12:7 The wicked are overthrown 1 and perish, 2
but the righteous household 3 will stand.
12:19 The one who tells the truth 4 will endure forever,
but the one who lies 5 will last only for a moment. 6
12:22 The Lord 7 abhors a person who lies, 8
but those who deal truthfully 9 are his delight. 10
1 sn This proverb is about the stability of the righteous in times of trouble. The term “overthrown” might allude to Gen 19:21.
2 tn Heb “and they are not.”
3 tn Heb “the house of the righteous.” The genitive צַדִּיקִים (tsadiqim) functions as an attributive adjective: “righteous house.” The noun בֵּית (bet, “house”) functions as a synecdoche of container (= house) for the contents (= family, household; perhaps household possessions). Cf. NCV “a good person’s family”; NLT “the children of the godly.”
4 tn Heb “a lip of truth.” The genitive אֱמֶת (’emet, “truth”) functions as an attributive adjective: “truthful lip.” The term שְׂפַת (sÿfat, “lip”) functions as a synecdoche of part (= lip) for the whole (= person): “truthful person.” The contrast is between “the lip of truth” and the “tongue of lying.”
5 tn Heb “a tongue of deceit.” The genitive שָׁקֶר (shaqer, “deceit”) functions as an attributive genitive. The noun לָשׁוֹן (lashon, “tongue”) functions as a synecdoche of part (= tongue) for the whole (= person): “lying person.”
6 tn Heb “while I would twinkle.” This expression is an idiom meaning “only for a moment.” The twinkling of the eye, the slightest movement, signals the brevity of the life of a lie (hyperbole). But truth will be established (תִּכּוֹן, tikon), that is, be made firm and endure.
7 tn Heb “an abomination of the
8 tn Heb “lips of lying.” The genitive שָׁקֶר (shaqer, “lying”) functions as an attributive genitive: “lying lips.” The term “lips” functions as a synecdoche of part (= lips) for the whole (= person): “a liar.”
9 tn Heb “but doers of truthfulness.” The term “truthfulness” is an objective genitive, meaning: “those who practice truth” or “those who act in good faith.” Their words and works are reliable.
10 sn The contrast between “delight/pleasure” and “abomination” is emphatic. What pleases the