Psalms 64:8

64:8 Their slander will bring about their demise. ¹ 

All who see them will shudder, ² 

Psalms 140:9

140:9 As for the heads of those who surround me –

may the harm done by ³  their lips overwhelm them!

Proverbs 18:6-7

18:6 The lips of a fool ⁴  enter into strife, ⁵ 

and his mouth invites ⁶  a flogging. ⁷ 

18:7 The mouth of a fool is his ruin,

and his lips are a snare for his life. ⁸ 

Ecclesiastes 10:12

Words and Works of Wise Men and Fools

10:12 The words of a wise person ⁹  win him ¹⁰  favor, ¹¹ 

but the words ¹²  of a fool are self-destructive. ¹³ 

Luke 19:22

19:22 The king ¹⁴  said to him, ‘I will judge you by your own words, ¹⁵  you wicked slave! ¹⁶  So you knew, did you, that I was a severe ¹⁷  man, withdrawing what I didn’t deposit and reaping what I didn’t sow?

[64:8]  ¹ tc The MT reads literally, “and they caused him to stumble, upon them, their tongue.” Perhaps the third plural subject of the verb is indefinite with the third singular pronominal suffix on the verb being distributive (see Ps 63:10). In this case one may translate, “each one will be made to stumble.” The preposition עַל (’al) might then be taken as adversative, “against them [is] their tongue.” Many prefer to emend the text to וַיַּכְשִׁילֵמוֹ עֲלֵי לְשׁוֹנָם (vayyakhshilemo ’aley lÿshonam, “and he caused them to stumble over their tongue”). However, if this reading is original, it is difficult to see how the present reading of the MT arose. Furthermore, the preposition is not collocated with the verb כָּשַׁל (kashal) elsewhere. It is likely that the MT is corrupt, but a satisfying emendation has not yet been proposed.

[64:8]  ² tn The Hitpolel verbal form is probably from the root נוּד (nud; see HALOT 678 s.v. נוד), which is attested elsewhere in the Hitpolel stem, not the root נָדַד (nadad, as proposed by BDB 622 s.v. I נָדַד), which does not occur elsewhere in this stem.

[140:9]  ³ tn Heb “harm of their lips.” The genitive here indicates the source or agent of the harm.

[18:6]  ⁴ sn The “lips” is a metonymy of cause, meaning what the fool says. The “mouth” in the second colon is likewise a metonymy for speech, what comes out of the mouth.

[18:6]  ⁵ sn “Strife” is a metonymy of cause, it is the cause of the beating or flogging that follows; “flogging” in the second colon is a metonymy of effect, the flogging is the effect of the strife. The two together give the whole picture.

[18:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “calls for.” This is personification: What the fool says “calls for” a beating or flogging. The fool deserves punishment, but does not actually request it.

[18:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “blows.” This would probably be physical beatings, either administered by the father or by society (e.g., also 19:25; Ps 141:5; cf. NAB, NIV, TEV, NLT). Today, however, “a beating” could be associated with violent criminal assault, whereas the context suggests punishment. Therefore “a flogging” is used in the translation, since that term is normally associated with disciplinary action.

[18:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “his soul” (so KJV, NASB, NIV).

[10:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “of a wise man’s mouth.”

[10:12]  ¹⁰ tn The phrase “win him” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[10:12]  ¹¹ tn Or “are gracious.” The antithetical parallelism suggests that חֵן (khen) does not denote “gracious character” but “[gain] favor” (e.g., Gen 39:21; Exod 3:21; 11:3; 12:36; Prov 3:4, 34; 13:15; 22:1; 28:23; Eccl 9:11); cf. HALOT 332 s.v. חֵן 2; BDB 336 s.v. חֵן 2. The LXX, on the other hand, rendered חֶן with χάρις (caris, “gracious”). The English versions are divided: “are gracious” (KJV, YLT, ASV, NASB, NIV) and “win him favor” (NEB, RSV, NRSV, NAB, MLB, NJPS, Moffatt).

[10:12]  ¹² tn Heb “lips.”

[10:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “consume him”; or “engulf him.” The verb I בלע (“to swallow”) creates a striking wordplay on the homonymic root II בלע (“to speak eloquently”; HALOT 134-35 s.v בלע). Rather than speaking eloquently (II בלע, “to speak eloquently”), the fool utters words that are self-destructive (I בלע, “to swallow, engulf”).

[19:22]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “He”; the referent (the nobleman of v. 12, now a king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:22]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “out of your own mouth” (an idiom).

[19:22]  ¹⁶ tn Note the contrast between this slave, described as “wicked,” and the slave in v. 17, described as “good.”

[19:22]  ¹⁷ tn Or “exacting,” “harsh,” “hard.”