Proverbs 18:8
Context| NETBible | The words of a gossip 1 are like choice morsels; 2 they go down into the person’s innermost being. 3 |
| XREF | Le 19:16; Ps 52:2; Ps 64:3,4; Pr 12:18; Pr 16:28; Pr 26:20-22 |
| NET © Notes |
1 tn Or “slanderer”; KJV, NAB “talebearer”; ASV, NRSV “whisperer.” 2 tn The word כְּמִתְלַהֲמִים (kÿmitlahamim) occurs only here. It is related to a cognate verb meaning “to swallow greedily.” Earlier English versions took it from a Hebrew root הָלַם (halam, see the word לְמַהֲלֻמוֹת [lÿmahalumot] in v. 6) meaning “wounds” (so KJV). But the translation of “choice morsels” fits the idea of gossip better. 3 tn Heb “they go down [into] the innermost parts of the belly”; NASB “of the body.” sn When the choice morsels of gossip are received, they go down like delicious food – into the innermost being. R. N. Whybray says, “There is a flaw in human nature that assures slander will be listened to” (Proverbs [CBC], 105). |
