In the multitude of words there is no lack of disobedience, but he who restrains his lips does wisely.
⛓ Read Proverbs 10 forward — the whole chapter and its afterlife →Where this passage surfaces again, sorted by the strength of the link. Each kind of reuse — formal quotation, deliberate allusion, faint echo, figural pattern — carries its own mark. Follow any reference to read it in place.
Allusion2
A deliberate verbal borrowing without a citation formula.
'When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.' James's counsel to be 'slow to speak' draws directly on the Wisdom tradition's repeated commendation of restrained speech.
High confidenceJames's warning that teachers face a heavier judgment and that the one who does not stumble in word is perfect rests on the wisdom axiom that 'when words are many, transgression is not lacking.' Volume is conceptual rather than verbal, but the coherence with James's whole tongue-theme is high.
Medium confidence