Proverbs 13:3:7Prov.13.3.W7TAB
מְחִתָּה־לֽוֹ׃
mekhitalalo
“ruin is for him”
- Transliteration
- me-khi-TA-la-LO
- Extended
- meh-khih-TAH-laa-LOH
- IPA
- /məħitˈtaː-laːˈloː/
Meaning by language
- English
- ruin is for him
Hebrew · tap a syllable to hear it
Alphabet Analysis
| Mem | m as in mother | |
| Sheva | vocal sheva — a short 'e' (ə), begins a syllable | |
| Chet | ch — deep guttural, as in Scottish loch | |
| Hireq | 'ee' as in machine | |
| Tav | t as in top | |
| Qamets | long 'ah' | |
| He | h as in house; silent at word end | |
| Lamed | l as in law | |
| Vav | v as in vine; marks long ō / ū | |
| Holem | long 'oh' as in go |
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Now you try — trace the word:
The word
Word in context
- word
me-khi-TA-la-LO
- clause
po-SEK se-fa-TAV me-khi-TA-la-LO
- sentence
no-TSER PI-v sho-MER naf-SHO po-SEK se-fa-TAV me-khi-TA-la-LO
Exegesis
The second clause links excessive speech to personal disaster via mechittah-lo {מְחִתָּה־לֽוֹ | mə-ḥîṯ-ṭāh-lō} ‘ruin for him.’ The balanced syntax and construct chains emphasize the mouth as the source of either life or destruction, which English renders with corresponding idiomatic expressions.
Root and etymology
m-ḥ-tmem–het–tav
“breaking, ruin”
In context — Proverbs 13:3
Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life ; but whoever opens wide his lips comes to ruin .
About this coordinate
Proverbs 13:3:7 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 7 of Proverbs 13:3, so the Hebrew word מְחִתָּה־לֽוֹ׃ (mekhitalalo) can be cited, linked and studied at exactly this position rather than somewhere in the verse. In the Biblical Knowledge Coordinate System the same position is written Prov.13.3.W7, which extends further down to each syllable (Prov.13.3.W7.S1) and character.