Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips.
English Standard Version (ESV)
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Proverbs 25:19
What does Proverbs 25:19 mean?
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Proverbs 25:19
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This verse highlights not just the uselessness, but the active hindrance and pain caused by relying on someone untrustworthy. It's like a bad tooth that interferes with eating or a dislocated foot that makes walking impossible, causing more suffering than relief when you most need support.
Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips.
English Standard Version (ESV)
This proverb comes right after advice about not boasting about achievements and about how gracious words can win people over. It then contrasts this helpfulness with the severe unreliability of a treacherous person, emphasizing how this lack of trustworthiness is both useless and painful when you're in a tight spot.
Ever relied on someone you thought you could count on, only to be let down at the worst moment? This verse paints a vivid picture of that kind of betrayal.
Solomon uses two powerful analogies to describe the experience of trusting a treacherous person when you're in trouble.
A Broken Tooth
Imagine needing to chew something essential, but your tooth is cracked or loose. It not only fails to do its job but causes sharp pain with every attempt. Similarly, a faithless person doesn't just fail to help when you're in distress; their unreliability actively brings pain and makes your situation worse.
A Foot Out of Joint
Think about trying to walk with a dislocated ankle. It's impossible to stand firm, and any pressure brings agony. Trusting someone untrustworthy in a crisis is like trying to stand on a limb that's fallen out of place. It's not just unsupportive; it's destabilizing and painful.
Both images highlight that treachery is not just a neutral failure; it's actively detrimental.
This proverb isn't just about disappointment; it's about the deep damage caused when loyalty crumbles.
The imagery in Proverbs 25:19 goes beyond mere inconvenience. It speaks to a profound sense of being undermined and injured.
More Than Just Failure
Commentators note that the Hebrew likely emphasizes the uselessness and caused by these afflictions. It's not just that the person fails to help; their very presence or the act of relying on them becomes a source of suffering.
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A Foundation Undermined
When we face trouble, we naturally seek stability and support. Relying on someone unfaithful is like building on shifting sand or trying to stand on a broken foundation. The very thing we turn to for help becomes a source of our downfall and agony. It highlights the deep wound that betrayal can inflict on our sense of security.
Understand the original words
batach · Hebrew Verb
To rely on, lean upon, or place confidence in someone or something; biblically, it describes the state of the heart's security, which should be directed toward God alone.
bagod · Hebrew Adjective
Adjective describing one who is deceitful, unfaithful, or lacking integrity; such a person is unstable and dangerous to rely upon.
This passage echoes Proverbs' warning by explicitly stating the curse that falls upon those who trust in human strength or flesh, highlighting the futility and danger of misplaced confidence.
Psalm 118:8Similar to Proverbs' imagery of a faulty support, this psalm declares it better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in people, emphasizing God's reliability over human fallibility.
Romans 7:24The cry, 'What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?' reveals a deep internal struggle that mirrors the 'pain and trouble' caused by relying on flawed things, whether external people or our own fallen nature.
Matthew 7:26-27Jesus uses the parable of the foolish man who built his house on sand to illustrate the disastrous consequences of building one's life on an unstable foundation, directly paralleling the proverb's warning against unreliable trust.
gillProverbs 25:19: "Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint."
Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble,.... It is not good to put confidence in any man, not in princes, nor in the best of men; much less in an unfaithful, prevaricating, and treacherous man; and especially in a time of distress and trouble, depending on his help and assistance, which is leaning on a broken reed, and trusting to a broken staff. Or, "the confidence o…
bensonProverbs 25:19: "Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint."
Proverbs 25:19 . Confidence in an unfaithful man, &c. — “As a broken tooth, or leg out of joint, not only fails a man when he comes to use them, but likewise puts him into pain; so doth a faithless person serve them that depend upon him, when they have the greatest need of his help; and such also is the confidence that a faithless person himself places in riches, or craft, or gr…
This verse highlights not just the uselessness, but the active hindrance and pain caused by relying on someone untrustworthy. It's like a bad tooth that interferes with eating or a dislocated foot that makes walking impossible, causing more suffering than relief when you most need support.
This proverb comes right after advice about not boasting about achievements and about how gracious words can win people over. It then contrasts this helpfulness with the severe unreliability of a treacherous person, emphasizing how this lack of trustworthiness is both useless and painful when you're in a tight spot.
This proverb comes right after advice about not boasting about achievements and about how gracious words can win people over. It then contrasts this helpfulness with the severe unreliability of a treacherous person, emphasizing how this lack of trustworthiness is both useless and painful when you're in a tight spot.
"Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips." — This verse highlights not just the uselessness, but the active hindrance and pain caused by relying on someone untrustworthy. It's like a bad tooth that interferes with eating or a dislocated foot th…
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Last reviewed October 2026