PROV 8:8 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX Μετὰ δικαιοσύνης πάντα τὰ ῥήματα τοῦ στόματός μου, οὐδὲν ἐαυτοῖς σκολιὸν οὐδὲ στραγγαλιῶδες.
(Meta dikaiosunaʸs panta ta ɽaʸmata tou stomatos mou, ouden eautois skolion oude strangaliōdes. )

BrTr All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing in them wrong or perverse.

ULT All the words of my mouth are in righteousness;
⇔ there is nothing twisted or crooked in them.

UST Everything that I say is honest.
⇔ I do not say anything that is false or that deceives people.

OEB No OEB PROV book available

WEBBE All the words of my mouth are in righteousness.
⇔ There is nothing crooked or perverse in them.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET All the words of my mouth are righteous;
⇔ there is nothing in them twisted or crooked.

LSV All the sayings of my mouth [are] in righteousness,
Nothing in them is contrary and perverse.

FBV All the words I say are true; none are false or misleading.

T4T Everything that I say is honest;
⇔ there is nothing that I say that deceives people.

LEB • All sayings of my mouth are in righteousness; none of them are twisted and crooked.

BBE All the words of my mouth are righteousness; there is nothing false or twisted in them.

Moff all I say is honest,
⇔ with nothing in it false or wrong;

JPS All the words of my mouth are in righteousness, there is nothing perverse or crooked in them.

ASV All the words of my mouth are in righteousness;
⇔ There is nothing crooked or perverse in them.

DRA All my words are just, there is nothing wicked nor perverse in them.

YLT In righteousness [are] all the sayings of my mouth, Nothing in them is froward and perverse.

Drby All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing tortuous or perverse in them.

RV All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing crooked or perverse in them.

SLT In justice are all the sayings of my mouth; nothing in them crooked and perverse.

Wbstr All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them.

KJB-1769 All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them.[fn]
(All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward/ornery_or_disobedient or perverse in them. )

8.8 froward: Heb. wreathed

KJB-1611 [fn]All the words of my mouth are in righteousnes, there is nothing froward or peruerse in them.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation and footnotes)

8:8 Heb. wreathed.

Bshps All the wordes of my mouth are righteous, there is no frowardnes nor falsehood in them.
(All the words of my mouth are righteous, there is no frowardnes nor falsehood in them.)

Gnva All the wordes of my mouth are righteous: there is no lewdenes, nor frowardnesse in them.
(All the words of my mouth are righteous: there is no lewdenes, nor frowardness in them. )

Cvdl All the wordes of my mouth are rightuous, there is no frowardnesse ner falsede therin.
(All the words of my mouth are righteous, there is no frowardness nor falsede therein.)

Wycl My wordis ben iust; no schrewid thing, nether weiward is in tho.
(My words been just; no shrewd thing, neither wayward is in those.)

Luth Alle Reden meines Mundes sind gerecht; es ist nichts Verkehrtes noch Falsches drinnen.
(All Reden my mouth are just/fair; it is nothing Verkehrtes still false_(one) inside.)

ClVg Justi sunt omnes sermones mei: non est in eis pravum quid, neque perversum;
(Just are everyone conversations my/mine: not/no it_is in/into/on to_them wicked quid, nor perversum; )

TTN Tyndale Theme Notes:

Speaking

As children we probably heard, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Scripture presents another viewpoint: Words have the power of life and death (18:21). The words contained in lies (14:5, 25), arguments (26:17), insults (20:20), slander (10:18), gossip (11:13), rumors (18:8), flattery (7:21-22), and bragging (26:23; 27:2) can all be death-dealing.

Proverbs repeatedly emphasizes that foolish people speak foolish words. They are represented by “the woman named Folly” (9:13-18), who lies and deceives to harm her hearers. Words reflect the condition of the heart (16:23; 18:4). While someone might conceal an evil heart by using pleasant words (26:23), a person’s true character will eventually surface (26:24-26). The words of fools not only harm others; these words ultimately injure those who speak them. The tongue is full of wickedness that can ruin your whole life (Jas 3:6).

In contrast, wise people speak the life-giving words represented by Wisdom (Prov 8:7-9; 10:11). Wise people use their words sparingly (17:27-28) and are usually gentle (15:4; 16:24). However, a wise person also knows the right time to speak (15:23; 25:11) and realizes that, at times, even harsh criticism is necessary (see 27:5). Proverbs wisely reminds its readers to pay close attention not only to what they say but also to how and when they say it.

