Proverbs 16:23

A wise person’s heart ¹  makes his speech wise ²  and it adds persuasiveness ³  to his words. ⁴ 

Ps 37:30,31; Ps 45:1; Pr 15:28; Pr 22:17,18; Mt 12:34,35; Col 3:16

¹ tn Or “mind” (cf. NCV, NRSV, NLT).

² tn Heb “makes wise his mouth,” with “mouth” being a metonymy of cause for what is said: “speech.”

³ sn Those who are wise say wise things. The proverb uses synthetic parallelism: The first line asserts that the wise heart ensures that what is said is wise, and the second line adds that such a person increases the reception of what is said.

⁴ tn Heb “to his lips.” The term “lips” functions as a metonymy of cause for what is said.