Discovery BoxProverbs 12:5-7 
Context12:5 The plans 1 of the righteous are just;
the counsels of the wicked are deceitful. 2
12:6 The words of the wicked lie in wait 3 to shed innocent blood, 4
but the words 5 of the upright will deliver them.
12:7 The wicked are overthrown 6 and perish, 7
but the righteous household 8 will stand.
1 tn Heb “thoughts.” This term refers not just to random thoughts, however, but to what is planned or devised.
2 sn The plans of good people are directed toward what is right. Advice from the wicked, however, is deceitful and can only lead to trouble.
3 tn The infinitive construct אֱרָב (’erav, “to lie in wait”) expresses the purpose of their conversations. The idea of “lying in wait for blood” is an implied comparison (hypocatastasis): Their words are like an ambush intended to destroy (cf. NAB, NRSV “are a deadly ambush”). The words of the wicked are here personified.
4 tn Heb “for blood.” The term “blood” is a metonymy of effect, the cause being the person that they will attack and whose blood they will shed. After the construct “blood” is also an objective genitive.
5 tn Heb “mouth.” The term פֶּה (peh, “mouth”) is a metonymy of cause, signifying what the righteous say. The righteous can make a skillful defense against false accusations that are intended to destroy. The righteous, who have gained wisdom, can escape the traps set by the words of the wicked.
6 sn This proverb is about the stability of the righteous in times of trouble. The term “overthrown” might allude to Gen 19:21.
7 tn Heb “and they are not.”
8 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.”
