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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Proverbs 12:17 - 12:17
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Most of the remaining parables of this section refer to the right use and the abuse of the tongue.
17 He that breathes the love of truth, utters that which is right;
But a lying tongue, deceit
This verse is similar in meaning to Pro 14:5 (where 5b = Pro 6:19); the second line of the distich = Pro 14:25. Everywhere else יָפִיחַ כְּזָבִים stand together, only here יפיח is joined to אֱמוּנָה; vid., regarding this יפיח forming an attributive clause, and then employed as an adjective, but with distinct verbal force, at Pro 6:19. Viewed superficially, the proverb appears tautological; it is not so, however, but places in causal connection the internal character of men and their utterances: whoever breathes אֱמוּנָה, truth or conscientiousness (the property of the אָמוּן, vid., at Psa 12:2), i.e., lets the voice of this be heard in his utterances, such an one speaks צֶדֶק, i.e., uprightness, integrity, that which is correct, right (Isa 45:19, cf. Isa 41:26), in relation to truth in general, and to the present case in particular; but he who עֵד שְׁקָרִים, i.e., he who, against better knowledge and the consciousness of untruth, confirms by his testimony (from עוּד, revertere, to say again and again), therewith gives utterance to his impure character, his wicked intention, proceeding from delight in doing evil or from self-interest, and diverted towards the injury of his neighbour. As אמונה and מרמה correspond as statements of the contents of the utterances, so צדק and שקרים as statements of their motive and aim. מִרְמָה is obj. accus. of the יַגִּיד (from הִגִּיד, to bring to light, cf. נֶגֶד, visibility) to be supplied, not the pred. nom. dolorum structor, as Fleischer poetically finds.