Amsal 11:9

11:9 With his speech ¹  the godless person ²  destroys ³  his neighbor,

but by knowledge ⁴  the righteous will be delivered.

Amsal 13:19

13:19 A desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul,

but fools abhor ⁵  turning away from evil.

Amsal 14:25

14:25 A truthful witness ⁶  rescues lives, ⁷ 

but the one who breathes lies brings ⁸  deception. ⁹ 

[11:9]  ¹ tn Heb “with his mouth.” The term פֶּה (peh, “mouth”) functions as a metonymy of cause for speech.

[11:9]  ² sn The Hebrew word originally meant “impious, godless, polluted, profane.” It later developed the idea of a “hypocrite” (Dan 11:32), one who conceals his evil under the appearance of godliness or kindness. This one is a false flatterer.

[11:9]  ³ sn The verb שָׁחַת (shakhat) means “to destroy; to ruin” (e.g., the destruction of Sodom in Gen 13:10). The imperfect tense is probably not an habitual imperfect (because the second colon shows exceptions), but probably a progressive imperfect (“this goes on”) or potential imperfect (“they can do this”).

[11:9]  ⁴ sn The antithetical proverb states that a righteous person can escape devastating slander through knowledge. The righteous will have sufficient knowledge and perception to see through the hypocrisy and avoid its effect.

[13:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “an abomination of fools.” The noun כְּסִילִים (kÿsilim, “fools”) functions as a subjective genitive: “fools hate to turn away from evil” (cf. NAB, TEV, CEV). T. T. Perowne says: “In spite of the sweetness of good desires accomplished, fools will not forsake evil to attain it” (Proverbs, 103). Cf. Prov 13:12; 29:27.

[14:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “a witness of truth”; cf. CEV “an honest witness.”

[14:25]  ⁷ tn The noun נְפָשׁוֹת (nÿfashot) often means “souls,” but here “lives” – it functions as a metonymy for life (BDB 659 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 3.c).

[14:25]  sn The setting of this proverb is the courtroom. One who tells the truth “saves” (מַצִּיל [matsil, “rescues; delivers”]) the lives of those falsely accused.

[14:25]  ⁸ tn The term “brings” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity. Also possible, “is deceitful.”

[14:25]  ⁹ tc Several commentators suggest emending the text from the noun מִרְמָה (mirmah, “deception”) to the participle מְרַמֶּה (mÿrameh, “destroys”). However, this revocalization is not necessary because the MT makes sense as it stands: A false witness destroys lives.