Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can fully share its joy.
Parallel translations
- WEB The heart knows its own bitterness and joy; he will not share these with a stranger.
- KJV The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy.
- BSB The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares in its joy.
- NKJV The heart knows its own bitterness, And a stranger does not share its joy.
- NASB The heart knows its own bitterness, And a stranger does not share its joy.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Each heart knows its own grief and joy that no outsider can fully share. There is a personal depth to human experience.
Overview
This insightful proverb acknowledges the irreducible privacy of the inner life: our deepest sorrows and joys cannot be wholly entered into by another. It fosters humility in offering comfort and counsel, and gentleness toward others' hidden burdens. Yet there is One who fully knows every heart, and in Christ we have a sympathizing High Priest who understands our griefs (Hebrews 4:15).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Prov 18:14A man’s spirit will sustain him in sickness, but a crushed spirit, who can bear?
- Phil 4:7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
- Prov 15:13A glad heart makes a cheerful face; but an aching heart breaks the spirit.
- Job 10:1“My soul is weary of my life. I will give free course to my complaint. I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
- Rev 2:17He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he who receives it.
- John 14:18I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.
- Job 7:11“Therefore I will not keep silent. I will speak in the anguish of my spirit. I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
- John 12:27“Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this time?’ But for this cause I came to this time.
- Mark 14:33–34He took with him Peter, James, and John, and began to be greatly troubled and distressed.
- 1 Sam 1:10She was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to Yahweh, weeping bitterly.
- Ps 25:14The friendship of Yahweh is with those who fear him. He will show them his covenant.
- 1 Pet 1:8whom not having known you love; in whom, though now you don’t see him, yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory —
- Ezek 3:14So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; and Yahweh’s hand was strong on me.
- 2 Kgs 4:27When she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, “Leave her alone; for her soul is troubled within her; and Yahweh has hidden it from me, and has not told me.”
- Job 6:2–4“Oh that my anguish were weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances!
- Job 9:18He will not allow me to catch my breath, but fills me with bitterness.
- Gen 42:21They said to one another, “We are certainly guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us, and we wouldn’t listen. Therefore this distress has come upon us.”
- John 14:23Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 14:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.