The Meaning of Proverbs 6:12 Explained

Proverbs 6:12

KJV: A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.

YLT: A man of worthlessness, a man of iniquity, Walking with perverseness of mouth,

Darby: A man of Belial, a wicked person, is he that goeth about with a perverse mouth;

ASV: A worthless person, a man of iniquity, Is he that walketh with a perverse mouth;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

A naughty  person,  a wicked  man,  walketh  with a froward  mouth. 

What does Proverbs 6:12 Mean?

Context Summary

Proverbs 6:1-19 - Avoid Suretyship And Sloth
A young man, being entreated by his friend to go bond for him, consents, in an easy-going way to become his surety. He promises to be responsible for the other's debt. From that moment he resembles a roe caught by a hunter or a bird snared by a fowler. If any shall have enmeshed himself in an obligation of this kind he is exhorted to spare no pains, to stand on no false pride, but to go with all urgency to the man for whom he has pledged his credit, and get released at all cost. If we can afford to be surety, we can afford to lend the money ourselves. If we cannot do the former, it is weak and foolish to do the latter.
The ants swarm in the woods and fields, and rebuke our laziness and thriftlessness. They work day and might, storing their galleries with food, building mounds which relatively to the size of the builders are three or four times larger than the Pyramids. In sickness they nurse one another; in the winter they feed on their supplies. Learn from the ceaseless industry of Nature, and do something worthy before sundown! [source]

Chapter Summary: Proverbs 6

1  against indebtedness
6  idleness
12  and mischievousness
16  seven things detestable to God
20  the blessings of obedience
25  the mischief of unfaithfulness

What do the individual words in Proverbs 6:12 mean?

A person worthless a man wicked Walks with a perverse mouth
אָדָ֣ם בְּ֭לִיַּעַל אִ֣ישׁ אָ֑וֶן ה֝וֹלֵ֗ךְ עִקְּשׁ֥וּת פֶּֽה

אָדָ֣ם  A  person 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: אָדָם 
Sense: man, mankind.
בְּ֭לִיַּעַל  worthless 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: בְּלִיַּעַל  
Sense: worthlessness.
אִ֣ישׁ  a  man 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: אִישׁ 
Sense: man.
אָ֑וֶן  wicked 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אָוֶן 
Sense: trouble, wickedness, sorrow.
ה֝וֹלֵ֗ךְ  Walks 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
עִקְּשׁ֥וּת  with  a  perverse 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: עִקְּשׁוּת  
Sense: distortion, crookedness.
פֶּֽה  mouth 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: פֶּה  
Sense: mouth.