Ayub 1:22

1:22 In all this Job did not sin, nor did he charge God with moral impropriety. ¹ 

Amsal 18:7

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

and his lips are a snare for his life. ² 

Amsal 18:20-21

18:20 From the fruit of a person’s mouth ³  his stomach is satisfied, ⁴ 

with the product of his lips is he satisfied.

18:21 Death and life are in the power ⁵  of the tongue, ⁶ 

and those who love its use ⁷  will eat its fruit.

[1:22]  ¹ tn The last clause is difficult to translate. It simply reads, “and he did not give unseemliness to God.” The word תִּפְלָה (tiflah) means “unsavoriness” or “unseemliness” in a moral sense. The sense is that Job did not charge God with any moral impropriety in his dealings with him. God did nothing worthless or tasteless. The ancient versions saw the word connected with “foolishness” or “stupidity” (תָּפֵל, tafel, “to be tasteless”). It is possible that “folly” would capture some of what Job meant here. See also M. Dahood, “Hebrew-Ugaritic Lexicography XII,” Bib 55 (1974): 381-93.

[18:7]  ² tn Heb “his soul” (so KJV, NASB, NIV).

[18:7]  sn What a fool says can ruin him. Calamity and misfortune can come to a person who makes known his lack of wisdom by what he says. It may be that his words incite anger, or merely reveal stupidity; in either case, he is in trouble.

[18:20]  ³ sn Two images are used in this proverb: the fruit of the mouth and the harvest of the lips. They are synonymous; the first is applied to the orchard and the second to the field. The “mouth” and the “lips” are metonymies of cause, and so both lines are speaking about speech that is productive.

[18:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “his midst.” This is rendered “his stomach” because of the use of שָׂבַע (sava’, “to be satisfied; to be sated; to be filled”), which is usually used with food (cf. KJV, ASV “belly”).

[18:20]  sn Productive speech is not just satisfying – it meets the basic needs of life. There is a practical return for beneficial words.

[18:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the hand of.”

[18:21]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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).