Proverbs 18

Literally, “words of a man’s mouth are deep waters.” Scholars guess what that means. Some see a clue in Proverbs 20:5, in which the writer compares thoughts to deep waters. “Deep water” might sound threatening, especially to anyone living in a flood plain, unable to buy flood insurance. But in the hot and dry Middle East, where the ancient Wisdom writers probably lived, deep water meant life and security instead of death by thirst and drought.

This proverb is repeated in 26:22.

More literally, a person “slack in work is brother to one who destroys.” Or a slacker is like a whacker. The problem with saying it this way is that it’s too English. Hebrew poetry, as far as we can tell, didn’t rhyme. It repeated or contrasted parallel ideas.

They’re not really flipping coins for heads or tails, “Chalice I win, pomegranate I lose.” They’re throwing “lots.” Possibly marked stones or bone fragments. See note for Proverbs 16:33.

Scholars are left guessing about this wise saying. They say they trip over vague words such as the one describing the nature of the dispute, nipsa. It can mean offend, sin, revolt. None of which is a good thing to do to a relative who doesn’t deserve it. And in the second line, it’s hard to know what the “bars of a citadel” (the more literal translation) are meant to illustrate. What appears in this paraphrase is one of many educated guesses. Others say the bars are the disputes, or that they illustrate how hard it is to break through the defenses, or that people are on opposing sides of the bars. Discussions like these are what scholars talk about over a drink at a bar.