Mazmur 12:3

12:3 May the Lord cut off ¹  all flattering lips,

and the tongue that boasts! ² 

Amsal 12:17

12:17 The faithful witness ³  tells what is right, ⁴ 

but a false witness ⁵  speaks ⁶  deceit.

¹ tn The verb form is a jussive, indicating that the statement is imprecatory (“May the Lord cut off”), not indicative (“The Lord will cut off”; see also Ps 109:15 and Mal 2:12). The psalmist appeals to God to destroy the wicked, rather than simply stating his confidence that he will. In this way he seeks to activate divine judgment by appealing to God’s just character. For an example of the power of such a curse, see Judg 9:7-57.

² tn Heb “a tongue speaking great [things].”

³ tn The text has “he pours out faithfully”; the word rendered “faithfully” or “reliably” (אֱמוּנָה, ’emunah) is used frequently for giving testimony in court, and so here the subject matter is the reliable witness.

⁴ tn Heb “righteousness.”

⁵ tn Heb “witness of falsehoods.” The genitive noun functions attributively, and the plural form depicts habitual action or moral characteristic. This describes a person who habitually lies. A false witness cannot be counted on to help the cause of justice.

⁶ tn The term “speaks” does not appear in this line but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.