Harvesting the Mouth: Parallelism and Metaphor in Proverbs 18:20
מִפְּרִ֣י פִי־֭אִישׁ תִּשְׂבַּ֣ע בִּטְנֹ֑ו תְּבוּאַ֖ת שְׂפָתָ֣יו יִשְׂבָּֽע׃ (Proverbs 18:20) From the fruit of a man's mouth his belly will be satisfied. The yield of his lips he will be satisfied with. Metaphor in Motion: פִּי־אִישׁ and תְּבוּאַת שְׂפָתָיו This proverb is built on a beautifully balanced metaphor: a man’s words are compared to fruit (פְּרִי)…