Amsal 4:24

4:24 Remove perverse speech ¹  from your mouth; ² 

keep devious talk far from your lips. ³ 

Amsal 7:12

7:12 at one time outside, at another ⁴  in the wide plazas,

and by every corner she lies in wait.)

[4:24]  ¹ tn Heb “crookedness.” The noun עִקְּשׁוּת (’iqqÿshut) refers to what is morally twisted or perverted. Here it refers to things that are said (cf. NAB “dishonest talk”; NRSV “crooked speech”). The term “mouth” functions as a metonymy of cause for perverse speech. Such perverse talking could be subtle or blatant.

[4:24]  ² tn Heb “crookedness of mouth.”

[4:24]  ³ tn Heb “deviousness of lips put far from you.”

[7:12]  ⁴ tn The repetition of the noun “time, step,” usually translated “now, this time,” signifies here “at one time…at another time” (BDB 822 s.v. פַּעַם 3.e).