18:8
In this proverb, the first line describes what the words of a gossip are like. The second line explains what happens to these words as a result.
8a The words of a gossip are like choice morsels
8b that go down into the inmost being.
The overall meaning is that people eagerly listen to gossip and remember what they hear.
18:8a
The words of a gossip are like choice morsels: This clause is a simile. It compares the words of a gossip to a tasty piece of food that a person eagerly or greedily eats. The similarity is that people eagerly listen to the words of a gossip.
a gossip: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as a gossip is used three times outside of Proverbs to refer to people who complained. Here in Proverbs, it refers to a person who complains about other people behind their backs. His words are malicious and untrue, so it is appropriate to call such a person “a gossip” or “a slanderer.” A gossip does not want the person he criticizes to know who spread the false information. So some versions use the word “whisperer.”
Other verses in Proverbs where this word occurs are 16:28, 26:20, and 26:22.
Some ways to translate this clause are:
The words of a slanderer are tasty morsels (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
The words of a gossip are swallowed greedily (God’s Word)
-or-
The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels (English Standard Version)
18:8b
that go down into the inmost being: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the inmost being is literally “the rooms of the belly.” This phrase refers to the deepest part of a person’s inner being, where his thoughts and emotions are stored. The whole clause indicates that slanderous words deeply affect the thoughts and emotions of the person who hears them. As a result, the person remembers them and continues to think about them.
Some ways to translate this clause are:
and they go down into a person’s innermost being (God’s Word)
-or-
These words sink/penetrate deeply into the mind of the person who hears them.
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