1 Kings 13:24

13:24 As the prophet from Judah was traveling, a lion attacked him on the road and killed him. ¹  His corpse was lying on the road, and the donkey and the lion just stood there beside it. ² 

1 Kings 13:2

13:2 With the authority of the Lord ³  he cried out against the altar, “O altar, altar! This is what the Lord says, ‘Look, a son named Josiah will be born to the Davidic dynasty. He will sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who offer sacrifices on you. Human bones will be burned on you.’” ⁴ 

1 Kings 2:24

2:24 Now, as certainly as the Lord lives (he who made me secure, allowed me to sit on my father David’s throne, and established a dynasty ⁵  for me as he promised), Adonijah will be executed today!”

Proverbs 10:18

10:18 The one who conceals hatred utters lies, ⁶ 

and the one who spreads ⁷  slander ⁸  is certainly ⁹  a fool.

Proverbs 28:13

28:13 The one who covers ¹⁰  his transgressions will not prosper, ¹¹ 

but whoever confesses them and forsakes them will find mercy. ¹² 

¹ tn Heb “and he went and a lion met him in the road and killed him.”

² tn Heb “and his corpse fell on the road, and the donkey was standing beside it, and the lion was standing beside the corpse.”

³ tn Heb “by the word of the Lord.”

⁴ sn ‘Look…you.’ For the fulfillment of this prophecy see 2 Kgs 23:15-20.

⁵ tn Heb “house.”

⁶ tn Heb “lips of falsehood.” The genitive noun שָׁקֶר (shaqer, “falsehood”) functions as an attributive genitive. The noun “lips” is a metonymy of cause for speech produced by lips. The one who shows friendliness while concealing hatred is a liar (e.g., Ps 28:3).

⁷ tn Heb “causes to go out.” The Hiphil of יָצָא (yatsa) literally means “to cause to go out” (BDB 424 s.v. Hiph.1). This may refer to speech (“to utter”) in the sense of causing words to go out of one’s mouth, or it may refer to slander (“to spread”) in the sense of causing slander to go out to others.

⁸ tn The word דִבָּה (dibbah) means “whispering; defamation; evil report” (BDB 179 s.v.). Cf. NAB “accusations”; TEV “gossip.”

⁹ tn Heb “he is a fool.” The independent personal pronoun הוּא (hu’, “he”) is used for emphasis. This is reflected in the translation as “certainly.”

¹⁰ tn The Hebrew participles provide the subject matter in this contrast. On the one hand is the person who covers over (מְכַסֶּה, mÿkhasseh) his sins. This means refusing to acknowledge them in confession, and perhaps rationalizing them away. On the other hand there is the one who both “confesses” (מוֹדֶה, modeh) and “forsakes” (עֹזֵב, ’ozev) the sin. To “confess” sins means to acknowledge them, to say the same thing about them that God does.

¹¹ sn The verse contrasts the consequences of each. The person who refuses to confess will not prosper. This is an understatement (a figure of speech known as tapeinosis); the opposite is the truth, that eventually such a person will be undone and ruined. On the other hand, the penitent will find mercy. This expression is a metonymy of cause for the effect – although “mercy” is mentioned, what mercy provides is intended, i.e., forgiveness. In other passages the verb “conceal” is used of God’s forgiveness – he covers over the iniquity (Ps 32:1). Whoever acknowledges sin, God will cover it; whoever covers it, God will lay it open.

¹² sn This verse is unique in the book of Proverbs; it captures the theology of forgiveness (e.g., Pss 32 and 51). Every part of the passage is essential to the point: Confession of sins as opposed to concealing them, coupled with a turning away from them, results in mercy.