Proverbs 26:23

23 Kind words from a wicked mind are like a shiny coating on a clay pot.

Proverbs 26:23 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 26:23

Burning lips, and a wicked heart
Either burning with wrath and malice; breathing out threatenings and slaughter; pursuing men with reproaches and slanders, arising from a wicked heart: or rather, burning with profession of love to God, and affection to good men; with great pretensions of kindness, and promises of good things, when their hearts are wicked, and they design noticing less; say one thing with their lips, with the greatest show of affection and sincerity, and mean another in their hearts. These [are like] a potsherd covered with silver dross:
which at a distance, or to less discerning persons, looks like silver, and is taken for it; when the covering is only dross, and what is within is only a potsherd, Or a piece of an earthen vessel, good for nothing: such are the specious professions and deceitful words, which flow from a wicked heart.

Proverbs 26:23 In-Context

21 Just as charcoal and wood keep a fire going, a quarrelsome person keeps an argument going.

22 The words of a gossip are like tasty bits of food; people like to gobble them up.

23 Kind words from a wicked mind are like a shiny coating on a clay pot.

24 Those who hate you may try to fool you with their words, but in their minds they are planning evil.

25 People's words may be kind, but don't believe them, because their minds are full of evil thoughts.