Proverbs 15:28

15:28 The heart of the righteous considers ¹  how ²  to answer, ³ 

but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things. ⁴ 

Proverbs 16:1

16:1 The intentions of the heart ⁵  belong to a man, ⁶ 

but the answer of the tongue ⁷  comes from ⁸  the Lord. ⁹ 

Proverbs 25:3

25:3 As the heaven is high ¹⁰  and the earth is deep

so the hearts of kings are unsearchable. ¹¹ 

Proverbs 28:26

28:26 The one who trusts in his own heart ¹²  is a fool,

but the one who walks in wisdom ¹³  will escape. ¹⁴ 

[15:28]  ¹ 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]  ² tn The word “how” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[15:28]  ³ tc The LXX reads: “the hearts of the righteous meditate faithfulness.”

[15:28]  ⁴ sn The form is plural. What they say (the “mouth” is a metonymy of cause) is any range of harmful things.

[16:1]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “[are] to a man.”

[16:1]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ sn The contrasting prepositions enhance the contrasting ideas – the ideas belong to people, but the words come from the Lord.

[16:1]  ⁹ 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.

[25:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “heavens for height and earth for depth.” The proverb is clearly intending the first line to be an illustration of the second – it is almost emblematic parallelism.

[25:3]  ¹⁰ sn The proverb is affirming a simple fact: The king’s plans and decisions are beyond the comprehension of the common people. While the king would make many things clear to the people, there are other things that are “above their heads” or “too deep for them.” They are unsearchable because of his superior wisdom, his caprice, or his need for secrecy. Inscrutability is sometimes necessary to keep a firm grip on power.

[28:26]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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.