נִיב

From the study of Isaiah 57:19

Range of meaning

נִיב/נוּב means produce or growth, from a root meaning 'to grow, bear fruit' (cf. Ps 62:10 [Eng 62:10, 'increase'] and Ps 92:14 [Eng 92:14], where the related verb is used). The noun appears only here and in Malachi 1:12, where 'its fruit' is the food of the altar. 'Fruit of the lips' is speech pictured as a crop.

Against the English

KJV, ESV and WEB keep the image ('fruit of the lips'). NASB and NIV narrow it to 'praise', and BSB and NLT do the same in other words. That reading is reasonable, but it decides a debated question (see debates). When KJV, WEB and YLT put a colon or quotation marks after 'lips', they make the next words, 'Peace, peace', the fruit itself.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Proverbs, lips bear fruit in the sense that words have results: 'From the fruit of his mouth a man is satisfied', Prov 12:14 and 18:20 (where the usual word for fruit is used). Hosea 14:2 [Eng 14:2] is close in meaning: 'we will pay the bulls of our lips', which the Septuagint read as 'the fruit (karpos) of our lips'. Hebrews 13:15, 'the fruit of lips that confess his name', comes from that Greek wording, and Isaiah 57:19 may stand behind it too.

From the study of Malachi 1:12

Range of meaning

Fruit, produce, yield. It comes from the root nûb, “to grow, bear fruit” (Ps 62:10 “if riches increase”; Prov 10:31 “the mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom”). The noun appears only here and in Isaiah 57:19 (“creating the fruit of the lips”).

Against the English

KJV, BSB and WEB keep “fruit”; ESV adds “that is” to tie “fruit” to “food”; NIV leaves the word out; NASB uses “as for its fruit.” The differences come from the uncertainty over whether the word belongs in the text.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint has no separate word for it (“the foods placed on it are despised”). The Vulgate also smooths it (“what is placed on it is contemptible”). Medieval Jewish commentators such as Ibn Ezra explained it as “produce,” what the altar yields.