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 

Proverbs 16:26

16:26 A laborer’s ⁵  appetite ⁶  works on his behalf, ⁷ 

for his hunger ⁸  urges him to work. ⁹ 

Proverbs 20:17

20:17 Bread gained by deceit ¹⁰  tastes sweet to a person, ¹¹ 

but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel. ¹² 

Proverbs 24:7

24:7 Wisdom is unattainable ¹³  for a fool;

in court ¹⁴  he does not open his mouth. ¹⁵ 

Proverbs 19:24

19:24 The sluggard plunges ¹⁶  his hand in the dish,

and he will not even bring it back to his mouth! ¹⁷ 

[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.

[16:26]  ⁵ sn The word for “laborer” and “labors” emphasizes the drudgery and the agony of work (עָמַל, ’amal). For such boring drudgery motivations are necessary for its continuance, and hunger is the most effective. The line is saying that the appetites are working as hard as the laborer.

[16:26]  ⁶ tn Heb “soul.” The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) here means “appetite,” functioning as a metonymy; the “inner soul” of a person representing his appetite (BDB 660 s.v. 5a; see, e.g., Pss 63:6; 107:9; Prov 13:25; 16:24; 27:7; Isa 56:11; 58:10; Jer 50:19; Ezek 7:19). This is suggested by the parallelism with “hunger.”

[16:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “labors for him” (so NAB).

[16:26]  ⁸ tn Heb “his mouth” (so KJV, NAB). The term “mouth” is a metonymy for hunger or eating. The idea of the proverb is clear – the need to eat drives people to work.

[16:26]  ⁹ tc The LXX has apparently misread פִּיהוּ (pihu) and inserted the idea of “ruin” for the laborer: “he drives away ruin.” This influenced the Syriac to some degree; however, its first clause understood “suffering” instead of “labor”: “the person who causes suffering suffers.”

[20:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “bread of deceit” (so KJV, NAB). This refers to food gained through dishonest means. The term “bread” is a synecdoche of specific for general, referring to anything obtained by fraud, including food.

[20:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a man.”

[20:17]  ¹¹ sn The image of food and eating is carried throughout the proverb. Food taken by fraud seems sweet at first, but afterward it is not. To end up with a mouth full of gravel (a mass of small particles; e.g., Job 20:14-15; Lam 3:16) implies by comparison that what has been taken by fraud will be worthless and useless and certainly in the way (like food turning into sand and dirt).

[24:7]  ¹³ tc The MT reads רָאמוֹת (ra’mot, “corals”) – wisdom to the fool is corals, i.e., an unattainable treasure. With a slight change in the text, removing the א (alef), the reading is רָמוֹת (ramot, “high”), i.e., wisdom is too high – unattainable – for a fool. The internal evidence favors the emendation, which is followed by most English versions including KJV.

[24:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “[city] gate,” a metonymy of subject, meaning what goes on in the gate – court cases and business transactions. So it is in these assemblies that the fool keeps quiet. The term “court” has been used in the translation for clarity. Some English versions do not emphasize the forensic connotation here: NCV “in a discussion”; NLT “When the leaders gather.”

[24:7]  ¹⁵ sn The verse portrays a fool out of his element: In a serious moment in the gathering of the community, he does not even open his mouth (a metonymy of cause, meaning “speak”). Wisdom is too high for the fool – it is beyond his ability.

[19:24]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “buries” (so many English versions); KJV “hideth”; NAB “loses.”

[19:24]  ¹⁸ sn This humorous portrayal is an exaggeration; but the point is that laziness can overcome hunger. It would have a wider application for anyone who would start a project and then lack the interest or energy to finish it (R. N. Whybray, Proverbs [CBC], 111). Ibn Ezra proposes that the dish was empty, because the sluggard was too lazy to provide for himself.