A worthless person
The Hebrew word for "worthless" is "בְּלִיַּעַל" (belial), which conveys the idea of someone who is without value or purpose, often associated with wickedness and lawlessness. In the ancient Near Eastern context, a "worthless person" was someone who rejected the moral and social norms of the community, living in a way that was destructive both to themselves and to others. From a conservative Christian perspective, this phrase serves as a warning against living a life that is disconnected from God's purpose and righteousness. It calls believers to examine their own lives and ensure they are living in alignment with God's will, contributing positively to their communities.

A wicked man
The term "wicked" in Hebrew is "רָשָׁע" (rasha), which refers to someone who is morally wrong, guilty, or hostile to God. Historically, the wicked were those who actively opposed God's laws and engaged in behaviors that were harmful to others. In the biblical narrative, wickedness is often contrasted with righteousness, highlighting the choice each person has to follow God's path or to turn away from it. This phrase emphasizes the moral responsibility of individuals to choose righteousness over wickedness, aligning their lives with God's standards.

Walks with a perverse mouth
The phrase "walks with" suggests a habitual lifestyle or pattern of behavior. The Hebrew word for "perverse" is "עִקֵּשׁ" (iqqesh), meaning twisted or crooked. A "perverse mouth" indicates speech that is deceitful, misleading, or corrupt. In the ancient world, speech was a powerful tool, and the words one spoke were seen as a reflection of the heart's condition. From a conservative Christian viewpoint, this phrase underscores the importance of integrity in speech, as words have the power to build up or tear down. Believers are called to speak truthfully and lovingly, reflecting the character of Christ in their communication.

(k). Eleventh Discourse:--Against Deceit and Malice (Proverbs 6:12-19).

(12) A naughty person.--According to its original meaning, a "worthless" person, Heb. a man of Belial,

Froward mouth.--Comp. Proverbs 4:24.

