12:13

Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:

13a An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech,

13b but a righteous man escapes from trouble.

12:13a–b

An evil man…a righteous man: The phrases An evil man and a righteous man are both singular in Hebrew. These phrases refer to an evil or righteous person as a representative of the class of evil or righteous people. These phrases may also be expressed using the plural, for example, “evil people” and “righteous people.” They would then refer to evil or righteous people as a group. You may use whatever is more natural in your language, either singular or plural or a combination of the two.

12:13a

An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech: In Hebrew, this line is literally “In the transgression of lips is a snare/trap of ⌊an⌋ evil ⌊person⌋ .” This clause is a metaphor. It compares malicious words to a snare or trap.

A hunter sets a trap with the intention of catching an unsuspecting animal or bird. Similarly, an evil person says malicious things about an innocent person. He intends to get the innocent person into trouble. But eventually he gets caught in his own trap. To his own surprise, he is the one who undergoes punishment or disaster.

In some languages, a literal translation of this metaphor may be difficult to understand. If that is true in your language, some other ways to translate the metaphor are:

• Change the metaphor to a simile. Make explicit one or more of the similarities. For example:

An evil person ⌊who intends to cause harm⌋ by the bad things that he says ⌊will suffer the consequences of his own words⌋ . ⌊He will be just like an animal that⌋ is ⌊suddenly⌋ caught in a trap.

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

Evil people will be ⌊unexpectedly⌋ destroyed by their own malicious words.

rebellious speech: This phrase refers here to malicious words, such as slander. A person says such words with the intention to cause harm or trouble to someone else.

12:13b

but a righteous man escapes from trouble: The Hebrew phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as escapes from trouble is literally “goes out from trouble.” Scholars interpret this phrase in two ways:

(1) A righteous person sometimes experiences trouble, but he escapes from it. For example:

but the righteous come safely through trouble (Revised English Bible)
-or-
but the upright finds a way out of misfortune (New Jerusalem Bible)

(2) A righteous person does not say what is evil, so he avoids being trapped by his words. For example:

but good people stay out of trouble (New Century Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with most versions. This fits the normal meaning of the Hebrew verb phrase “go out from.” It is also acceptable to translate in a way that either meaning can be understood. For example:

but a righteous man escapes trouble (New International Version)

trouble: This word refers to any kind of severe physical or mental suffering or distress. It can also refer to a condition of extreme hardship. The same word occurs in 11:8a and 1:27a–c (where the Berean Standard Bible translates it as “distress”).

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