What is the meaning of Proverbs 10:18? Concealing hatred • Solomon begins with a picture of a heart storing animosity while outwardly pretending all is well. Leviticus 19:17 commands, “You must not harbor hatred against your brother in your heart,” showing that hidden bitterness is already sin, even before words escape. • Psalm 55:21 observes, “His speech is smooth as butter, but war is in his heart,” reminding us that camouflaged hatred makes relationships unsafe. • 1 John 4:20 asserts, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar,” tying concealed hatred directly to deception before God and people. Lying lips • Because hatred is being suppressed, whatever is spoken cannot be fully truthful; the lips must lie to mask the resentment. Proverbs 12:22 testifies, “Lying lips are detestable to the LORD,” underlining how seriously God views this disguise. • Jesus clarifies in Matthew 12:34 that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks,” so if hatred fills the heart, deception will sooner or later break through in speech or tone. Spreading slander • The verse shifts from hidden malice to open attacks: “whoever spreads slander.” Here hatred erupts, not with fists, but with damaging stories. Proverbs 16:28 warns, “A perverse man spreads dissension, and a gossip separates close friends.” • James 3:6 depicts the tongue as “a fire,” able to set a whole forest ablaze. Slander scorches reputations, churches, and families, often irreversibly. • Psalm 101:5 shows God’s stance: “Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, I will silence him.” He personally defends the victim of malicious talk. A fool • Scripture labels the slanderer “a fool,” not merely unwise but morally corrupt. Proverbs 18:2 notes, “A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions.” • By defaming others, the fool acts without regard for God’s command to love (John 13:34) and without foresight of the harvest of discord he is sowing (Galatians 6:7–8). • His behavior proves he lacks the reverent fear of the LORD that marks true wisdom (Proverbs 1:7). summary Proverbs 10:18 exposes two faces of hatred: the hidden version that lies to keep up appearances and the outspoken version that vents through slander. Both are condemned—one for deceit, the other for destructive speech—and both reveal a heart distant from the fear of the LORD. God calls us instead to honest, loving relationships where sin is confessed, forgiveness sought, and words become instruments of grace and truth. |
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