall highly respect and love him, of which kissing was a sign,
that giveth a right answer; who being called to speak, either as a judge, or witness, or otherwise, in weighty matters, speaks pertinently, and plainly, and truly, to the conviction and satisfaction of the hearers.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause,....…
Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause,.... Unless forced unto it, except there is some urgent reason for it; not upon any trivial account, or in any frivolous matter; never appear forward and eager to bear witness against him, and, whenever obliged to it, be not a false witness, but speak truth, whether thy neighbour be a friend or a foe;
and deceive not with thy lips; by bearing a false testimony, the judge, thy neighbour and thyself; for though men may be deceived, God cannot: or, shouldest thou do so, "thou wouldest break" and cut him to pieces "with thy lips" (x); which is the sense of the words according to R. Judah, as Ben Melech relates.
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(x) "et ne atteras labiis tuis", Vatablus; "et ne comminuas eum labiis tuis", Syriac version.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Shall kiss - Shall respect him. A right answer…
Shall kiss - Shall respect him. A right answer - That speaks pertinently and plainly, and truly.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 26. Kiss his lips] Shall treat him with…
Verse 26. Kiss his lips] Shall treat him with affection and respect.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Better, He shall kiss lips that giveth a right…
Better, He shall kiss lips that giveth a right answer, i. e., he shall gain the hearts of men as much as by all outward signs of sympathy and favor. Compare 2Sa 15:1-6.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Lips. And be deemed a friend. (Menochius)
Lips. And be deemed a friend. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain kiss his lips--love and obey, do homage (Psa 2:12;…
kiss his lips--love and obey, do homage (Psa 2:12; Sol 8:1).
right answer--literally, "plain words" (compare Pro 8:9), opposed to deceptive, or obscure.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 26. Shall kiss lips that giveth a right answer…
26. Shall kiss lips that giveth a right answer — When a judge speaks upright words — gives a just decision — men salute him with respect and affection. Zockler says: Faithful and truthful answers affect one as favourably as the most agreeable caress. It is probable that there is here an allusion to the Eastern custom of kissing the writing which contains the order of a ruler or a judge. The passage is rendered by the Septuagint thus: “Lips shall kiss those things that answer (to) right words:” that is, those writings or decrees which correspond to the principles of equity and justice shall be treated with the utmost reverence. Compare Gen_27:26, Gen_29:11; Gen_29:13; Gen_33:4; Gen_48:10; Gen_50:1; 1Sa_10:1; 1Sa_20:41; 2Sa_20:9; 2Sa_15:5; Luk_9:38; Luk_15:20; Acts 20:39, etc.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 26. Every man shall kiss his lips] Rather, he…
26. Every man shall kiss his lips] Rather, he kisseth the lips, or with the lips: i.e. a right answer is as grateful and conciliating as a friendly salutation.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (26) Every man shall kiss his lips . .…
(26) Every man shall kiss his lips . . . Rather, He kisseth the lips that giveth right answers. His words are as pleasant as if he had kissed the inquirer’s lips.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain A distich connected with the subject of the preceding…
A distich connected with the subject of the preceding paragraph. Every man shall kiss his lips that giveth a right answer; or better, he kisseth the lips who giveth a right answer. An answer that is fair and suitable to the circumstances is as pleasant and assuring to the bearers as a kiss on the lips. Such a salutation would be a natural sign of sympathy and affection. Thus Absalom won the hearts of the people by kissing those who came to court with their suits. (2Sa_15:5) In Gen_41:40, where the Authorized Version has, "According to thy word shall all my people be ruled," the Hebrew runs, "Thy mouth shall all my people kiss," i.e. they shall do homage to thee, which is another signification of this action. This, however, would not be suitable here, as the kiss is supposed to be given by the speaker, though the LXX mistakenly translates, "But men will kiss lips that answer good words.
Vers. 26-29. Just conduct to our neighbour.
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I TRUE WITNESS. (Ver. 26) He who gives true and faithful answers especially in courts of justice delights, even as the sweetest kiss upon the mouth delights. The poet alludes to the effect upon the ear. The understanding can no more be delighted with a lie than the will can choose an apparent evil. "Strange as it may seem," says one playfully, "the human mind loses truth." We may add, "when passion does not blind the intellect to its beauty." In the court of justice, all but the guilty and those interested in his fate see the beauty of truth, and prize it above all things. Hence to speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, is the solemn oath of witnesses.
II FALSE AND UNCALLED-FOR WITNESS. (Ver. 28) To bear false witness strikes at the very root of conscience and moral obligation. But criminal, though in a less degree, is the volunteering of evidence without cause against another; i.e. when no object but private hatred and revenge is to be served. Compare the case of Doeg; (1Sa_22:9, 1Sa_22:10) the Pharisees with the wretched sinner in John 8; the words of the Lord in Joh_15:25. Speak evil of no man, not only that evil which is altogether false and groundless, but that which is true, when speaking of it will do more harm than good (Matthew Henry).
III DELIBERATE DECEPTION. About a court of justice, which represents truth, there gathers a dark shade of roguery and falsehood; "persons that are full of sinister tricks and shifts, whereby they pervert the plain and direct courses of courts, and bring justice into oblique lines and labyrinths.
IV BLIND INDULGENCE OF VINDICTIVE TEMPER. (Ver. 29; comp. Pro_20:22) Nothing is more deeply impressed in the Bible than the truth of compensation or retribution. But men must not take the law into their own hands. "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith Jehovah." "Revenge is a kind of wild justice, which the more man"s nature runs to, the more ought law to weed it out. In taking revenge a man is but even with his enemy; but in passing it over he is superior. It is the glory of a man to pass by an offence. The man who studies revenge keeps his own wounds green, which otherwise would heal and do well" (Bacon). J.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain v. 26. Every man shall kiss his lips that…
v. 26. Every man shall kiss his lips that giveth a right answer, rather, "A kiss upon the lips does he bestow who returns well-pleasing words," that is, a faithful and favorable answer, especially before a court of justice, is like a most agreeable caress.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 gives a kiss on the lips
gives a kiss on the lips
A kiss was a sign of respect and devotion in that culture. AT: "shows true friendship" (See: Idiom)
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translationWords
kiss
house
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 24:26 Saying 2: A true friend does not cover…
24:26 Saying 2: A true friend does not cover up problems but honestly points out areas for improvement. A wise person welcomes the correction of a friend.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.