“Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue;”
"Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth, though he hides it under his tongue." The wicked person savors wickedness; he conceals it, keeps it hidden. The verse suggests that wickedness is pleasurable, which makes its ultimate punishment more severe. The temporary pleasure cannot justify the final price.
Church Fathers on Job 20:12
For when wickedness shall be sweet in his mouth, he will hide it under his tongue. ‘Wickedness is sweet in the mouth’ of the hypocrite, in that evil tastes sweet to him in the thought. For ‘the mouth’ of the heart is the thought, whereof it is written; Deceitful lips spake evil in a double heart. Now the evil that is thus sweet in the mouth of the hypocrite is hidden under the tongue, in that the harshness of an evil disposition, which lies hidden in the mind, is concealed…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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