What Does Proverbs 11:13 Mean?
A walker of tales reveals secrets, but the steady of breath covers the matter.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.THE KEY
The Hebrew sets the talebearer who traffics in secrets against the steady person who gives a matter cover.
THE MEANING
The verse names what happens in speech now: a confidence can be carried outward, or a matter can be kept covered. Trustworthiness appears as steadiness in the very medium that could expose it. The covering protects what has been entrusted rather than distorting it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that honesty requires disclosing every private matter.
THE ROOT
מְכַסֶּה
mekhasseh
GROWS FROM
כסה
To cover or conceal.
“covers” in this verse is mekhasseh. The root makes concealment an act of covering: it can shelter what is entrusted rather than falsify it. The same root describes the prudent person who “concealeth knowledge” in Proverbs 12:23, so this covering carries discernment, not simple suppression.
ALSO GROWS
kāsâ: To cover, conceal.
כָּסָה
This verb names the covering action carried by מְכַסֶּה in the verse.
kōseh: One who covers or conceals.
כֹּסֶה
Proverbs 12:23 uses this form for the prudent person who covers knowledge, showing that concealment can protect what is valuable.
נֶאֱמָן
ne’eman
GROWS FROM
אמן
To be firm, support, or prove reliable.
“steady of breath” in this verse is ne’eman. נֶאֱמָן grows from the seed of firmness and reliability, also heard in אֱמוּנָה (emunah), trust. The verse’s “faithful” person is steady in רוּחַ (ruach, breath), where words can either expose a matter or leave it covered.
ALSO GROWS
’āman: To support, make firm, or prove reliable.
אָמַן
This verb carries the firmness that makes the person in the verse dependable.
emunah: Firmness, trust, or trustworthiness.
אֱמוּנָה
Its shared root links reliability with trust that can bear weight.
רָכִיל
rākhil
GROWS FROM
רכל
To trade or traffic; by extension, to go about as a talebearer.
“walker of tales” in this verse is rākhil. The consonants link the talebearer to the language of trading and traffic. The verse pictures secrets being carried around like goods, while the trustworthy person refuses to put the matter into circulation.
ALSO GROWS
rōkhel: A merchant or trader.
רֹכֵל
This word shares the root consonants and makes the trafficking image behind “talebearer” visible.
rekhullāh: Trade or traffic in goods.
רְכֻלָּה
The shared root connects carrying tales with putting something into circulation.
THE PATTERN
Trustworthy speech knows when a matter is best kept covered and when it is time to bring words into the open.
A shrewd man covers knowledge, but the heart of fools calls out folly.A time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to hush, and a time to speak.Know this, my beloved brothers. Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to swell.THE THREAD
A shrewd man covers knowledge, but the heart of fools calls out folly.Proverbs 12:23 uses the same root כסה (kasah, to cover) for the prudent person’s handling of knowledge. The shared word reveals that covering can be wisdom’s protection, while the opposite is making speech into circulation.
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