Please Support the Bible Translation Work of the Updated American Standard Version (UASV)

$5.00

Dishonesty and Deception

Proverbs 10:10 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
¹⁰He who winks the eye causes trouble,
and the one foolish of lips^[1] will be trampled down.^[2]

He who winks the eye causes trouble: “A worthless man, a wicked man” may not only resort to going “about with crooked speech” but he also may try to hide his intentions with body language, such as ‘winking his eye.’ (Prov. 6:12-13; 16:30; Psa.35:19) Here winks (קָרַץ qarats) is a gesture where the worthless, wicked person signals insincerity and deceit with a smirk on his face. These signals could very well be for the wicked one’s co-conspirators. This kind of dishonesty and deception can become the source of much trouble for those who fall victim to their schemes.

and the one foolish of lips will be trampled down: Here in line 2 of verse 10, the 1971 Revised Standard Version (RSV) and the 1992 Good News Translation (GNT) have “but he who boldly reproves makes peace,” “but one who openly criticizes works for peace” respectively. The RSV footnote tells us that this is the reading found in the Greek Septuagint.[3] The Lexham English Septuagint reads, “but the one who reproves with confidence makes peace.” However, the Hebrew Old Testament text repeats the second line of verse 8 word for word. The Hebrew is preferred by most modern literal and semi-literal translations (ASV, ESV, NASB, UASV, LEB, CSB), as there is no certainty to the Septuagint reading.

The likely reason behind the RSV and the GNT and their favoring of the Septuagint reading are that they may have felt that the second line of verse 10 does really contrast with the first line. However, as Duane A. Garrett points out, “v. 7 and v. 9 parallel each other (the fate of the righteous versus the fate of the wicked), and v. 8 and v. 10 parallel each other (both contain the line “a chattering fool comes to ruin”). The repetition of two lines in this section, both of which concern the mouth of the wicked, points to the major emphasis of the collection.”^[4] So, for the sake of our own repetition, we will repeat the comments from line 2 of verse 8 again here.

The expression foolish of lips is referring to the person who speaks foolishly or is a foolish talker. His senseless babbling will cause him to be trampled down. The Hebrew word for fool (evil) is referring to a simpleton, one who lacks good judgment. He lacks understanding and stubbornly so, who is both stupid in his actions and his words. The “wise of heart” is being contrasted with “foolish of lips.” Instead of being able to have the good judgment to recognize, let alone obey good instruction, advice, or counsel that the foolish one receives, his senseless talk causes him to be trampled down, that is he will be brought to ruin. In other words, his foolish words that are spoken without thinking will bring him a lifetime of ruination, trouble, ending up with nothing. Shrewdness, restraint, and deception (6:12 note) bring sorrow no less than talkativeness (babbling), talking rapidly and continuously foolish, excited, or incomprehensible.

[1] That is, the one speaking foolishly

[2] That is, will come to ruin or will be destroyed

[3] Septuagint, abbreviation LXX, the earliest extant Greek translation of the Old Testament from the original Hebrew. The Septuagint was presumably made for the Jewish community in Egypt, when Greek was the common language throughout the region. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Septuagint

^[4] Duane A. Garrett, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, vol. 14, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 118.