Biblical Hebrew Forum

["K Randolph" <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Kenneth:

On Nov 26, 2007 12:07 PM, kenneth greifer <greifer AT hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Proverbs 16:27 says something like "an evil man digs up (plots?) evil, and 
> it burns like a fire on his lips." (I am not sure about that translation.)
>
> If you divide the letters differently it could say "a man of evil is the 
> furnace (kaf vav resh spelled kaf resh) of evil (hay resh ayin hay), and 
> upon his lips it (evil?) burns like a fire." It is a wild guess, but as a 
> coincidence, I think it is interesting.
>
> Kenneth Greifer
>
Looking at the context, we are dealing with a section of Proverbs
which often do not have clear parallelisms, or at least those where
the second part is a rewording of the first:

לב חכם ישׂכיל פיהו ועל־שׂפתיו יסיף לקח׃
LB XKM Y&KYL PYHW W(L &PTYW YSYP LQX
A wise heart causes his lips to act with discernment and causes
increase upon his lips.

צוף־דבשׁ אמרי־נעם מתוק לנפשׁ ומרפא לעצם׃
CWP DB$ )MRY N(M MTWQ LNP$ WMRP) L(CM
Pleasant sayings are a honey comb, sweet to life and healing to bones.

ישׁ דרך ישׁר לפני־אישׁ ואחריתה דרכי־מות׃
Y$ DRK Y$R LPNY )Y$ W)XRYTH DRKY MWT
There is a path straight before a man's face and its ends [are] paths of 
death.

נפשׁ עמל עמלה לו כי־אכף עליו פיהו׃
MP$ (ML (MLH LW KY )KP (LYW PYHW
A troublesome life [is] troublesome to himself for his mouth puts
pressure upon himself.

אישׁ בליעל כרה רעה ועל־שׂפתיו כאשׁ צרבת׃
)Y$ BLY(L KRH R(H W(L &PTYW K)$ CRBT
A useless man provides unpleasantness and upon his lips [is] like a
scorching fire.

אישׁ תהפכות ישׁלח מדון ונרגן מפריד אלוף׃
)Y$ THPKWT Y$LX MDWN WNRGN MPRYD )LWP
An overturning (perverse) man sends accusation and a murmurer
separates familiar [friends].

אישׁ חמס יפתה רעהו והוליכו בדרך לא־טוב׃
)Y$ XMS YPTH R(HW WHWLYKW BDRK L) +WB
A man who acts unfairly entices his neighbor and causes him to go in a
path that is not pleasing.

I started with verse 23 and ended with verse 29 to show that some of
these proverbs do not have parallelism where the second part is a
rewording of the first, so we should not assume that verse 27 is.
Indeed as I understand the verse, it is not.

You have been rather creative, but I don't think that either word
meanings or context supports your efforts.

Karl W. Randolph.