Proverbs 27:19 (WEB)

Passage

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

Nearby Context

Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend’s countenance.

Proverbs 27:18 Whoever tends the fig tree shall eat its fruit. He who looks after his master shall be honored.

Proverbs 27:19 Like water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.

Proverbs 27:20 Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; and a man’s eyes are never satisfied.

Proverbs 27:21 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace for gold; but man is refined by his praise.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "like", "water", "reflects", "face", and "heart". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "like" and "water", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 18's "Whoever tends the fig tree shall eat..." into verse 20's "Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied and...", so "like" and "water" belong inside that flow. In Proverbs context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "like" and "water" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.