Amsal 16:23-26

16:23 A wise person’s heart ¹  makes his speech wise ² 

and it adds persuasiveness ³  to his words. ⁴ 

16:24 Pleasant words are like ⁵  a honeycomb, ⁶ 

sweet to the soul and healing ⁷  to the bones.

16:25 There is a way that seems right to a person, ⁸ 

but its end is the way that leads to death. ⁹ 

16:26 A laborer’s ¹⁰  appetite ¹¹  works on his behalf, ¹² 

for his hunger ¹³  urges him to work. ¹⁴ 

[16:23]  ¹ tn Or “mind” (cf. NCV, NRSV, NLT).

[16:23]  ² tn Heb “makes wise his mouth,” with “mouth” being a metonymy of cause for what is said: “speech.”

[16:23]  ³ sn Those who are wise say wise things. The proverb uses synthetic parallelism: The first line asserts that the wise heart ensures that what is said is wise, and the second line adds that such a person increases the reception of what is said.

[16:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “to his lips.” The term “lips” functions as a metonymy of cause for what is said.

[16:24]  ⁵ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[16:24]  ⁶ sn The metaphor of honey or the honeycomb is used elsewhere in scripture, notably Ps 19:10 [11]. Honey was used in Israel as a symbol of the delightful and healthy products of the land – “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Deut 6:3).

[16:24]  ⁷ sn Two predicates are added to qualify the metaphor: The pleasant words are “sweet” and “healing.” “Soul” includes in it the appetites, physical and spiritual; and so sweet to the “soul” would summarize all the ways pleasant words give pleasure. “Bones” is a metonymy of subject, the boney framework representing the whole person, body and soul. Pleasant words, like honey, will enliven and encourage the whole person. One might recall, in line with the imagery here, how Jonathan’s eyes brightened when he ate from the honeycomb (1 Sam 14:27).

[16:25]  ⁸ tn Heb “There is a way that is right before a man [to the face of a man].”

[16:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “the ways of death” (so KJV, ASV). This construct phrase features a genitive of destiny: “ways that lead to [or, end in] death.”This proverb is identical to 14:12.

[16:26]  ¹⁰ sn The word for “laborer” and “labors” emphasizes the drudgery and the agony of work (עָמַל, ’amal). For such boring drudgery motivations are necessary for its continuance, and hunger is the most effective. The line is saying that the appetites are working as hard as the laborer.

[16:26]  ¹¹ tn Heb “soul.” The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) here means “appetite,” functioning as a metonymy; the “inner soul” of a person representing his appetite (BDB 660 s.v. 5a; see, e.g., Pss 63:6; 107:9; Prov 13:25; 16:24; 27:7; Isa 56:11; 58:10; Jer 50:19; Ezek 7:19). This is suggested by the parallelism with “hunger.”

[16:26]  ¹² tn Heb “labors for him” (so NAB).

[16:26]  ¹³ tn Heb “his mouth” (so KJV, NAB). The term “mouth” is a metonymy for hunger or eating. The idea of the proverb is clear – the need to eat drives people to work.

[16:26]  ¹⁴ tc The LXX has apparently misread פִּיהוּ (pihu) and inserted the idea of “ruin” for the laborer: “he drives away ruin.” This influenced the Syriac to some degree; however, its first clause understood “suffering” instead of “labor”: “the person who causes suffering suffers.”

[16:26]  sn This theme is taught elsewhere (e.g., Eccl 6:7; Eph 4:28; 6:7; 2 Thess 3:10-12).