Proverbs 16:21

16:21 The one who is wise in heart ¹  is called ²  discerning,

and kind speech ³  increases persuasiveness. ⁴ 

Proverbs 16:23

16:23 A wise person’s heart ⁵  makes his speech wise ⁶ 

and it adds persuasiveness ⁷  to his words. ⁸ 

Proverbs 19:4

19:4 Wealth adds many friends,

but a poor person is separated ⁹  from his friend. ¹⁰ 

[16:21]  ¹ tn Heb “wise of heart” (so NRSV).

[16:21]  ² tn Heb “to the wise of heart it will be called discerning.” This means that the wise of heart, those who make wise decisions (“heart” being the metonymy), will gain a reputation of being the discerning ones.

[16:21]  ³ tn Heb “sweetness of lips.” The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause, meaning what is said. It is a genitive of specification. The idea of “sweetness” must be gracious and friendly words. The teaching will be well-received because it is both delightful and persuasive (cf. NIV “pleasant words promote instruction”).

[16:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “teaching” or “receptivity”; KJV “learning”; NIV “instruction.”

[16:23]  ⁵ tn Or “mind” (cf. NCV, NRSV, NLT).

[16:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “makes wise his mouth,” with “mouth” being a metonymy of cause for what is said: “speech.”

[16:23]  ⁷ sn Those who are wise say wise things. The proverb uses synthetic parallelism: The first line asserts that the wise heart ensures that what is said is wise, and the second line adds that such a person increases the reception of what is said.

[16:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “to his lips.” The term “lips” functions as a metonymy of cause for what is said.

[19:4]  ⁹ tn The Niphal imperfect probably should be taken in the passive sense (the poor person is deserted by his “friend,” cf. NAB, NIV) rather than as a direct middle (the poor person deserted his friend).

[19:4]  ¹⁰ sn This proverb simply makes an observation on life: People pursue wealthy folk hoping that they can gain something from the rich, but the poor are deserted even by friends, who fear that the poor will try to gain something from them.