Proverbs 16:23

16:23 A wise person’s heart ¹  makes his speech wise ² 

and it adds persuasiveness ³  to his words. ⁴ 

[16:23]  ¹ tn Or “mind” (cf. NCV, NRSV, NLT).

[16:23]  ² tn Heb “makes wise his mouth,” with “mouth” being a metonymy of cause for what is said: “speech.”

[16:23]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “to his lips.” The term “lips” functions as a metonymy of cause for what is said.