The Speaker Not the Speech
Mishlei Chapter 17 Verse 7
ז לֹא-נָאוָה לְנָבָל שְׂפַת-יֶתֶר; אַף, כִּי-לְנָדִיב שְׂפַת-שָׁקֶר
Lofty speech is unbecoming (unbefitting) for a scoundrel (low life), and surely lips of lies in a noble
When hearing speech and evaluating it, we are much more influenced by who the speaker is than by the content of the speech. No one expects a low life to produce lofty speech, and therefore no one will listen for it. Even more so, no one expects a leader to speak lies and no one will question the leaders words. Because of this, it will be easy for people to get hurt by blindly believing the words of the people they look up to, and to blindly ignore words of wisdom or benefit from the people that they look down upon.
here is an alternate summary for this pasuk:
Listen to Words, Not to People
People evaluate speech based on the persona of the speaker, rather than the content of the speech. Consequently, they will miss out on valuable insight uttered by a lowlife, and they will be oblivious to the lies of a noble. The wise man will guard against this natural tendency. He will not be influenced by the authority of the speaker, but instead, will “accept the truth from whoever says it.”
ז לֹא-נָאוָה לְנָבָל שְׂפַת-יֶתֶר; אַף, כִּי-לְנָדִיב שְׂפַת-שָׁקֶר
Lofty speech is unbecoming (unbefitting) for a scoundrel (low life), and surely lips of lies in a noble
When hearing speech and evaluating it, we are much more influenced by who the speaker is than by the content of the speech. No one expects a low life to produce lofty speech, and therefore no one will listen for it. Even more so, no one expects a leader to speak lies and no one will question the leaders words. Because of this, it will be easy for people to get hurt by blindly believing the words of the people they look up to, and to blindly ignore words of wisdom or benefit from the people that they look down upon.
here is an alternate summary for this pasuk:
Listen to Words, Not to People
People evaluate speech based on the persona of the speaker, rather than the content of the speech. Consequently, they will miss out on valuable insight uttered by a lowlife, and they will be oblivious to the lies of a noble. The wise man will guard against this natural tendency. He will not be influenced by the authority of the speaker, but instead, will “accept the truth from whoever says it.”
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