Proverbs 14:23

14:23 In all hard work ¹  there is profit,

but merely talking about it ²  only brings ³  poverty. ⁴ 

Proverbs 24:4

24:4 by knowledge its rooms are filled

with all kinds of precious and pleasing treasures.

Habakkuk 3:9

3:9 Your bow is ready for action; ⁵ 

you commission your arrows. ⁶  Selah.

You cause flash floods on the earth’s surface. ⁷ 

[14:23]  ¹ sn The Hebrew term עֶצֶב (’etsev, “painful toil; labor”) is first used in scripture in Gen 3:19 to describe the effects of the Fall. The point here is that people should be more afraid of idle talk than of hard labor.

[14:23]  ² tn Heb “word of lips.” This construct phrase features a genitive of source (“a word from the lips”) or a subjective genitive (“speaking a word”). Talk without work (which produces nothing) is contrasted with labor that produces something.

[14:23]  ³ tn The term “brings” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.

[14:23]  ⁴ sn The noun מַחְסוֹר (makhsor, “need; thing needed; poverty”) comes from the verb “to lack; to be lacking; to decrease; to need.” A person given to idle talk rather than industrious work will have needs that go unmet.

[3:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “[into] nakedness your bow is laid bare.”

[3:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “sworn in are the arrow-shafts with a word.” The passive participle of שָׁבַע (shava’), “swear an oath,” also occurs in Ezek 21:23 ET (21:28 HT) referencing those who have sworn allegiance. Here the Lord’s arrows are personified and viewed as having received a commission which they have vowed to uphold. In Jer 47:6-7 the Lord’s sword is given such a charge. In the Ugaritic myths Baal’s weapons are formally assigned the task of killing the sea god Yam.

[3:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “[with] rivers you split open the earth.” A literal rendering like “You split the earth with rivers” (so NIV, NRSV) suggests geological activity to the modern reader, but in the present context of a violent thunderstorm, the idea of streams swollen to torrents by downpours better fits the imagery.