Proverbs 10:20

10:20 What the righteous say ¹  is like ²  the best ³  silver,

but what the wicked think ⁴  is of little value. ⁵ 

Proverbs 15:7

15:7 The lips of the wise spread ⁶  knowledge,

but not so the heart of fools. ⁷ 

Proverbs 15:28

15:28 The heart of the righteous considers ⁸  how ⁹  to answer, ¹⁰ 

but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things. ¹¹ 

Proverbs 16:1

16:1 The intentions of the heart ¹²  belong to a man, ¹³ 

but the answer of the tongue ¹⁴  comes from ¹⁵  the Lord. ¹⁶ 

Proverbs 28:26

28:26 The one who trusts in his own heart ¹⁷  is a fool,

but the one who walks in wisdom ¹⁸  will escape. ¹⁹ 

[10:20]  ¹ tn Heb “the lips of the righteous.” The term “lips” functions as a metonymy of cause for speech. This contrasts the tongue (metonymy of cause for what they say) with the heart (metonymy of subject for what they intend). What the righteous say is more valuable than what the wicked intend.

[10:20]  ² tn The comparative “like” is not in the Hebrew text but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[10:20]  ³ tn Or “pure”; Heb “choice.”

[10:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “the heart of the wicked” (so KJV, NAB, NIV). The term “heart” functions as a metonymy of cause for thoughts. The term לֵב (lev, “heart”) often refers to the seat of thoughts, will and emotions (BDB 524 s.v. 3-4).

[10:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “like little.” This expression refers to what has little value: “little worth” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV; cf. BDB 590 s.v. מְעַט 2.d). The point of the metaphor is clarified by the parallelism: Silver is valuable; the heart of the wicked is worth little. Tg. Prov 10:20 says it was full of dross, a contrast with choice silver.

[15:7]  ⁶ tc The verb of the first colon is difficult because it does not fit the second very well – a heart does not “scatter” or “spread” knowledge. On the basis of the LXX, C. H. Toy (Proverbs [ICC], 305) suggests a change to יִצְּרוּ (yitsÿru, “they preserve”). The Greek evidence, however, is not strong. For the second line the LXX has “hearts of fools are not safe,” apparently taking לֹא־כֵן (lo’-khen) as “unstable” instead of “not so.” So it seems futile to use the Greek version to modify the first colon to make a better parallel, when the Greek has such a different reading in the second colon anyway.

[15:7]  ⁷ sn The phrase “the heart of fools” emphasizes that fools do not comprehend knowledge. Cf. NCV “there is no knowledge in the thoughts of fools.”

[15:28]  ¹¹ tn The verb יֶהְגֶּה (yehgeh) means “to muse; to meditate; to consider; to study.” It also involves planning, such as with the wicked “planning” a vain thing (Ps 2:1, which is contrasted with the righteous who “meditate” in the law [1:2]).

[15:28]  ¹² tn The word “how” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[15:28]  ¹³ tc The LXX reads: “the hearts of the righteous meditate faithfulness.”

[15:28]  ¹⁴ sn The form is plural. What they say (the “mouth” is a metonymy of cause) is any range of harmful things.

[16:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “plans of the heart” (so ASV, NASB, NIV). The phrase מַעַרְכֵי־לֵב (ma’arkhe-lev) means “the arrangements of the mind.”

[16:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “[are] to a man.”

[16:1]  ¹⁸ tn Here “the tongue” is a metonymy of cause in which the instrument of speech is put for what is said: the answer expressed.

[16:1]  ¹⁹ sn The contrasting prepositions enhance the contrasting ideas – the ideas belong to people, but the words come from the Lord.

[16:1]  ²⁰ 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 Lord directs the words according to his sovereign will.

[28:26]  ²¹ sn The idea of “trusting in one’s own heart” is a way of describing one who is self-reliant. C. H. Toy says it means to follow the untrained suggestions of the mind or to rely on one’s own mental resources (Proverbs [ICC], 505). It is arrogant to take no counsel but to rely only on one’s own intelligence.

[28:26]  ²² sn The idiom of “walking in wisdom” means to live life according to the acquired skill and knowledge passed on from the sages. It is the wisdom from above that the book of Proverbs presents, not the undisciplined and uninformed wit and wisdom from below.

[28:26]  ²³ tn The verb form יִמָּלֵט (yimmalet) is the Niphal imperfect; the form means “to escape.” In this context one would conclude that it means “to escape from trouble,” because the one who lives in this life by wisdom will escape trouble, and the one who trusts in himself will not.