Proverbs 16

Bible scholars translate this very many different ways with different meanings. His words are “magic” and he “cannot err” (Jewish Tanakh Translation). His words are an “oracle” and he “does not sin in judgment” (English Standard Version). He speaks “with authority” and is “never wrong” (Contemporary English Version). Any way you slice this pie, a king would get a piece.

More literally, the writer says if you use honest scales when you sell something, God made the honest weighing stones you use. Some merchants weighed products by using stones or metal weights that were mislabeled, in the merchant’s favor.

The second line seems to have nothing to do with the first, some scholars say. And they conclude it’s not the original. Others say it might be tied to the first line by suggesting that the better a wise person is at public speaking, the more likely listeners will buy in to what’s being taught, and will learn from it.

Repeated in Proverbs 14:12.

The Hebrew word for “winking” appears only here in the Bible. Bible scholars say they aren’t sure what it means. Some speculate it’s linked to an Arabic word that means to shut your eyes.

More literally, “someone who purses his lips brings evil to pass.”

The word for “coins” is literally “lots,” possibly marked stones or small bone fragments. In Old Testament times, Jews and others would look for answers by throwing lots to see how they landed. Sailors used lots to figure out that it was Jonah who caused the storm at sea by angering God (Jonah 1:7). Even the high priest used two lots to find answers to questions (Leviticus 16:8). The lots, named Urim and Thummim (Exodus 28:30), were part of the uniform, worn on the chest.