John Gill Commentary Proverbs 10:18

"He that hideth hatred is of lying lips; And he that uttereth a slander is a fool." — Proverbs 10:18 (ASV)

He that hideth hatred [with] lying lips
Or he whose "lying lips hide hatred", which is much the same; who pretends to be a friend, and outwardly behaves as one, but inwardly nourishes and cherishes hatred in his heart, which he covers and conceals, till he has a proper opportunity of showing it; as Absalom to Ammon, Joab to Amasa, the men of Anathoth to Jeremiah, and Judas to Christ; see (Proverbs 26:24–26) .

Or, "he that hideth hatred [is a man of] lying lips"^F13; he is a liar, as the person next described is a fool.

And he that uttereth slander is a fool; that brings it out by wholesale, and hides it not; who openly defames his neighbour, and in the most public manner; and with a multitude of words detracts from his good name, credit, and reputation, and loads him with calumny and reproach; such a man is a fool, a very wicked man:

yea, not only the public slanderer, but the secret dissembler, who thinks himself a cunning man because he hides himself; each of these is a fool, the one as well as the other. Gersom thinks there is a comparison made between the dissembler and the slanderer; the one being a liar, and the other a fool; and that the former is more abominable and pernicious than the latter.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F13: "Est vir laborium falsitatis", Piscator, "vel fallacium", Gejerus.