King James Version

Proverbs 25:20

As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart.

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Hebrew

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מַ֥עֲדֶהmaadehpass byעָדָהverb, hiphil, participle, absolute — “pass by”, a verb used as a describing wordH5710to advance, i.e. pass on or continue; causatively, to remove; specifically, to bedeck (i.e. bring an ornament upon)adorn, deck (self), pass by, take away.בֶּ֨גֶדbegedapparelבֶּגֶדnoun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “apparel”, the ordinary formH899a covering, i.e. clothing; also treachery or pillageapparel, cloth(-es, ing), garment, lap, rag, raiment, robe, [idiom] very (treacherously), vesture, wardrobe.בְּי֣וֹםbeyomin as long asיוֹםpreposition, noun, common, masculine, singular, construct — “in as long as”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH3117a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)age, [phrase] always, [phrase] chronicals, continually(-ance), daily, ((birth-), each, to) day, (now a, two) days (agone), [phrase] elder, [idiom] end, [phrase] evening, [phrase] (for) ever(-lasting, -more), [idiom] full, life, as (so) lon…קָ֭רָהqarahcoldקָרָהnoun, common, feminine, singular, absolute — “cold”, the ordinary formH7135coolnesscold.חֹ֣מֶץchometsvinegarחֹמֶץnoun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “vinegar”, the ordinary formH2558vinegarvinegar.עַלalaboveעַלpreposition — “above”H5921above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsabove, according to(-ly), after, (as) against, among, and, [idiom] as, at, because of, beside (the rest of), between, beyond the time, [idiom] both and, by (reason of), [idiom] had the charge of, concerning for, in (that), (forth, out) of,…נָ֑תֶרnaternitreנֶתֶרnoun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “nitre”, the ordinary formH5427mineral potash (so called from effervescing with acid)nitre.וְשָׁ֥רvesharand singשִׁירconjunction, verb, qal, participle, absolute — “and sing”, a verb used as a describing wordH7891to singbehold (by mistake for H7789 (שׁוּר)), sing(-er, -ing man, -ing woman).בַּ֝שִּׁרִ֗יםbashirimin songשִׁירpreposition, with the article, noun, common, both genders, plural, absolute — “in song”, the ordinary formH7892a song; abstractly, singingmusical(-ick), [idiom] sing(-er, -ing), song.עַ֣לalaboveעַלpreposition — “above”H5921above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsabove, according to(-ly), after, (as) against, among, and, [idiom] as, at, because of, beside (the rest of), between, beyond the time, [idiom] both and, by (reason of), [idiom] had the charge of, concerning for, in (that), (forth, out) of,…לֶבlevcomfortablyלֵבnoun, common, masculine, singular, construct — “comfortably”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH3820the heart; also used (figuratively) very widely for the feelings, the will and even the intellect; likewise for the centre of anything[phrase] care for, comfortably, consent, [idiom] considered, courag(-eous), friend(-ly), ((broken-), (hard-), (merry-), (stiff-), (stout-), double) heart(-ed), [idiom] heed, [idiom] I, kindly, midst, mind(-ed), [idiom] regard(-ed), [idiom]…רָֽעrabadרַעadjective, adjective, masculine, singular, absolute — “bad”, the ordinary formH7451bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral)adversity, affliction, bad, calamity, [phrase] displease(-ure), distress, evil((-favouredness), man, thing), [phrase] exceedingly, [idiom] great, grief(-vous), harm, heavy, hurt(-ful), ill (favoured), [phrase] mark, mischief(-vous), misery…

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

As one that taketh off a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to a heavy heart.

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

As one that taketh off a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon soda, So is he that singeth songs to a heavy heart.

Young’s Literal Translation

Whoso is taking away a garment in a cold day, [Is as] vinegar on nitre, And a singer of songs on a sad heart.

World English Bible

As one who takes away a garment in cold weather, or vinegar on soda, so is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.

Darby Translation

[As] he that taketh off a garment in cold weather, [and as] vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to a sad heart.

Douay-Rheims

And one that looseth his garment in cold weather. As vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to a very evil heart. As a moth doth by a garment, and a worm by the wood: so the sadness of a man consumeth the heart.

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

As one that taketh off a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to a heavy heart.

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

As vinegar is bad for a sore, so trouble befalling the body afflicts the heart. a As a moth in a garment, and a worm in wood, so the grief of a man hurts the heart.

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Ὥσπερ ὄξος ἕλκει ἀσύμφορον, οὕτως προσπεσὸν πάθος ἐν σώματι καρδίαν λυπεῖ· a ὥσπερ σὴς ἐν ἱματίῳ καὶ σκώληξ ξύλῳ, οὕτως λύπη ἀνδρὸς βλάπτει καρδίαν.