Proverbs 4:27

4:27 Do not turn ¹  to the right or to the left;

turn yourself ²  away from evil. ³ 

Proverbs 5:8

5:8 Keep yourself ⁴  far ⁵  from her,

and do not go near the door of her house,

Psalms 119:101

119:101 I stay away ⁶  from the evil path,

so that I might keep your instructions. ⁷ 

Jeremiah 14:10

14:10 Then the Lord spoke about these people. ⁸ 

“They truly ⁹  love to go astray.

They cannot keep from running away from me. ¹⁰ 

So I am not pleased with them.

I will now call to mind ¹¹  the wrongs they have done ¹² 

and punish them for their sins.”

[4:27]  ¹ sn The two verbs in this verse are from different roots, but nonetheless share the same semantic domain. The first verb is תֵּט (tet), a jussive from נָטָה (natah), which means “to turn aside” (Hiphil); the second verb is the Hiphil imperative of סוּר (sur), which means “to cause to turn to the side” (Hiphil). The disciple is not to leave the path of righteousness; but to stay on the path he must leave evil.

[4:27]  ² tn Heb “your foot” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV). The term רַגְלְךָ (raglÿkha, “your foot”) is a synecdoche of part (= foot) for the whole person (= “yourself”).

[4:27]  ³ tc The LXX adds, “For the way of the right hand God knows, but those of the left hand are distorted; and he himself will make straight your paths and guide your goings in peace.” The ideas presented here are not out of harmony with Proverbs, but the section clearly shows an expansion by the translator. For a brief discussion of whether this addition is Jewish or early Christian, see C. H. Toy, Proverbs (ICC), 99.

[5:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “your way.”

[5:8]  ⁵ sn There is a contrast made between “keep far away” (הַרְחֵק, harkheq) and “do not draw near” (וְאַל־תִּקְרַב, vÿ’al-tiqrav).

[119:101]  ⁶ tn Heb “I hold back my feet.”

[119:101]  ⁷ tn Heb “your word.” Many medieval Hebrew mss read the plural.

[14:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “Thus said the Lord concerning this people.”

[14:10]  ⁹ tn It is difficult to be certain how the particle כֵּן (ken, usually used for “thus, so”) is to be rendered here. BDB 485 s.v. כֵּן 1.b says that the force sometimes has to be elicited from the general context and points back to the line of v. 9. IHBS 666 §39.3.4e states that when there is no specific comparative clause preceding a general comparison is intended. They point to Judg 5:31 as a parallel. Ps 127:2 may also be an example if כִּי (ki) is not to be read (cf. BHS fn). “Truly” seemed the best way to render this idea in contemporary English.

[14:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “They do not restrain their feet.” The idea of “away from me” is implicit in the context and is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[14:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “remember.”

[14:10]  ¹² tn Heb “their iniquities.”