As water reflects the face, so the heart reflects the true man.
Parallel translations
- WEB Like water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.
- KJV As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.
- NKJV As in water face reflects face, So a man’s heart reveals the man.
- NASB As in water a face reflects the face, So the heart of a person reflects the person.
- NLT As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person.
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
Just as water mirrors a face, a person's heart reveals his true character. It teaches that inner thoughts shape and disclose who we really are.
Overview
The proverb observes that as water reflects one's face, so the heart reflects the person, pointing to the deep correspondence between inner life and true identity. Outward conduct ultimately mirrors the heart's condition. This anticipates Jesus' teaching that out of the heart's overflow the mouth speaks and life is shaped, so the heart must be cleansed by Him (Luke 6:45).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Jas 1:22–25Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.
- Ps 33:15He shapes the hearts of each; He considers all their works.
- Mark 7:21For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
- Gen 6:5Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time.
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 27:19 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
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