20:19
Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning. The underlined parts refer to the same person.
19a
He who reveals secrets is a constant gossip;
19b avoid the one who babbles with his lips.
The first line gives the reason for the advice in the second line. It is implied that the person who gossips may reveal the listener’s secrets to someone else.
20:19a
He who reveals secrets: This phrase refers to telling a secret or a conversation between friends that should not be shared with others.
a constant gossip: a constant gossip is someone who deliberately intends to harm someone or cause trouble by what he says. So you should use a term in your language that indicates slander or malicious gossip, not just idle talk.
Some other ways to translate 20:19a are:
Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets (English Standard Version)
-or-
A gossip can never keep a secret (Good News Translation)
This line is almost identical to 11:13a. See the notes there.
20:19b
avoid the one who babbles with his lips: This line advises the listener to not associate with a person who talks too much. The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as babbles with his lips is literally “opens his lips wide.” It refers to a person who speaks carelessly and thoughtlessly as well as someone who talks a lot. Some other ways to translate this line are:
therefore do not associate with a babbler (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
Stay away from people who talk too much. (Good News Translation)
General Comment on 20:19a–b
In some languages, it may be more natural to combine some of the parallel parts. It may also be more natural to put the advice before the reason. For example:
Do not be friends with a person who gossips and is always talking. A person like that will tell your secrets to others.
© 2012, 2016, 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.