Passages for Further Study

Prov 7:21-22; 8:7-9; 9:13-18; 10:11, 18; 11:13; 14:5, 25; 15:4, 23; 16:23-24; 17:28; 18:4, 21; 20:20; 25:11; 26:17, 23-26; 27:2, 5; Matt 12:33-37; Jas 3:1-12

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 8:1–36: Wisdom calls out to people and reminds them of the benefits of being wise

In contrast to the previous section describing the adulterous woman, this section describes personified Wisdom. The public setting for Wisdom’s speech is described in 8:1–3. In 8:4–11, she addresses all mankind and describes her own character. In 8:12–21, she provides reasons why people should choose her. Additional motivation is given in 8:22–31: Wisdom was with the LORD when he created the world. The section ends with Wisdom appealing to mankind to follow her teaching (8:32–36).

This section is a speech by personified Wisdom. As in Wisdom’s speech in 1:20–33, the Notes have used a capital letter for Wisdom in most verses. However, in her speech, Wisdom sometimes refers to “wisdom” as an ability that people have or use or should try to obtain. In some of these contexts, the Notes have used small letters for “wisdom.” The Display will often give more than one option. You may use either option in your language, depending on what is appropriate in each context.

Some other headings for this section are:

Wisdom’s Call (NIV)

Listen to Wisdom (NCV)

The good qualities of Wisdom

Wisdom’s second invitation to people

Paragraph 8:4–11

In this paragraph, personified Wisdom invites all mankind to become shrewd and intelligent (4–5). She then describes the good qualities of her words as motivation to heed her invitation (6–9). She ends with another appeal that is based on her high value (10–11).

8:8

In this verse, the parallel lines describe Wisdom’s words from opposite points of view. Verse 8:8a describes what her words are like. Verse 8:8b describes what her words are not like.

^8a All the words of my mouth are righteous;

^8b none are crooked or perverse.

8:8a

All the words of my mouth are righteous;

Every word I speak is righteous/sincere.
Nothing comes from my mouth except what is just/honest.

All the words of my mouth are righteous: The Hebrew word ṣedeq that the BSB translates as righteous refers here to words that conform to God’s standard. The NIV translates this word as “just.” See the note on 1:3b.The phrase here is literally “in justice/righteousness.” Whybray (page 123) says this is an instance of beth essentiae (my words are the essence of righteousness), but Fox (page 269) takes it to mean “spoken in righteousness,” which would mean that Wisdom was righteous in speaking them. Since this phrase is parallel with “crooked” and “perverse” in 8:8b and since this whole paragraph consists of parallel descriptions of Wisdom’s words, it is probably better to take the phrase in an adjectival sense, as all the English versions have done, and translate this as “just,” “righteous,” or “honest.”

In this verse, where “righteous” words are contrasted with “crooked” words, the meaning may be equivalent to “true” (GNT), “honest,” (NCV) or “sincere” (NAB). As in previous verses, the words of my mouth is a figurative way of saying “the words that I say” or “my words.”

8:8b

none are crooked or perverse.

I never say anything that is twisted or warped/crooked.
I never say anything that is false/dishonest or misleads/deceives others.

none are crooked or perverse: The word crooked literally means “twisted” or “contorted.” Here it has the sense of “deceptive” or “tricky.”

The literal meaning of perverse is “warped” or “crooked.” Here it has almost the same meaning as the first word.

If figurative terms such as “crooked” or “twisted” cannot be used about a person’s words in your language, you may need to use nonfigurative terms. For example:

not one is misleading or deceptive (CEV)

nothing is false or misleading (GNT)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

אִמְרֵי

words_of

See how you translated the similar use of words in [1:23](../01/23.md).

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / synecdoche

פִ֑⁠י

my_mouth_of,of

Here, mouth refers to the person who is speaking. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “mine”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis

בְּ⁠צֶ֥דֶק

[are]_(in),righteousness

Wisdom is leaving out some of the words that in many languages a clause would need in order to be complete. You could supply these words from the context if it would be clearer in your language. Alternate translation: “are spoken in righteousness” or “are spoken righteously”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

נִפְתָּ֥ל וְ⁠עִקֵּֽשׁ

twisted and,a_perverse_[thing]

Here, Wisdom speaks of something that is false as if it were twisted or crooked. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “untrue or deceptive”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

וְ⁠עִקֵּֽשׁ

and,a_perverse_[thing]

See how you translated the same use of crooked in [2:15](../02/15.md).

Note 6 topic: writing-pronouns

בָּ֝⁠הֶ֗ם

(is)_in=them

Here, them refers to the words of my mouth stated in the previous clause. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “in those words” or “in what I say”

Parallel PROV 8:8

Section 8:1–36: Wisdom calls out to people and reminds them of the benefits of being wise

Paragraph 8:4–11

8:8

8:8a

8:8b