Proverb 10:11

“The mouth of the righteous is a well of life,
but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.”

As I scan back through the verses from chapter 10, I’m noticing a focal theme surrounding the “head” and a repetitive contrast between the righteous and the wicked. Verse five addresses someone who “sleeps” or is “unaware” through harvest; Verse six blessings on the “head” of the righteous and curses on the “mouth” of the wicked; Verse seven blesses the “memory” of the righteous and an undoing of the wicked; Verse eight address the one who chatters mindlessly with his “mouth”; Verse 10 hones in on a winking “eye”; and again today in verse 11 the “mouth” gets some attention. 

Proverbs 10 is teaching us that there is an undoubted correlation between the mouth and the mind, for one. But also, the need for an awareness of the senses and their reflection of the state of our spirit. For the mouth and mind of a wise person acts a certain way; and the mouth and mind of the wicked, another. 

We can, therefore, observe our own words and our own thoughts to determine whether we are wise or wicked. It’s not an easy task, because we may not like what we see in our reflection. But the truth will set us free when we can see ourselves for what we are: acknowledge our state, admit our lack of wisdom, our taste for wickedness and our need for redemption.

When we utter such words, our mouth becomes like a well of life. Spewing forth with clean, refreshing water for the thirsty. But the mouth of the wicked is closed off to admitting such things and inoperable. It would rather satisfy its cravings for flavors of wrongdoing, taste unrighteousness on its tongue than sip the bland waters which sustain and hydrate. 

Righteousness is neither “perfection”, nor does it mean “generally good”. With either of these outlooks, it would be easy to assume I can never attain righteousness, or that I already am righteous. Neither of which is actually true. 

Same goes for wickedness: Wickedness doesn’t mean “bad”. But it also doesn’t excuse me from being lumped into a category with the extremely bad, like rapists and murderers. Again, it would be presumptuous to automatically dodge the weight of my own wickedness, because I’m not “one of those people” or assume myself to be wicked merely because I sin like the rest of all humanity. 

There are nuances in these words worth exploring rather than assuming we understand their meaning. But in our modern English language, we hyperbolize or generalize them and in so doing, warp our understanding of the message in the Proverbs.

The righteous aren’t merely those who are just and lawful and right—though it can refer to those people as well. But righteous people include those who choose to make themselves right despite their shortcomings. Who choose to clear or cleanse themselves from the bad unlawfulness and unrighteousness they’ve committed. Who turn to righteousness when they are not righteous. Which brings us back to why the mouth is a well of life; when one can admit their unrighteousness they become righteous through their confession.

The wicked is a morally wrong person—one who is actively bad, condemned, guilty. If we aren’t confessing our guilt, we remain in it, refuse to be freed from it. The violence isn’t merely against others, but against ourselves as we cover our mouths with this offense.