26 An abomination to Jehovah `are' thoughts of wickedness, And pure `are' sayings of pleasantness.
Let the sayings of my mouth, And the meditation of my heart, Be for a pleasing thing before Thee, O Jehovah, my rock, and my redeemer!
The mouth of the righteous uttereth wisdom, And his tongue speaketh judgment. The law of his God `is' his heart, His steps do not slide.
These six hath Jehovah hated, Yea, seven `are' abominations to His soul. Eyes high -- tongues false -- And hands shedding innocent blood -- A heart devising thoughts of vanity -- Feet hasting to run to evil -- A false witness `who' doth breathe out lies -- And one sending forth contentions between brethren.
Joy `is' to a man in the answer of his mouth, And a word in its season -- how good!
Wash from evil thy heart, O Jerusalem, That thou mayest be saved, Till when dost thou lodge in thy heart Thoughts of thy strength?
`Brood of vipers! how are ye able to speak good things -- being evil? for out of the abundance of the heart doth the mouth speak. The good man out of the good treasure of the heart doth put forth the good things, and the evil man out of the evil treasure doth put forth evil things. `And I say to you, that every idle word that men may speak, they shall give for it a reckoning in a day of judgment; for from thy words thou shalt be declared righteous, and from thy words thou shalt be declared unrighteous.'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Proverbs 15
Commentary on Proverbs 15 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
We take these verses together as forming a group which begins with a proverb regarding the good and evil which flows from the tongue, and closes with a proverb regarding the treasure in which blessing is found, and that in which no blessing is found.
Proverbs 15:1
1 A soft answer turneth away wrath,
And a bitter word stirreth up anger.
In the second line, the common word for anger ( אף , from the breathing with the nostrils, Proverbs 14:17) is purposely placed, but in the first, that which denotes anger in the highest degree ( חמה from יחם , cogn. חמם , Arab. hamiya , to glow, like שׁנה from ישׁן ): a mild, gentle word turns away the heat of anger ( excandescentiam ), puts it back, cf. Proverbs 25:15. The Dagesh in רּך follows the rule of the דחיק , i.e. , of the close connection of a word terminating with the accented eh, aah, ah with the following word ( Michlol 63b). The same is the meaning of the Latin proverb:
Frangitur ira gravis
Quando est responsio suavis