16:1 The intentions of the heart 1 belong to a man, 2
but the answer of the tongue 3 comes from 4 the Lord. 5
1 tn Heb “plans of the heart” (so ASV, NASB, NIV). The phrase מַעַרְכֵי־לֵב (ma’arkhe-lev) means “the arrangements of the mind.”
2 tn Heb “[are] to a man.”
3 tn Here “the tongue” is a metonymy of cause in which the instrument of speech is put for what is said: the answer expressed.
4 sn The contrasting prepositions enhance the contrasting ideas – the ideas belong to people, but the words come from the
5 sn There are two ways this statement can be taken: (1) what one intends to say and what one actually says are the same, or (2) what one actually says differs from what the person intended to say. The second view fits the contrast better. The proverb then is giving a glimpse of how God even confounds the wise. When someone is trying to speak [“answer” in the book seems to refer to a verbal answer] before others, the