Text -- Proverbs 11:17 (NET)

11:17 A kind person benefits himself, but a cruel person brings himself trouble.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Pro 11:17

¹ tn Heb “man of kindness.”

sn This contrasts the “kind person” and the “cruel person” (one who is fierce, cruel), showing the consequences of their dispositions.

² tn The term גֹּמֶל (gomel) means “to deal fully [or “adequately”] with” someone or something. The kind person will benefit himself.

³ tn Heb “his own soul.” The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) is used as a synecdoche of part (= soul) for the whole (= person): “himself” (BDB 660 s.v. 4).

⁴ tn Heb “brings trouble to his flesh.”

sn There may be a conscious effort by the sage to contrast “soul” and “body”: He contrasts the benefits of kindness for the “soul” (translated “himself”) with the trouble that comes to the “flesh/body” (translated “himself”) of the cruel.