Proverbs 16:26
The soul of him that laboureth, laboureth for himself, because his mouth hath obliged him to it.
Open Proverbs 16:26 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Anima laborantis laborat sibi, quia compulit eum os suum.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- ἀνὴρ ἐν πόνοις πονεῖ ἑαυτῷ καὶ ἐκβιάζεται ἑαυτοῦ τὴν ἀπώλειαν· ὁ μέντοι σκολιὸς ἐπὶ τῷ ἑαυτοῦ στόματι φορεῖ τὴν ἀπώλειαν.
- Hebrew (WLC)
- נֶ֣פֶשׁ עָ֭מֵל עָ֣מְלָה לּ֑וֹ כִּֽי אָכַ֖ף עָלָ֣יו פִּֽיהוּ
Haydock's commentary
Mouth. The want of food, Ecclesiastes vi. 7.
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
St Jerome Against the Pelagians, Book II
Prov. xvi. 26 , LXX. Man toileth in sorrow.
St John Cassian The Conferences of John Cassian. Part I. Containing Conferences I-X, Chapter VI. Of perseverance as regards care of the thoughts
But we shall find out by our own experience that we can and ought to cling to the Lord if we have our wills mortified and the desires of this world cut off, and we shall be taught by the authority of those who in converse with the Lord say in all confidence: “My soul hath stuck close to Thee;” and: “I have stuck unto Thy testimonies, O Lord;” and: “It is good for me to stick fast to God;” and: “He who cleaveth to the Lord, is one spirit.” We ought not then to be wearied out by these wanderings of mind and relax from our fervour: for “he that tilleth his ground shall be filled with bread: but he that followeth idleness shall be filled with poverty.” Nor should we be drawn away from being intent on this watchfulness through a dangerous despair, for “in every one who is anxious there is abundance, for he who is pleasant and free from grief will be in want;” and again: “a man in grief labour …