Proverbs 18:13

18:13 The one who gives an answer ¹  before he listens ²  –

that is his folly and his shame. ³ 

Proverbs 30:7

30:7 Two things ⁴  I ask from you; ⁵ 

do not refuse me before I die:

[18:13]  ¹ tn Heb “returns a word”; KJV “He that answereth a matter.”

[18:13]  ² sn Poor listening and premature answering indicate that the person has a low regard for what the other is saying, or that he is too absorbed in his own ideas. The Mishnah lists this as the second characteristic of the uncultured person (m. Avot 5:7).

[18:13]  ³ tn Heb “it is folly to him and shame.” The verse uses formal parallelism, with the second colon simply completing the thought of the first.

[30:7]  ⁴ sn Wisdom literature often groups things in twos and fours, or in other numerical arrangements (e.g., Amos 1:3–2:6; Job 5:19; Prov 6:16-19).

[30:7]  ⁵ tn Assuming that the contents of vv. 7-9 are a prayer, several English versions have supplied a vocative phrase: “O Lord” (NIV); “O God” (NLT); others have supplied a similar phrase without the vocative “O”: NCV, CEV “Lord”; TEV “God.”