Proverbs 27:19

As in water the face is reflected as a face, ¹  so a person’s heart ²  reflects the person.

As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.

As in water face reflects face, So the heart of man reflects man.

As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the person.

Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart.

Like face looking at face in water, so are the hearts of men to one another.

Just as water reflects the face, so one human heart reflects another.

As in water face reflects face, So a man’s heart reveals the man.

As in water the face is reflected as a face, ¹  so a person’s heart ²  reflects the person.

¹ tn The verse is somewhat cryptic and so has prompted many readings. The first line in the MT has “As water the face to the face.” The simplest and most probable interpretation is that clear water gives a reflection of the face (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). One creative but unconvincing suggestion is that of L. Kopf, who suggests the idea is “water of face” (a construct) and that it means shame or modesty, i.e., a face is not really human without shame, and a man without a heart is not human (“Arabische Etymologien und Parallelen zum Bibelwörterbuch,” VT 9 [1959]: 260-61).

² tn The second line has “so the heart of a man to a man” (cf. KJV, ASV). The present translation (along with many English versions) supplies “reflects” as a verb in the second line to emphasize the parallelism.

² sn In the parallelism this statement means that a person’s heart is the true reflection of that person. It is in looking at the heart, the will, the choices, the loves, the decisions, the attitudes, that people come to self-awareness.