Text -- Proverbs 24:1-3 (NET)

24:1 Do not envy evil people, do not desire to be with them; 24:2 for their hearts contemplate violence, and their lips speak harm. 24:3 By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established;

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Pro 24:1

¹ tn Heb “evil men,” although the context indicates a generic sense.

² tn The Hitpael jussive is from the verb that means “to crave; to desire.” This is more of a coveting, an intense desire.

NET Notes: Pro 24:2

¹ sn This nineteenth saying warns against evil associations. Evil people are obsessed with destruction and trouble. See on this theme 1:10-19; 3:31 and 23:17. D. Kidner observes that a close view of sinners is often a good antidote to envying them (Proverbs [TOTC], 153).

NET Notes: Pro 24:3

¹ tn The preposition בְּ (bet, “by; through”) in these two lines indicates means.

² sn The twentieth saying, vv. 3-4, concerns the use of wisdom for domestic enterprises. In Prov 9:1 wisdom was personified as a woman who builds a house; but here the emphasis is primarily on the building – it is a sign of security and prosperity (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 442). One could still make a secondary application from this line for a household or “family” (cf. NCV, which sees this as a reference to the family).