Proverbs 13:3

13:3 The one who guards his words ¹  guards his life,

but ²  whoever is talkative ³  will come to ruin. ⁴ 

Proverbs 16:17

16:17 The highway ⁵  of the upright is to turn ⁶  away from evil;

the one who guards ⁷  his way safeguards his life. ⁸ 

Proverbs 19:16

19:16 The one who obeys commandments guards ⁹  his life;

the one who despises his ways ¹⁰  will die. ¹¹ 

Psalms 91:1

Psalm 91 ¹² 

91:1 As for you, the one who lives ¹³  in the shelter of the sovereign One, ¹⁴ 

and resides in the protective shadow ¹⁵  of the mighty king ¹⁶  –

Psalms 91:1

Psalm 91 ¹⁷ 

91:1 As for you, the one who lives ¹⁸  in the shelter of the sovereign One, ¹⁹ 

and resides in the protective shadow ²⁰  of the mighty king ²¹  –

Psalms 5:1

Psalm 5 ²² 

For the music director, to be accompanied by wind instruments; ²³  a psalm of David.

5:1 Listen to what I say, ²⁴  Lord!

Carefully consider my complaint! ²⁵ 

Jude 1:20-21

1:20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, ²⁶  1:21 maintain ²⁷  yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating ²⁸  the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life. ²⁹ 

[13:3]  ¹ tn Heb “mouth” (so KJV, NAB). The term פֶּה (peh, “mouth”) functions as a metonymy of cause for speech.

[13:3]  ² tn The term “but” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[13:3]  ³ tn Heb “opens wide his lips.” This is an idiom meaning “to be talkative” (BDB 832 s.v. פָּשַׂק Qal). Cf. NIV “speaks rashly”; TEV “a careless talker”; CEV “talk too much.”

[13:3]  ⁴ sn Tight control over what one says prevents trouble (e.g., Prov 10:10; 17:28; Jas 3:1-12; Sir 28:25). Amenemope advises to “sleep a night before speaking” (5:15; ANET 422, n. 10). The old Arab proverb is appropriate: “Take heed that your tongue does not cut your throat” (O. Zockler, Proverbs, 134).

[16:17]  ⁵ sn The point of righteous living is made with the image of a highway, a raised and well-graded road (a hypocatastasis, implying a comparison between a highway and the right way of living).

[16:17]  ⁶ tn The form סוּר (sur) is a Qal infinitive; it indicates that a purpose of the righteous life is to turn away from evil. “Evil” here has the sense of sinful living. So the first line asserts that the well-cared-for life avoids sin.

[16:17]  ⁷ sn The second half of the verse uses two different words for “guard”; this one is נֹצֵר (notser) “the one who guards his way,” and the first is שֹׁמֵר (shomer) “the one who guards his life” (the order of the words is reversed in the translation). The second colon then explains further the first (synthetic parallelism), because to guard one’s way preserves life.

[16:17]  ⁸ tc The LXX adds three lines after 17a and one after 17b: “The paths of life turn aside from evils, and the ways of righteousness are length of life; he who receives instruction will be prosperous, and he who regards reproofs will be made wise; he who guards his ways preserves his soul, and he who loves his life will spare his mouth.”

[19:16]  ⁹ tn The verb שָׁמַר (shamar) is repeated twice in this line but with two different senses, creating a polysemantic wordplay: “he who obeys/keeps (ֹֹשׁמֵר, shomer) the commandment safeguards/keeps (שֹׁמֵר, shomer) his life.”

[19:16]  ¹⁰ sn The expression his ways could refer either (1) to the conduct of the individual himself, or (2) to the commandments as the Lord’s ways. If the latter is the case, then the punishment is more certain.

[19:16]  ¹¹ tc The Kethib is יָוְמֻת (yavmut), “will be put to death,” while the Qere reads יָמוּת (yamut, “will die”). The Qere is the preferred reading and is followed by most English versions.

[91:1]  ¹² sn Psalm 91. In this psalm an individual (perhaps a priest) addresses one who has sought shelter in the Lord and assures him that God will protect him from danger (vv. 1-13). In vv. 14-16 God himself promises to keep his loyal follower safe.

[91:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “[O] one who lives.”

[91:1]  ¹⁴ tn Traditionally “the Most High.”

[91:1]  ¹⁵ sn The Lord is compared here to a bird who protects its young under the shadow of its wings (see v. 4).

[91:1]  ¹⁶ sn The divine name used here is “Shaddai” (שַׁדַּי, shadday; see also Ps 68:14). Shaddai (or El Shaddai) is the mighty king (sovereign judge) of the world who grants life/blesses and kills/judges. In Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness.

[91:1]  ¹⁷ sn Psalm 91. In this psalm an individual (perhaps a priest) addresses one who has sought shelter in the Lord and assures him that God will protect him from danger (vv. 1-13). In vv. 14-16 God himself promises to keep his loyal follower safe.

[91:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “[O] one who lives.”

[91:1]  ¹⁹ tn Traditionally “the Most High.”

[91:1]  ²⁰ sn The Lord is compared here to a bird who protects its young under the shadow of its wings (see v. 4).

[91:1]  ²¹ sn The divine name used here is “Shaddai” (שַׁדַּי, shadday; see also Ps 68:14). Shaddai (or El Shaddai) is the mighty king (sovereign judge) of the world who grants life/blesses and kills/judges. In Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness.

[5:1]  ²² sn Psalm 5. Appealing to God’s justice and commitment to the godly, the psalmist asks the Lord to intervene and deliver him from evildoers.

[5:1]  ²³ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word נְחִילוֹת (nÿkhilot), which occurs only here, is uncertain. Many relate the form to חָלִיל (khalil, “flute”).

[5:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “my words.”

[5:1]  ²⁵ tn Or “sighing.” The word occurs only here and in Ps 39:3.

[1:20]  ²⁶ tn The participles in v. 20 have been variously interpreted. Some treat them imperativally or as attendant circumstance to the imperative in v. 21 (“maintain”): “build yourselves up…pray.” But they do not follow the normal contours of either the imperatival or attendant circumstance participles, rendering this unlikely. A better option is to treat them as the means by which the readers are to maintain themselves in the love of God. This both makes eminently good sense and fits the structural patterns of instrumental participles elsewhere.

[1:21]  ²⁷ tn Or “keep.”

[1:21]  ²⁸ tn Or “waiting for.”

[1:21]  ²⁹ tn Grk “unto eternal life.”