The Meaning of Proverbs 15:26 Explained

Proverbs 15:26

KJV: The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD: but the words of the pure are pleasant words.

YLT: An abomination to Jehovah are thoughts of wickedness, And pure are sayings of pleasantness.

Darby: The thoughts of the evil man are an abomination to Jehovah; but pure words are pleasant.

ASV: Evil devices are an abomination to Jehovah; But pleasant words are pure.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

The thoughts  of the wicked  [are] an abomination  to the LORD:  but [the words] of the pure  [are] pleasant  words. 

What does Proverbs 15:26 Mean?

Context Summary

Proverbs 15:18-33 - Words In Season
Learn to be slow to anger. This paragraph describes the even temper which is blessed to live with and blessed to die with. Temper is said to be nine-tenths of Christianity. What best proves a Christian is an even temper. It is told of a Japanese gentleman, who was led by a tract to renounce the use of intoxicants and to accept Jesus Christ, that the immediate effect on his temper was so great that his wife, who had often suffered from his uncontrollable fits of anger, said, "If this is the result of Christianity, I want to become a Christian." When the missionaries afterward visited the place, they found her and ten other persons awaiting baptism.
As these proverbs suggest, the quickest method of overcoming and eradicating the wrong is, in the power of God, to cultivate the right. By this we shall tread the way of the wise that goeth upward toward the heavenly life of the angels, and we shall be saved from a hell of misery. See Proverbs 15:24, r.v. Philippians 3:20; Colossians 3:1. [source]

Chapter Summary: Proverbs 15

1  A gentle answer turns away wrath

What do the individual words in Proverbs 15:26 mean?

[are] an abomination to Yahweh the thoughts of the wicked but [the words] of the pure words [are] [are] pleasant
תּוֹעֲבַ֣ת יְ֭הוָה מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת רָ֑ע וּ֝טְהֹרִ֗ים אִמְרֵי־ נֹֽעַם

תּוֹעֲבַ֣ת  [are]  an  abomination 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: תֹּועֵבָה  
Sense: a disgusting thing, abomination, abominable.
יְ֭הוָה  to  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת  the  thoughts 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct
Root: מַחֲשָׁבָה  
Sense: thought, device.
רָ֑ע  of  the  wicked 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: רַע 
Sense: bad, evil.
וּ֝טְהֹרִ֗ים  but  [the  words]  of  the  pure 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adjective, masculine plural
Root: טָהֹור  
Sense: pure, clean.
אִמְרֵי־  words  [are] 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: אֵמֶר 
Sense: utterance, speech, word, saying, promise, command.
נֹֽעַם  [are]  pleasant 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: נׄעַם  
Sense: kindness, pleasantness, delightfulness, beauty, favour.