Proverbs 10:11

10:11 The teaching ¹  of the righteous is a fountain of life, ² 

but the speech ³  of the wicked conceals ⁴  violence. ⁵ 

Esther 7:8

7:8 When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet of wine, Haman was throwing himself down ⁶  on the couch where Esther was lying. ⁷  The king exclaimed, “Will he also attempt to rape the queen while I am still in the building!”

As these words left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.

Psalms 107:42

107:42 When the godly see this, they rejoice,

and every sinner ⁸  shuts his mouth.

Romans 3:19

3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under ⁹  the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

[10:11]  ¹ tn Heb “mouth.” The word “mouth” is metonymy of cause, representing what the righteous say and teach.

[10:11]  ² tn Heb “a fountain of life is the mouth of the righteous” (NAB similar). The subject (“a fountain of life”) and the predicate (“the mouth of the righteous”) in the Hebrew text are reversed in the present translation (as in most English versions) for the sake of clarity and smoothness. The idea of this metaphor, “the fountain of life,” may come from Ps 36:9 (e.g., also Prov 13:14; 14:27; 16:22). What the righteous say is beneficial to life or life-giving. Their words are life-giving but the words of the wicked are violent. See R. B. Y. Scott, “Wise and Foolish, Righteous and Wicked,” VT 29 (1972): 145-65.

[10:11]  ³ tn Heb “the mouth.” The term פֶּה (peh, “mouth”) functions as a metonymy of cause for speech.

[10:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “covers.” Behind the speech of the wicked is aggressive violence (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 422).

[10:11]  ⁵ tn The syntax of this line is ambiguous. The translation takes “the mouth of the wicked” as the nominative subject and “violence” as the accusative direct object; however, the subject might be “violence,” hence: “violence covers the mouth of the wicked.”

[7:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “falling”; NAB, NRSV “had (+ just TEV) thrown himself (+ down TEV).”

[7:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “where Esther was” (so KJV, NASB). The term “lying” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “was reclining.”

[107:42]  ⁸ tn Heb “all evil,” which stands metonymically for those who do evil.

[3:19]  ⁹ tn Grk “in,” “in connection with.”