5:2

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning. Both lines give the purpose or intended consequence of the admonitions stated in 5:1.

2a that you may maintain discretion

2b and your lips may preserve knowledge.

5:2a

that you may maintain discretion: The Hebrew word mǝzimmah, which the Berean Standard Bible translates as discretion, indicates the ability to make an effective plan. It refers to the shrewdness or prudence that causes a person to carefully consider what to do.

To maintain discretion means to always use discretion in your planning and actions. Other ways to translate this line are:

Then you will show discernment (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Then you will know how to behave properly (Good News Translation)
-or-
so that you may act with foresight (God’s Word)

The word “discretion” first occurs in Proverbs in 1:4b.

5:2b

your lips may preserve knowledge: The clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as your lips may preserve knowledge is a figure of speech in which the word lips represents the whole person. It means that the person will be careful in expressing his knowledge. He will express only what he knows to be true. Other ways to translate this clause are:

your lips will express what you’ve learned (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
you will always know the right thing to say (Contemporary English Version)

knowledge: In this context, the word knowledge refers primarily to the information that a person knows.

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