Amsal 12:18
Konteks12:18 Speaking recklessly 1 is like the thrusts of a sword,
but the words 2 of the wise bring 3 healing. 4
Amsal 17:10
Konteks17:10 A rebuke makes a greater impression on 5 a discerning person
than a hundred blows on a fool. 6
Amsal 23:7
Konteks23:7 for he is 7 like someone calculating the cost 8 in his mind. 9
“Eat and drink,” he says to you,
but his heart is not with you;
Amsal 26:24
Konteks26:24 The one who hates others disguises 10 it with his lips,
[12:18] 1 tn The term בּוֹטֶה (boteh) means “to speak rashly [or, thoughtlessly]” (e.g., Lev 5:4; Num 30:7).
[12:18] 2 tn Heb “the tongue” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV). The term לָשׁוֹן (lashon, “tongue”) functions as a metonymy of cause for what is said.
[12:18] 3 tn The term “brings” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.
[12:18] 4 sn Healing is a metonymy of effect. Healing words are the opposite of the cutting, irresponsible words. What the wise say is faithful and true, gentle and kind, uplifting and encouraging; so their words bring healing.
[17:10] 5 tn Heb “goes in deeper” (cf. NASB, NRSV). The verb נָחֵת (nakhet) “to go down; to descend” with the preposition בְּ (bet) means “to descend into; to make an impression on” someone.
[17:10] 6 tn The form is the Hiphil infinitive of נָכָה (nakhah) with the comparative מִן, min. The word “fool” then would be an objective genitive – more than blows to/on a fool.
[23:7] 7 tc The line is difficult; it appears to mean that the miser is the kind of person who has calculated the cost of everything in his mind as he offers the food. The LXX has: “Eating and drinking with him is as if one should swallow a hair; do not introduce him to your company nor eat bread with him.” The Hebrew verb “to calculate” (שָׁעַר, sha’ar) with a change of vocalization and of sibilant would yield “hair” (שֵׂעָר, se’ar) – “like a hair in the throat [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh], so is he.” This would picture an irritating experience. The Instruction of Amenemope uses “blocking the throat” in a similar saying (chapt. 11, 14:7 [ANET 423]). The suggested change is plausible and is followed by NRSV; but the rare verb “to calculate” in the MT would be easier to defend on the basis of the canons of textual criticism because it is the more difficult reading.
[23:7] 8 tn The phrase “the cost” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied by the verb; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
[26:24] 10 tn The Niphal imperfect from נָכַר (nakhar) means “to act [or, treat] as a foreigner [or, stranger]; to misconstrue; to disguise.” The direct object (“it”) is not present in the Hebrew text but is implied. In this passage it means that the hater speaks what is “foreign” to his thought; in other words, he dissembles.
[26:24] 11 tn Or “places; puts; lays up” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB).
[26:24] 12 tn Heb “within him” (so KJV, ASV) or “in his midst”; NAB “in his inmost being.”
[26:24] sn Hypocritical words may hide a wicked heart. The proverb makes an observation: One who in reality despises other people will often disguise that with what he says.