Proverbs 25:19

Proverbs 25:19, in plain English

If you trust in someone who's proven unreliable, especially during a crisis, you'll be left without support—it's as painful as a broken tooth or a twisted foot.

Why it's here

There's someone you've depended on, and when trouble comes—when you really need them—they're not there or they fail you. The image is vivid: a broken tooth that you keep trying to use, a twisted foot that won't bear your weight. You can't function. That's what false confidence feels like.

Who's speaking

Solomon, warning against misplaced trust

Where it sits in the story

This connects to Jesus teaching about building on rock versus sand, about where we place our ultimate confidence. Only God is truly trustworthy, though we can also have confidence in people who have proven themselves faithful.

The scholarly reading

Trusting in someone unfaithful during a time of crisis is like relying on a broken tooth or a sprained ankle—instead of support, you get pain and collapse.

Language and setting

The Hebrew בִּטְחוֹן בָּעֶנְקַד בְּיוֹם צָרָה (bitchon ba'enqad beyom tzarah—confidence in unfaithful one in a day of trouble) and the comparisons שֵׁן נִשְׁמַר (shen nishmeret—a broken tooth) and כָּרַע־רֶגֶל (kara-regel—a foot out of joint) emphasize physical incapacity at the moment when function is most needed. The proverb recognizes that betrayal is worse in crisis than in ordinary times; when you need the unfaithful person most, they fail. The prophet Jeremiah knew this intimately (Jeremiah 15:18). The proverb teaches discernment: test character before crisis, not during it.

Voice

The wisdom teacher, addressing the reality of relational failure under pressure.

Significance

This principle appears when the disciples flee at Jesus's arrest (Matthew 26:56), highlighting the proverb's realism about human limitation. Yet it also sets up the Christian paradox: Christ remains faithful even when His followers are not (2 Timothy 2:13), suggesting that ultimate trust must be placed in divine rather than human reliability.

17Seldom set foot in your neighbor’s house, lest he grow weary and hate you.

18Like a club or sword or sharp arrow is a man who bears false witness against his neighbor.

19Like a broken tooth or a foot out of joint is confidence in a faithless man in time of trouble.

20Like one who removes a garment on a cold day or vinegar poured on a wound is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.

21If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.

Read all of Proverbs 25 — A new section: proverbs copied by Hezekiah's scribes. A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.