Put away from thee a froward mouth ... (Prov. 4:24)
WTT Proverbs 4:24 הָסֵ֣ר מִ֭מְּךָ עִקְּשׁ֣וּת פֶּ֑ה וּלְז֥וּת שְׂ֜פָתַ֗יִם
הַרְחֵ֥ק מִמֶּֽךָּ׃
APB Proverbs
4:24 Put away from you a crooked
mouth And put devious lips far from you.
crooked. This word
occurs only here and in Prov.
6:12. Its cognates (מַעֲקָשׁ עקשׁ) consistently describe what is not
straight (Mic. 3:9). It is the opposite of blameless (Job 9:20 tam; Prov. 11:20 tamim). Those whose paths
are crooked do not know the way of peace and there is not justice in their
paths (Isa. 59:8). To put away a crooked heart is to have nothing to do with
evil (Psa. 101:4). It
is the worthless (beliya‘al) and wicked (’aven) man who walks
with a crooked mouth. Lady Wisdom declares that all her words are righteous (tsedeq);
none of them are crooked or perverse. To put away a crooked mouth is to walk in
integrity (Prov. 19:1;
28:6; 28:18).
How do you put away a crooked mouth? By refusing crooked
thoughts. By leaving the company of those who are crooked. By choosing
blameless companions. By choosing wisdom’s righteous words. By letting your yes
be yes and your no, no. By having integrity in all you say.
Yahweh, you want me to avoid and refuse to have a crooked
mouth. You want this for my good, the good of others, and the glory of your
name. As your image bearer, a crooked mouth would misrepresent you. I ask for
your help to identify and refuse crooked thoughts, words, and deed, by focusing
on what is straight, right, and blameless.
devious lips. Lezut ‘devious’ occurs only here in the OT. Its cognate, לוּז, is found in the niphal stem four times (Prov. 2:15; 3:32;
14:2; Isa. 30:12). It describes the ways of evil men who speak perverse (tahpukot)
things (Prov. 2:12), abandon upright (yosher) paths for ways of darkness
(Prov. 2:13), and who delight in doing evil and in its perversity (Prov. 2:14).
It parallels crooked ways (Prov. 2:15), violence (Prov. 3:31-32), and
oppression (Isa. 30:12). If the entire litany of prohibitions in Prov. 3:27-31
is concluded by the kiy in 3:32, then all the negatives proscribed there count
as deviousness: withholding good that is due (3:27-28), devising harm against a
neighbor (3:29), causelessly quarrelling or sueing someone (3:30).
It contrasts with uprightness (yashar; Prov.
2:13-15; 3:32; 14:2) and the fear of
Yahweh (14:2). He who chooses not to fear Yahweh and thus to walk in
uprightness despises Yahweh and walks in crooked paths. Isaiah describes those
who tell the prophets, “You must not prophesy to us what is right, Speak to us
pleasant words, Prophesy illusions. Get
out of the way, turn aside from the path, Let us hear no more about the Holy
One of Israel” (Isa. 30:10-11). Such people put their trust in oppression and
deviousness (naloz; Isa. 30:12).
“By turning
against God, one goes the wrong way, despising him and his path (Prov 14:2; Isa 30:12).
Such a person is abominable to God (Prov 3:32)
and faces ... ruin (Isa 30:12)”
(NIDOTTE).
Kidner, 65: “After the thoughts [cf. Pro. 4:23] come the words (cf. Luke
6:45c; Rom. 10:10); yet it is not enough to take care of the first and let the
second take care of themselves. Superficial habits of talk react on the mind;
so that, e.g., cynical chatter, fashionable grumbles, flippancy, half-truths,
barely meant in the first place, harden into well-established habits of
thought.”
Yahweh, you abominate deviousness. Here you tell me to
put away devious lips, i.e., speech. Since speech always proceeds from the
heart, this connects directly to the preceeding verse (4:23). I must guard my
heart from crooked and devious thoughts, plans, and perspectives. I do this by
fearing You and choosing to set my mind on uprightness and speek words that are
motivated by love for you and others.
APB Psalm 141:3 Set a guard, O Yahweh, over my mouth; Keep watch over
the door of my lips. 4 Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,
...
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