Proverbs 10:18

The one who conceals hatred utters lies, ¹  and the one who spreads ²  slander ³  is certainly ⁴  a fool.

He who conceals his hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.

He who conceals hatred has lying lips, And he who spreads slander is a fool.

To hide hatred is to be a liar; to slander is to be a fool.

Liars secretly hoard hatred; fools openly spread slander.

Hate is covered up by the lips of the upright man, but he who lets out evil about another is foolish.

Lying lips conceal hatred, and whoever utters slander is a fool.

Whoever hides hatred has lying lips, And whoever spreads slander is a fool.

The one who conceals hatred utters lies, ¹  and the one who spreads ²  slander ³  is certainly ⁴  a fool.

¹ tn Heb “lips of falsehood.” The genitive noun שָׁקֶר (shaqer, “falsehood”) functions as an attributive genitive. The noun “lips” is a metonymy of cause for speech produced by lips. The one who shows friendliness while concealing hatred is a liar (e.g., Ps 28:3).

² tn Heb “causes to go out.” The Hiphil of יָצָא (yatsa) literally means “to cause to go out” (BDB 424 s.v. Hiph.1). This may refer to speech (“to utter”) in the sense of causing words to go out of one’s mouth, or it may refer to slander (“to spread”) in the sense of causing slander to go out to others.

³ tn The word דִבָּה (dibbah) means “whispering; defamation; evil report” (BDB 179 s.v.). Cf. NAB “accusations”; TEV “gossip.”

sn The one who spreads slander is a fool because it not only destroys others but comes back on the guilty. See also the sayings of Amenemope and Ahiqar on these subjects (ANET 423, 429).

⁴ tn Heb “he is a fool.” The independent personal pronoun הוּא (hu’, “he”) is used for emphasis. This is reflected in the translation as “certainly.”