The man with a pure heart and gracious speech wins the friendship of the king.
A verse about the preferred company of a king appears in Proverbs 22:11: He who loves purity of heart and whose speech is gracious, the king is his friend (v. 11). Two qualities are named together because they belong together.
Purity of heart names the inner condition. The man's motives are clean. He is not maneuvering, hiding, or angling. What he wants is what he says he wants.
Gracious speech names the outer expression. His words, even when they say hard things, carry kindness rather than malice. The result is that the king is his friend. Wise rulers value advisors whose hearts and mouths can be trusted. Joseph rose in Pharaoh's court, Daniel in Nebuchadnezzar's, partly because what they said matched who they were. The verse also looks forward to the King above kings, who values the same union of pure heart and gracious speech (Matthew 5:8).
Proverbs 22:11
11 He who loves purity of heart
And whose speech is gracious, the king is his friend.
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Proverbs 22:11 meaning
A verse about the preferred company of a king appears in Proverbs 22:11: He who loves purity of heart and whose speech is gracious, the king is his friend (v. 11). Two qualities are named together because they belong together.
Purity of heart names the inner condition. The man's motives are clean. He is not maneuvering, hiding, or angling. What he wants is what he says he wants.
Gracious speech names the outer expression. His words, even when they say hard things, carry kindness rather than malice. The result is that the king is his friend. Wise rulers value advisors whose hearts and mouths can be trusted. Joseph rose in Pharaoh's court, Daniel in Nebuchadnezzar's, partly because what they said matched who they were. The verse also looks forward to the King above kings, who values the same union of pure heart and gracious speech (Matthew 5:8).