Trusting a faithless man in trouble is like biting with a bad tooth or stepping on an unsteady foot.
Two unreliable supports are paired in Proverbs 25:19: Like a bad tooth and an unsteady foot is confidence in a faithless man in time of trouble (v. 19). Both fail at the worst moment.
A bad tooth is the tooth that betrays its owner exactly when he needs it: biting into food, the tooth gives way and pain shoots through the jaw. An unsteady foot fails the same way: the moment a man tries to push off, the ankle rolls, and he goes down.
Confidence in a faithless man in time of trouble. The faithless friend or ally functions exactly like the bad tooth and the unsteady foot. He works in calm seasons. The moment trouble actually arrives, he gives way. The verse warns the wise man to test his supports in advance, because emergencies expose what was already weak.
Proverbs 25:19
19 Like a bad tooth and an unsteady foot
Is confidence in a faithless man in time of trouble.
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Proverbs 25:19 meaning
Two unreliable supports are paired in Proverbs 25:19: Like a bad tooth and an unsteady foot is confidence in a faithless man in time of trouble (v. 19). Both fail at the worst moment.
A bad tooth is the tooth that betrays its owner exactly when he needs it: biting into food, the tooth gives way and pain shoots through the jaw. An unsteady foot fails the same way: the moment a man tries to push off, the ankle rolls, and he goes down.
Confidence in a faithless man in time of trouble. The faithless friend or ally functions exactly like the bad tooth and the unsteady foot. He works in calm seasons. The moment trouble actually arrives, he gives way. The verse warns the wise man to test his supports in advance, because emergencies expose what was already weak.