Proverbs 22:18
For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips.
For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee,.... Or, "in thy belly" {a}. That is, in thine heart, in the inmost recesses of it; where the words or doctrines of the wise should be received in the love of them, and carefully laid up and retained; which will upon reflection yield much pleasure, like Ezekiel's roll, which was in his belly as honey for sweetness; and which also is very profitable as an antidote against sin, Ps 119:11;
they shall withal be fitted in thy lips; become them, and be suitable and graceful to them: or, "shall be ordered and disposed in" or "by thy lips" {b}; being received into the heart, and digested there, they shall easily and freely go off the tongue, which shall be as the pen of a ready writer; they shall be delivered in a regular manner, with great liberty and facility; by a good digestion of Gospel truths, and a comfortable experience of them, persons become apt to teach others.
{a} Knjbb "in ventre tuo", V. L. Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Mercerus, Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis, Schultens.
{b} wnwk "disponantur", Vatablus.