13:1 Antithetic. Literally, verse 1a exhibits juxtaposition: “a wise son—a father’s discipline” (see the Additional Notes). In any case, the emphasis is on docility and openness to learning.

13:2 See 12:14a and 18:20. The MT reads: “From the fruit of his mouth a man eats good (things),” that is, there is profit from his words. This presumes that the speech of a (good) person will be rewarded. The parallelism with verse 2b, where the soul (or “life,” “desire,” or craving) of the deceivers is violence, is quite obscure. There seems to be a contrast between the fruitless greed of the unfaithful and the one who uses speech effectively and profitably. The text is uncertain; see Additional Notes.

13:3 Antithetic and juxtapositional. Control of one’s tongue is a common topic (e.g., 20:19 and 21…