9:8 Their tongues are like deadly arrows. 1
They are always telling lies. 2
Friendly words for their neighbors come from their mouths.
But their minds are thinking up ways to trap them. 3
1 tc This reading follows the Masoretic consonants (the Kethib, a Qal active participle from שָׁחַט, shakhat). The Masoretes preferred to read “a sharpened arrow” (the Qere, a Qal passive participle from the same root or a homonym, meaning “hammered, beaten”). See HALOT 1354 s.v. II שָׁחַט for discussion. The exact meaning of the word makes little difference to the meaning of the metaphor itself.
2 tn Heb “They speak deceit.”
3 tn Heb “With his mouth a person speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets an ambush for him.”