Proverbs 15:14

15:14 The discerning heart seeks knowledge,

but the mouth of fools feeds on folly. ¹ 

Job 15:16

15:16 how much less man, who is abominable and corrupt, ² 

who drinks in evil like water! ³ 

Job 20:12-13

20:12 “If ⁴  evil is sweet in his mouth

and he hides it under his tongue, ⁵ 

20:13 if he retains it for himself

and does not let it go,

and holds it fast in his mouth, ⁶ 

Job 34:7

34:7 What man is like Job,

who ⁷  drinks derision ⁸  like water!

Hosea 4:8

4:8 They feed on the sin offerings of my people;

their appetites long for their iniquity!

[15:14]  ¹ tn The idea expressed in the second colon does not make a strong parallelism with the first with its emphasis on seeking knowledge. Its poetic image of feeding (a hypocatastasis) would signify the acquisition of folly – the fool has an appetite for it. D. W. Thomas suggests the change of one letter, ר (resh) to ד (dalet), to obtain a reading יִדְעֶה (yid’eh); this he then connects to an Arabic root da`a with the meaning “sought, demanded” to form what he thinks is a better parallel (“Textual and Philological Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 285). But even though the parallelism is not as precise as some would prefer, there is insufficient warrant for such a change.

[15:16]  ² tn The two descriptions here used are “abominable,” meaning “disgusting” (a Niphal participle with the value of a Latin participle [see GKC 356-57 §116.e]), and “corrupt” (a Niphal participle which occurs only in Pss 14:3 and 53:4), always in a moral sense. On the significance of the first description, see P. Humbert, “Le substantif toáe„ba„ et le verbe táb dans l’Ancien Testament,” ZAW 72 [1960]: 217ff.). On the second word, G. R. Driver suggests from Arabic, “debauched with luxury, corrupt” (“Some Hebrew Words,” JTS 29 [1927/28]: 390-96).

[15:16]  ³ sn Man commits evil with the same ease and facility as he drinks in water – freely and in large quantities.

[20:12]  ⁴ tn The conjunction אִם (’im) introduces clauses that are conditional or concessive. With the imperfect verb in the protasis it indicates what is possible in the present or future. See GKC 496 §159.q).

[20:12]  ⁵ sn The wicked person holds on to evil as long as he can, savoring the taste or the pleasure of it.

[20:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “in the middle of his palate.”

[34:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “he drinks,” but coming after the question this clause may be subordinated.

[34:7]  ⁸ tn The scorn or derision mentioned here is not against Job, but against God. Job scorns God so much, he must love it. So to reflect this idea, Gordis has translated it “blasphemy” (cf. NAB).