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Proverbs 18:4
New English Translation
Proverbs 18:4
New English Translation
4 The words of a person’s mouth[a] are like[b] deep waters,[c]
and[d] the fountain of wisdom[e] is like[f] a flowing brook.[g]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 18:4 tc The LXX reads “in a person’s heart,” probably conforming to the near parallel in Prov 20:5.
- Proverbs 18:4 tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
- Proverbs 18:4 sn The metaphor “deep waters” indicates either that the words have an inexhaustible supply or that they are profound. Keil and Delitzsch see the second line as two more characteristics of the man’s words rather than as a second sentence, i.e., a person’s words are: deep waters, a bubbling brook, a fountain of wisdom. The “bubbling brook” would refer to the supply and “deep waters” to their insightfulness, or what is beneath the surface. See also Prov 20:5 for the metaphor “deep waters.”
- Proverbs 18:4 tn There is debate about the nature of the parallelism between lines 4a and 4b. The major options are: (1) synonymous parallelism, (2) antithetical parallelism (e.g., NAB, NIV, NCV) or (3) formal parallelism. Normally a vav (ו) would begin an antithetical clause; the structure and the ideas suggest that the second colon continues the idea of the first half, but in a parallel way rather than as additional predicates. The metaphors used in the proverb elsewhere describe the wise.
- Proverbs 18:4 sn This is an implied comparison (hypocatastasis), the fountain of wisdom being the person who speaks. The Greek version has “fountain of life” instead of “wisdom,” probably influenced from 10:11.
- Proverbs 18:4 tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.
- Proverbs 18:4 sn The point of this metaphor is that the wisdom is a continuous source of refreshing and beneficial ideas.
Proverbs 18:4
American Standard Version
Proverbs 18:4
American Standard Version
4 The words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters;
[a]The wellspring of wisdom is as a flowing brook.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 18:4 Or, A flowing brook, a wellspring of wisdom
Proverbs 18:20-21
New English Translation
Proverbs 18:20-21
New English Translation
20 From the fruit of a person’s mouth[a] his stomach[b] will be satisfied,[c]
with the product of his lips he will be satisfied.
21 Death and life are in the power[d] of the tongue,[e]
and those who love its use[f] will eat its fruit.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 18:20 sn Two harvest images, fruit (from trees) and produce (from field crops), are applied to speech, represented by the mouth and lips. The “mouth” and the “lips” are metonymies of cause, with both lines indicating that speech is productive. The following verse about harvest of the tongue may be part of this proverb.
- Proverbs 18:20 tn The noun בֶּטֶן (beten) can refer to the stomach, womb, or internal organs. In Prov 20:30 and 22:18 it appears to be metaphorical for the inner person, or soul. Given the references to the mouth, lips, and being satisfied, on one level it refers to the stomach. But it probably functions on a spiritual level as well, especially when read with the following verse.
- Proverbs 18:20 tn Or “is satisfied.” The translation understands שָׂבַע (savaʿ) as stative “to be satisfied; be filled” rather than fientive, “to satisfy oneself,” so that the imperfect form is future. An imperfect verb may be future for both stative and dynamic verbs, and may be present for dynamic verbs. It is not possible to tell by morphological criteria whether the verb שָׂבַע is stative or dynamic, but elsewhere it behaves similarly to a stative.
- Proverbs 18:21 tn Heb “in the hand of.”
- Proverbs 18:21 sn What people say can lead to life or death. The Midrash on Psalms shows one way the tongue [what is said] can cause death: “The evil tongue slays three, the slanderer, the slandered, and the listener” (Midrash Tehillim 52:2). See J. G. Williams, “The Power of Form: A Study of Biblical Proverbs,” Semeia 17 (1980): 35-38.
- Proverbs 18:21 tn The referent of “it” must be the tongue, i.e., what the tongue says (= “its use”). So those who enjoy talking, indulging in it, must “eat” its fruit, whether good or bad. The expression “eating the fruit” is an implied comparison; it means accept the consequences of loving to talk (cf. TEV).
Proverbs 18:20-21
American Standard Version
Proverbs 18:20-21
American Standard Version
20 A man’s belly shall be filled with the fruit of his mouth;
With the increase of his lips shall he be satisfied.
21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue;
And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
New English Translation (NET)
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