Proverbs 16:1-2 New English Translation

16 The intentions of the heart^[a] belong to a man,
but the answer of the tongue^[b] comes from^[c] the Lord.^[d]
²All a person’s ways^[e] seem right^[f] in his own opinion,^[g]
but the Lord evaluates^[h] the motives.^[i]

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Footnotes

Proverbs 16:1 tn Heb “plans of the heart” (so ASV, NASB, NIV). The phrase מַעַרְכֵי־לֵב (maʿar^ekhe lev) means “the arrangements of the mind.” sn Humans may set things in order, plan out what they are going to say, but God sovereignly enables them to put their thoughts into words.
Proverbs 16:1 tn Here “the tongue” is a metonymy of cause in which the instrument of speech is put for what is said: the answer expressed.
Proverbs 16:1 sn The contrasting prepositions enhance the contrasting ideas—the ideas belong to people, but the words come from the Lord.
Proverbs 16:1 sn There are two ways this statement can be taken: (1) what one intends to say and what one actually says are the same, or (2) what one actually says differs from what the person intended to say. The second view fits the contrast better. The proverb then is giving a glimpse of how God even confounds the wise. When someone is trying to speak [“answer” in the book seems to refer to a verbal answer] before others, the Lord directs the words according to his sovereign will.
Proverbs 16:2 tn Heb “ways of a man.”
Proverbs 16:2 sn The Hebrew term translated “right” (זַךְ, zakh) means “pure, clear, clean” (cf. KJV, NASB “clean;” NIV “innocent;” ESV, NKJV, NLT, NRSV “pure.” It is used in the Bible for pure (uncontaminated) oils or undiluted liquids. Here it means uncontaminated actions and motives. It address how people naively conclude or rationalize that their actions are fine.
Proverbs 16:2 tn Heb “in his eyes.” Physical sight is used figuratively for insight, or one’s intellectual point of view.
Proverbs 16:2 tn The figure (a hypocatastasis) of “weighing” signifies “evaluation” (e.g., Exod 5:8; 1 Sam 2:3; 16:7; Prov 21:2; 24:12). There may be an allusion to the Egyptian belief of weighing the heart after death to determine righteousness. But in Hebrew thought it is an ongoing evaluation as well, not merely an evaluation after death.
Proverbs 16:2 tn Heb “spirits” (so KJV, ASV). This is a metonymy for the motives, the intentions of the heart (e.g., 21:2 and 24:2). sn Humans deceive themselves rather easily and so appear righteous in their own eyes, but the proverb says that God evaluates motives and so he alone can determine if the person’s ways are innocent.

New English Translation (NET)