The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips.

PROVERBS 16:23KJV
Know the Bible

Proverbs 16:23 (KJV)

What does Proverbs 16:23 mean?

Proverbs 16:23 describes wise speech as the result of understanding within a person. In the KJV’s picture, the wise person’s heart guides the mouth and gives the lips something worth teaching.

The verse gives the heart the role of a teacher and the mouth the role of a pupil. That image follows the mention of “sweetness of the lips” in verse 21 and directs attention to the source of such speech.

The Hebrew behind Proverbs 16:23

  • “heart” — לֵב (lev): This word often refers to the inner life, including thought and judgment. The verse pictures wisdom as belonging to a person’s thinking, not just to outward speech.

  • “teacheth” — שָׂכַל (sakal): Here the word carries the sense of making wise or giving insight. The heart is pictured as supplying the mouth with understanding.

  • “learning” — לֶקַח (leqach): This word can mean instruction or teaching. In this verse, what is added to the lips is useful instruction, not merely more words.

Why Proverbs 16:23 matters

  • The verse links wisdom with instruction, not just with a pleasant sound. Its second half says the wise person “addeth learning to his lips,” giving speech something for others to receive.

  • The picture runs from the inner person outward. “Heart,” “mouth,” and “lips” trace the movement from understanding to spoken words, rather than treating the words alone as the whole of wisdom.

  • The surrounding passage connects speech with its effect on listeners. Just after this verse, Proverbs 16:24 compares pleasant words to a honeycomb, shifting attention from their source to their sweetness.

Where else these words appear

“learning” Hebrew H3948 · used in 9 verses

  • Deuteronomy 32:2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:
  • Proverbs 1:5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
  • Proverbs 9:9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

“teacheth” Hebrew H7919 · used in 63 verses

  • Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
  • Psalms 14:2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
  • Proverbs 21:12 The righteous man wisely considereth the house of the wicked: but God overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness.

“wise” Hebrew H2450 · used in 133 verses

  • Genesis 41:8 And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.
  • Proverbs 3:7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
  • Ecclesiastes 2:16 For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.