As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart.
Parallel translations
- WEB As one who takes away a garment in cold weather, or vinegar on soda, so is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.
- BSB Like one who removes a garment on a cold day or vinegar poured on a wound is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.
- NKJV Like one who takes away a garment in cold weather, And like vinegar on soda, Is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.
- NASB Like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar on soda, Is one who sings songs to a troubled heart.
- NLT Singing cheerful songs to a person with a heavy heart is like taking someone’s coat in cold weather or pouring vinegar in a wound.
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
Singing cheerful songs to a grieving heart is as jarring as taking a coat in the cold. Comfort must fit the sufferer's condition.
Overview
The proverb warns against insensitive, ill-timed cheer that ignores another's pain, like removing warmth from one who is cold. True wisdom weeps with those who weep (Rom 12:15). It commends compassionate sensitivity in how we minister to the hurting.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Rom 12:15Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
- Eccl 3:4A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
- Deut 24:12–17And if the man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge:
- Isa 58:7Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
- Jas 2:15–16If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
- Dan 6:18Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him.
- Ps 137:3–4For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
- Prov 10:26As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him.
- Job 24:7–10They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold.
- Jas 5:15And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 25:20 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.