Proverbs 18:2

18:2 A fool takes no pleasure ¹  in understanding

but only in disclosing ²  what is on his mind. ³ 

Proverbs 21:1

21:1 The king’s heart ⁴  is in the hand ⁵  of the Lord like channels of water; ⁶ 

he turns it wherever he wants.

[18:2]  ¹ sn This expression forms an understatement (tapeinosis); the opposite is the point – he detests understanding or discernment.

[18:2]  ² tn The Hitpael infinitive construct בְּהִתְגַּלּוֹת (bÿhitgalot) functions nominally as the object of the preposition. The term means “reveal, uncover, betray.” So the fool takes pleasure “in uncovering” his heart.

[18:2]  ³ tn Heb “his heart.” This is a metonymy meaning “what is on his mind” (cf. NAB “displaying what he thinks”; NRSV “expressing personal opinion”). This kind of person is in love with his own ideas and enjoys spewing them out (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 515). It is the kind of person who would ask a question, not to learn, but to show everyone how clever he is (cf. TEV).

[21:1]  ⁴ sn “Heart” is a metonymy of subject; it signifies the ability to make decisions, if not the decisions themselves.

[21:1]  ⁵ sn “Hand” in this passage is a personification; the word is frequently used idiomatically for “power,” and that is the sense intended here.

[21:1]  ⁶ tn “Channels of water” (פַּלְגֵי, palge) is an adverbial accusative, functioning as a figure of comparison – “like channels of water.” Cf. NAB “Like a stream”; NIV “watercourse”; NRSV, NLT “a stream of water.”