This verse continues the description of the wicked person’s actions.

“Winks with his eyes, scrapes with his feet”: “Winks” is also used in 10.10, where this gesture is linked with making trouble. This expression is used in Psa 35.19, where it is in parallel with “rejoice over me.” Good News Translation renders it there as “smirk with delight over my sorrow.” It is most likely a sign of insincerity and deceit. “Scrapes . . . feet” is not used elsewhere in the Old Testament but is an additional gesture similar in sense to the ones before and after it.

“Points with his finger”: This is a third gesture that the wicked person uses to communicate deceit.

Translators must pay particular attention to the significance of gestures and their meanings, as in different cultures these particular gestures may carry different meanings than what is intended here. The wicked person is here a deceiver, and as he says one thing he is busy making gestures to someone to show that he really means something different. In order to make this clear, it may be necessary to say, for example, “(12) A worthless and evil person goes around telling lies, (13) and while he does, he winks, and points with his foot or his finger.” We may also avoid naming these particular gestures by speaking more generally; for example, “and so he makes signs with his eyes, his foot, and his finger to hide his lies.”

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 .