7:6a

This verse further explains the simile of the oven in 7:4. In Hebrew and in some English versions, this verse begins with a word that introduces this explanation. For example:

For like an oven their hearts burn with intrigue (Revised Standard Version)
-or-

Yes, they burned like an oven with their plotting. (Good News Translation)

Other versions simply let the context imply this relationship. Use a natural way in your language to indicate that this verse adds more details to the oven simile in 7:4.

they prepare their heart like an oven while they lie in wait: In Hebrew, this verse part is literally “they have brought near like (the) oven their heart in their deceit.” There are two main ways to interpret it:

(1) It means that people have intense anger or other emotions as they make plans to assassinate the king. For example:

Their hearts are like an oven as they plot. (New Jerusalem Bible)

(2) It means that people approach the king with intense anger or other emotions in order to assassinate him. For example:

the plotters approach with hearts like ovens (New American Bible)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). It best fits the Hebrew grammar. It also seems more logical that a period of intense planning (7:6a) would precede the waiting (7:6b) and eventual action (7:6c). It is less likely that the plotters would approach and then allow their emotions to smolder all night.

This statement is a simile. In this simile, the hearts of people are compared to an oven. Their strong feelings as they treacherously make evil plans is like the extreme heat of the oven. See the General Comment on 7:6a–c following 7:6c for other ways to translate this simile and the related figures of speech in this verse.

they: This pronoun probably refers to the princes in 7:5.

heart: The people of Israel considered the heart to be the center of attitudes and thoughts. Some languages use a different body organ, such as the liver, to signify attitudes and thoughts. Use an expression that is natural in your language for this purpose.

lie in wait: In Hebrew, this word usually refers to an ambush in which people wait in hiding in order to kill their enemies or victims. It probably refers here to a treacherous plan to murder the king.

7:6b

all night their anger smolders:
This clause is a metaphor that continues the simile of the oven in 7:6a. In this metaphor, the people’s anger or passion is compared to the coals in an oven. During the night the coals are allowed to smolder or die down. Similarly, the intensity of the people’s emotion is at a low level during the night. They are waiting for the right time to put their plans into action.

Here are some other ways to express this similarity:

All night long their anger is low (New Century Version)
-or-
Their plot smolders through the night (New Living Translation (2004))

all night: In the metaphor of the smoldering coals, the phrase all night refers to a literal night. In terms of the people’s anger or plotting, it may refer to an actual night. It may also refer to a longer period of time during which the people waited to take action.

7:6c

in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire: In the morning, after the coals have smoldered all night, the person who tends the oven causes the fire to burn brightly again. This figure of speech indicates that after a period of relative calm, the people suddenly and vigorously put their evil plans into action.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

then flares up at dawn (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
in the morning it breaks out like a raging fire (New Living Translation (1996))

General Comment on 7:6a–c

If the figures of speech that relate to the heat of an oven are not clear in your language, here are some other translation options:

• Make explicit the way in which the people’s hearts are like an oven. For example:

6a Yes, their hearts become ⌊hot ⌋ like an oven in their evil schemes. 6b ⌊The heat of ⌋ their anger/emotions smolders all night. 6c In the morning it blazes ⌊hot ⌋ like a flaming fire.

• Translate the meaning without using a figure of speech. For example:

6a The feelings of those who are plotting ⌊against the king ⌋ are very strong. 6b For a time they restrain their anger. 6c When the opportunity comes they energetically put their plans into action.

• Use similar figures of speech that convey the right meaning in your language. For example:

6a When they make their evil plans ⌊to kill the king ⌋, their livers are ⌊hot ⌋ like a roaring cooking fire. 6b ⌊The flames die down and ⌋ the coals glow through the night. 6c When the morning comes ⌊they fan the coals and ⌋ the fire blazes hotter ⌊than before ⌋.

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