Proverbs 18:2

18:2 A fool takes no pleasure in understanding

but only in disclosing what is on his mind.

Proverbs 21:1

21:1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord like channels of water;

he turns it wherever he wants.


sn This expression forms an understatement (tapeinosis); the opposite is the point – he detests understanding or discernment.

tn The Hitpael infinitive construct בְּהִתְגַּלּוֹת (bÿhitgalot) functions nominally as the object of the preposition. The term means “reveal, uncover, betray.” So the fool takes pleasure “in uncovering” his heart.

tn Heb “his heart.” This is a metonymy meaning “what is on his mind” (cf. NAB “displaying what he thinks”; NRSV “expressing personal opinion”). This kind of person is in love with his own ideas and enjoys spewing them out (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 515). It is the kind of person who would ask a question, not to learn, but to show everyone how clever he is (cf. TEV).

sn “Heart” is a metonymy of subject; it signifies the ability to make decisions, if not the decisions themselves.

sn “Hand” in this passage is a personification; the word is frequently used idiomatically for “power,” and that is the sense intended here.

tn “Channels of water” (פַּלְגֵי, palge) is an adverbial accusative, functioning as a figure of comparison – “like channels of water.” Cf. NAB “Like a stream”; NIV “watercourse”; NRSV, NLT “a stream of water.”