Paragraph 6:12–15

The first two terms in 6:12a are synonymously parallel. They identify the kind of person that is described in this paragraph. The next six terms or phrases in 6:12b–14b are also parallel. They describe the behavior of this person in more detail. The paragraph concludes in 6:15 with a description of his punishment.

6:12a

A worthless person, a wicked man: These terms are parallel. They describe the same person. The term worthless person refers to a person who is both wicked and worthless. The second term (literally “man of badness” in Hebrew) refers to a person who is evil. Together these two terms describe a type of person who is worthless and wicked. People like this are described in more detail in the following verses. One way to introduce these verses is:

Here is a description of worthless and wicked people: (New Living Translation (1996))

6:12b–14b

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning.

12b
walks with a perverse mouth,

13a
winking his eyes,

13b
speaking with his feet,

13c and pointing with his fingers.

14a
With deceit in his heart he devises evil ;

14b he continually sows discord.

6:12b

walks with a perverse mouth: This expression indicates that wherever these people go, they tell lies and speak deceitfully. Other ways to translate this expression are:

go around telling lies (Good News Translation)
-or-
they are constant liars (New Living Translation (2004))

Also see 4:24a–b. The same Hebrew expression is translated there as “perverse speech.”

© 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.