Words Have Meaning

(Proverbs 12:14 KJV)  A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth: and the recompence of a man's hands shall be rendered unto him.

Why do some translators refuse to use the great word pictures given in scripture?  Here the NASB has “fruit (6529) of his words (6310)” and then gives us a marginal note that “words” is literally “mouth”.  If that is what is says, why not translate it that way like the KJV?  There is much more to the influence of what we say than the words.  One reason I don’t like the telephone is that I can’t pick up the body language.  There is much that can be added to the meaning of a phrase by the tilt of the head or the raising of the eyebrows.  You can say something and read something and get totally different responses because it isn’t just the words.

That is why a child can say something and the response is “Isn’t that cute?”  If a teenager says it the response is “You are grounded for a week.”  The child might need to be corrected but he does not need to be disciplined.  One of the burdens of adulthood is being responsible for what we say.  That means we need to be careful in what we say.

So?  What I am taking to my mental file drawer is to examine my real motive for making a joke or expressing an opinion.  There are probably many laughs that no one needs to have.