Verses 6 and 7 share the theme of the speech of fools.

“A fool’s lips bring strife”: “Lips” is used frequently in Proverbs to refer to speech. For “lips of the wise” see 14.3. “Strife” refers to trouble, hatred, fighting, and bad relations in a community. See 17.1. New Living Translation expresses this line as “Fools get into constant quarrels.”

“And his mouth invites a flogging”: “Mouth” parallels “lips” in the first line and again refers to the fool’s talk. “A flogging” is a beating, but it is not certain if the person who is beaten is the fool or someone else. Revised English Bible says “his words provoke blows.” Revised Standard Version and especially Good News Translation understand that the fool gets the flogging, and most translations agree. Contemporary English Version expresses this whole saying: “Foolish talk will get you into a lot trouble.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .