Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.
- KJV Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.
- BSB Let another praise you, and not your own mouth—a stranger, and not your own lips.
- NKJV Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips.
- NLT Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth— a stranger, not your own lips.
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
Let others praise you rather than praising yourself. True honor is acknowledged by others, not self-proclaimed.
Overview
The proverb commends humility, teaching that genuine worth is recognized by others, not announced by oneself. Self-praise reveals pride, while letting praise come from others reflects a humble spirit (Prov 25:27). It echoes the gospel pattern in which God exalts the humble rather than the self-promoting (Luke 14:11; 1 Pet 5:6).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- 2 Cor 10:18For it isn’t he who commends himself who is approved, but whom the Lord commends.
- Prov 25:27It is not good to eat much honey; nor is it honorable to seek one’s own honor.
- 2 Cor 10:12For we are not bold to number or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But they themselves, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves with themselves, are without understanding.
- 2 Cor 12:11I have become foolish in boasting. You compelled me, for I ought to have been commended by you, for in nothing was I inferior to the very best apostles, though I am nothing.
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 27:2 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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