Sunday, May 26, 2024

Proverbs 12:13

A few weeks ago, I read Proverbs 12 and noticed something in verse 13 that's similar to what I noted in Proverbs 11:6 last year.  In the ESV, it's "An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, but the righteous escapes from trouble."  I still don't know enough about Hebrew verbs to be able to comment on whether this is the case in the original language, but in English, at least, there's a contrast between the passive voice of "is ensnared" and the active voice of "escapes."  The ensnared man has a lack of agency, and this is mirrored by the passive voice, in which the subject is acted upon.

This is also the case in my German translation of Proverbs:  "Der Böse wird gefangen in seinen eigenen falschen Worten; aber der Gerechte entgeht der Not."