7:13 He prepares to use deadly weapons against him; 1
he gets ready to shoot flaming arrows. 2
34:13 Then make sure you don’t speak evil words 3
or use deceptive speech! 4
50:19 You do damage with words, 5
and use your tongue to deceive. 6
52:4 You love to use all the words that destroy, 7
and the tongue that deceives.
1 tn Heb “and for him he prepares the weapons of death.”
2 tn Heb “his arrows into flaming [things] he makes.”
3 tn Heb “guard your tongue from evil.”
4 tn Heb “and your lips from speaking deception.”
5 tn Heb “your mouth you send with evil.”
6 tn Heb “and your tongue binds together [i.e., “frames”] deceit.”
7 tn Heb “you love all the words of swallowing.” Traditionally בַּלַּע (bala’) has been taken to mean “swallowing” in the sense of “devouring” or “destructive” (see BDB 118 s.v. בָּלַע). HALOT 135 s.v. III *בֶּלַע proposes a homonym here, meaning “confusion.” This would fit the immediate context nicely and provide a close parallel to the following line, which refers to deceptive words.