Proverbs 10:10

10:10 The one who winks ¹  his ²  eye causes ³  trouble,

and the one who speaks foolishness ⁴  will come to ruin.

Proverbs 15:13

15:13 A joyful heart ⁵  makes the face cheerful, ⁶ 

but by a painful heart the spirit is broken.

[10:10]  ¹ tn The term (קָרַץ, qarats) describes a person who habitually “winks” his eye maliciously as a secretive sign to those conspiring evil (Prov 6:13). This is a comparison rather than a contrast. Devious gestures are grievous, but not as ruinous as foolish talk. Both are to be avoided.

[10:10]  ² tn Heb “the eye.”

[10:10]  ³ tn Heb “gives.”

[10:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “the fool of lips”; cf. NASB “a babbling fool.” The phrase is a genitive of specification: “a fool in respect to lips.” The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause (= lips) for effect (= speech). The word for fool (אֶוִיל, ’evil) refers to someone who despises knowledge and discernment.

[15:13]  ⁵ tn The contrast in this proverb is between the “joyful heart” (Heb “a heart of joy,” using an attributive genitive) and the “painful heart” (Heb “pain of the heart,” using a genitive of specification).

[15:13]  ⁶ sn The verb יֵיטִב (yetiv) normally means “to make good,” but here “to make the face good,” that is, there is a healthy, favorable, uplifted expression. The antithesis is the pained heart that crushes the spirit. C. H. Toy observes that a broken spirit is expressed by a sad face, while a cheerful face shows a courageous spirit (Proverbs [ICC], 308).