Verses 12-19. - 11. Eleventh admonitory discourse. Warning against mischievousness as a thing hateful to God. The connection of this with the preceding discourse is not at first sight very clear, but it may be found in the fact, attested only too unhappily by experience, that sloth leads those who indulge in it to such vices as are next enumerated. The sluggard may develop into a treacherous and deceitful man, and even if such should not happen, the characteristics of the two are nearly allied, and their end is much the same. St. Paul, in his First Epistle to Timothy, observes this same combination of character, and remarks that idlers are "tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not" (see 1 Timothy 6:13). The intention of the discourse is obviously to dissuade all, and especially the young, from the vices, and to preserve them from the ruin, of those men of whom "the naughty person and wicked man" is the type. Verse 12. - A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth. The teacher begins by stating in general terms the nature and character of the man whom he now holds up as a warning to others, and then proceeds to point out the various features in his conduct and behaviour by which he may be known. In concise terms he is described as "a naughty person, a wicked man." This is pre-eminently his character, and the first feature in it is that his life is one of wilful and injurious misreprescntation of the truth. A naughty person, a wicked man. In apposition and mutually explanatory. The grammatical arrangement of the sentences which follow, each of which is introduced by a participle, and is thus coordinate to the ethers, as well as the parallel terms, "person" (adam) and "man" (ish), determine this apposition. So Bertheau and Delitzsch. Others (as Zockler, Noyes, Kamph), however, connect the second expression with the series of characteristics which follow, and render, "A worthless person is a deceiver, who," etc., but wrongly. A naughty person (Hebrew, adam b'liyyaal); literally, a man of Belial; Vulgate, homo apostata; LXX., ἀνὴρ ἄφρων. The word "Belial" is derived from b'li, "without," and yaal, "profit" (i.e. "without profit"), or from b'li and ol, "yoke" (i.e. "without yoke"), and strictly signifies either a worthless or a lawless person. The latter derivation is, however, rejected by Gesenius and others. Its abstract signification is worthlessness, uselessness; its concrete or adjectival, worthless. The word "naughty" (Anglo-Saxon, naht, ne aht, "not anything," equivalent to "nothing"), in the sense of good-for-nothing, ne'er-do-well, adopted in the Authorized Version, exactly reproduces its strict etymological meaning. The word, however, always carries with it the idea of moral turpitude. In the present instance its meaning is determined by the appositional phrase, "a man of iniquity," or "a wicked man," and such iniquity as takes the form of mischief making, deceit, and sowing discord among brethren. The "man of Belial" is not therefore simply, as its etymological derivation would imply, a worthless individual, one who is of no use either to himself or to the community at large, but a positively wicked, iniquitous, and despicable character. The meaning of the word varies in other passages. Thus in Deuteronomy 13:13, where it first occurs, it is used to designate those who have fallen sway into idolatry, and induce others to follow their example. In this sense it corresponds with the Vulgate, apostata, as signifying a defection from the worship of the true God. Again, in 1 Samuel 1:16 it is applied to the profanation of sacred places. When Hannah is accused by Eli of drunkenness in God's house at Shiloh, she replies, "Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial." In the historical books (e.g. Judges, 1 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Chronicles), where it is of frequent occurrence, it has the general meaning of "wickedness," under whatever form it appears. So in the Psalms (Psalm 18:4; Psalm 41:8; Psalm 101:3) and Nahum (Nahum 1:11, 15). In the Book of Job (Job 34:18, once only) it is used adjectively and as a term of reproach, "Is it fit to say to a king, Thou art wicked [b'liyyaal; i.e. 'worthless']?" Individuals possessing the qualities of worthlessness, profanity, or wickedness are designated in Holy Scripture either as "sons," "children," "daughters," or "men of Belial." The word only occurs in two other passages in the Proverbs - Proverbs 16:27 and Proverbs 19:28. In the New Testament (2 Corinthians 6:15) the word "Belial" (Greek, βελίαρ or βελίαλ) appears as an appellative of Satan, ὁ πονηρὸς, "the evil one," as the representative of all that is bad, and as antichrist. A wicked man (Hebrew, ish aven); literally, a man of vanity or iniquity; Vulgate, vir inutilis; LXX., ἀνὴρ παράνομος. The radical idea of aven (from un, "nothing") is that of emptiness or vanity, and has much, therefore, in common with b'liyaal. Its secondary meaning, and that which it usually bears in Scripture, is iniquity. "A man of iniquity" is one who is altogether deficient in moral consciousness, and who goes about to work wickedness and do hurt and injury to others (cf. ver. 18 and Job 22:15). Walketh with a froward mouth. His first characteristic, as already observed. His whole life and conduct are marked by craftiness, deceit, perversion, and misrepresentation, and an utter want of truth. "Walking" is here, as elsewhere in Scripture, used of some particular course of conduct. So we find the LXX. paraphrase, πορεύεται ὁδοὺς οὐκ ἀγαθάς. "he enters or walks not in good ways." With a froward mouth (Hebrew, ik'shuth peh); literally, with perversity of mouth; Vulgate, ore perverse. Symmachus has στρεβλύμασι στόματος, "with perversity of mouth." The mouth, or speech, is the vehicle by which this person gives outward expression to the evil thoughts which are inwardly filling his heart. The phrase occurs before in Proverbs 4:24. The meaning of the passage is well illustrated in Psalm 10:7, "His mouth is full of misery, deceit, and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity."

Parallel Commentaries ...


A worthless
בְּ֭לִיַּעַל (bə·lî·ya·‘al)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1100: Without profit, worthlessness, destruction, wickedness

person,
אָדָ֣ם (’ā·ḏām)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 120: Ruddy, a human being

a wicked
אָ֑וֶן (’ā·wen)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 205: Strictly nothingness, trouble, vanity, wickedness, an idol

man,
אִ֣ישׁ (’îš)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

walks
ה֝וֹלֵ֗ךְ (hō·w·lêḵ)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 1980: To go, come, walk

with a perverse
עִקְּשׁ֥וּת (‘iq·qə·šūṯ)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 6143: Crookedness

mouth,
פֶּֽה׃ (peh)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6310: The mouth, edge, portion, side, according to


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OT Poetry: Proverbs 6:12 A worthless person a man of iniquity (Prov. Pro Pr)