10:13 At the beginning his words 1 are foolish
and at the end 2 his talk 3 is wicked madness, 4
1 tn Heb “the words of his mouth.”
2 sn The terms “beginning” and “end” form a merism, a figure of speech in which two opposites are contrasted to indicate totality (e.g., Deut 6:7; Ps 139:8; Eccl 3:2-8). The words of a fool are madness from “start to finish.”
3 tn Heb “his mouth.”
4 tn Heb “madness of evil.”