Proverbs 12:6

12:6 The words of the wicked lie in wait ¹  to shed innocent blood, ² 

but the words ³  of the upright will deliver them.

Romans 10:9-10

10:9 because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord ⁴  and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10:10 For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness ⁵  and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation. ⁶ 

Revelation 3:10

3:10 Because you have kept ⁷  my admonition ⁸  to endure steadfastly, ⁹  I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come on the whole world to test those who live on the earth.

Revelation 12:11

12:11 But ¹⁰  they overcame him

by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony,

and they did not love their lives ¹¹  so much that they were afraid to die.

¹ tn The infinitive construct אֱרָב (’erav, “to lie in wait”) expresses the purpose of their conversations. The idea of “lying in wait for blood” is an implied comparison (hypocatastasis): Their words are like an ambush intended to destroy (cf. NAB, NRSV “are a deadly ambush”). The words of the wicked are here personified.

² tn Heb “for blood.” The term “blood” is a metonymy of effect, the cause being the person that they will attack and whose blood they will shed. After the construct “blood” is also an objective genitive.

³ tn Heb “mouth.” The term פֶּה (peh, “mouth”) is a metonymy of cause, signifying what the righteous say. The righteous can make a skillful defense against false accusations that are intended to destroy. The righteous, who have gained wisdom, can escape the traps set by the words of the wicked.

⁴ tn Or “the Lord.” The Greek construction, along with the quotation from Joel 2:32 in v. 13 (in which the same “Lord” seems to be in view) suggests that κύριον (kurion) is to be taken as “the Lord,” that is, Yahweh. Cf. D. B. Wallace, “The Semantics and Exegetical Significance of the Object-Complement Construction in the New Testament,” GTJ 6 (1985): 91-112.

⁵ tn Grk “believes to righteousness.”

⁶ tn Grk “confesses to salvation.”

⁷ tn Or “obey.” For the translation of τηρέω (threw) as “obey” see L&N 36.19. In the Greek there is a wordplay: “because you have kept my word…I will keep you,” though the meaning of τηρέω is different each time.

⁸ tn The Greek term λόγον (logon) is understood here in the sense of admonition or encouragement.

⁹ tn Or “to persevere.” Here ὑπομονῆς (Jupomonhs) has been translated as a genitive of reference/respect related to τὸν λόγον (ton logon).

¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast.

¹¹ sn They did not love their lives. See Matt 16:25; Luke 17:33; John 12:25.