Proverbs 18:21

18:21 Death and life are in the power ¹  of the tongue, ² 

and those who love its use ³  will eat its fruit.

Proverbs 19:18

19:18 Discipline your child, for ⁴  there is hope,

but do not set your heart ⁵  on causing his death. ⁶ 

Proverbs 26:15

26:15 The sluggard plunges ⁷  his hand in the dish;

he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth. ⁸ 

Proverbs 28:7

28:7 The one who keeps the law ⁹  is a discerning child, ¹⁰ 

but a companion of gluttons brings shame ¹¹  to his parents. ¹² 

[18:21]  ¹ tn Heb “in the hand of.”

[18:21]  ² sn What people say can lead to life or death. The Midrash on Psalms shows one way the tongue [what is said] can cause death: “The evil tongue slays three, the slanderer, the slandered, and the listener” (Midrash Tehillim 52:2). See J. G. Williams, “The Power of Form: A Study of Biblical Proverbs,” Semeia 17 (1980): 35-38.

[18:21]  ³ tn The referent of “it” must be the tongue, i.e., what the tongue says (= “its use”). So those who enjoy talking, indulging in it, must “eat” its fruit, whether good or bad. The expression “eating the fruit” is an implied comparison; it means accept the consequences of loving to talk (cf. TEV).

[19:18]  ⁴ tn The translation understands כִּי (ki) as causal. Some prefer to take כִּי as temporal and translate, “while there is hope” (so KJV, NASB, NCV, NRSV, NLT), meaning that discipline should be administered when the child is young and easily guided. In the causal reading of כִּי, the idea seems to be that children should be disciplined because change is possible due to their youth and the fact that they are not set in their ways.

[19:18]  ⁵ tn The expression “do not lift up your soul/life” to his death may mean (1) “do not set your heart” on his death (cf. ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV), or it may mean (2) “do not be a willing partner” (cf. NIV). The parent is to discipline a child, but he is not to take it to the extreme and destroy or kill the child.

[19:18]  ⁶ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct הֲמִיתוֹ (h^amito) means “taking it to heart” in this line. The traditional rendering was “and let not your soul spare for his crying.” This involved a different reading than “causing his death” (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 206-7).

[26:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “buries” (so many English versions); KJV “hideth”; NAB “loses.”

[26:15]  ⁸ sn The proverb is stating that the sluggard is too lazy to eat; this is essentially the same point made in 19:24 (see the note there).

[28:7]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew word could refer (1) to “instruction” by the father (cf. NCV) or (2) the Mosaic law (so most English versions). The chapter seems to be stressing religious obedience, so the referent is probably the law. Besides, the father’s teaching will be what the law demands, and the one who associates with gluttons is not abiding by the law.

[28:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “son,” but the immediate context does not suggest limiting this only to male children.

[28:7]  ¹² sn The companion of gluttons shames his father and his family because such a life style as he now embraces is both unruly and antisocial.

[28:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “father,” but the immediate context does not suggest limiting this only to the male parent.