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LIP (Heb. sâphâh, sâphâm; Gr. cheitos).—1. sâphâh, the usual OT word, and of very frequent occurrence. Only rarely are the lips referred to from the point of view of description of physical beauty and charm (Son_4:3; Son_4:11; Son_5:13). Once they are associated with kissing (Pro_24:26), once with drinking (Son_7:9, with which cf. Psa_45:2), once (anthropomorphically of J″ [Note: Jahweh.] ) as the source from which the breath issues (Isa_11:4); once the protrusion of the lips occurs as a gesture of mocking contempt (Psa_22:7). Twice (2Ki_19:28, Isa_37:29) we have an allusion to the cruel Assyrian custom of passing a ring through the lips of captives and leading them about with a rope or thong. But in the great majority of cases the lips are referred to as organs of speech (Job_27:4, Psa_119:171, Pro_15:7; Pro_24:2). Hence, according to the kind of words they utter and the quality of the heart from which the words come, they are described figuratively as uncircumcised (Exo_6:12; Exo_6:30), flattering (Psa_12:2; Psa_12:8), feigned (Psa_17:1), lying (Psa_31:18), joyful (Psa_63:5), perverse (Pro_4:24), righteous (Pro_16:13), false (Pro_17:4), burning (Pro_26:23), unclean (Isa_6:5). By an intensification or extension of this figurative use, swords are said to be in the lips (Psa_59:7), adders’ poison to be under them (Psa_140:3), or in them a burning fire (Pro_16:27). In Isa_57:18 ‘the fruit of the lips’ = praise. For Hos_14:2 see Calves of the Lips. 2. sâphâm (Eze_24:17; Eze_24:22, Mic_3:7, only in the phrase ‘cover the lips’), whose equivalent is ‘moustache,’ it being the Eastern custom to cover this as a sign of stricken sorrow. 3. cheitos occurs 6 times in NT, always in quotations from LXX [Note: Septuagint.] : Mat_15:8 and Mar_7:6 = Isa_29:18; Rom_3:13 = Psa_140:3 [Psa_139:4]; 1Co_14:21 = Isa_28:11; Heb_13:15 = Hos_14:2; 1Pe_3:10 = Psa_34:18 [Psa_33:14].
J. C. Lambert.