So Solomon took firm control of the kingdom. 14
19:12 A king’s wrath is like 15 the roar of a lion, 16
but his favor is like dew on the grass. 17
20:2 The king’s terrifying anger 18 is like the roar of a lion;
whoever provokes him 19 sins against himself. 20
30:31 a strutting rooster, 21 a male goat,
and a king with his army around him. 22
12:4 “I 24 tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, 25 and after that have nothing more they can do. 12:5 But I will warn 26 you whom you should fear: Fear the one who, after the killing, 27 has authority to throw you 28 into hell. 29 Yes, I tell you, fear him!
13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment, 30 and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God. 13:2 So the person who resists such authority 31 resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will incur judgment 13:3 (for rulers cause no fear for good conduct but for bad). Do you desire not to fear authority? Do good and you will receive its commendation, 13:4 for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be in fear, for it does not bear the sword in vain. It is God’s servant to administer retribution on the wrongdoer.
1 tn The Hebrew text adds, “by the hand of.”
2 tn Heb “and he struck him and he died.”
3 tn Heb “and it was related to King Solomon.”
4 tn Heb “so Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying.”
5 tn Heb “saying, “In this way Joab spoke and in this way he answered me.”
6 tn Heb “house.”
7 tn Heb “take away the undeserved bloodshed which Joab spilled from upon me and from upon the house of my father.”
8 tn Heb “The
9 tn Heb “because he struck down two men more innocent and better than he and he killed them with the sword, and my father David did not know.”
10 tn Heb “house.”
11 tn Heb “his throne.”
12 tn Heb “struck him and killed him.” The referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 tn “The king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada and he went out and struck him down and he died.”
14 tn “And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.”
15 sn The verse contrasts the “rage” of the king with his “favor” by using two similes. The first simile presents the king at his most dangerous – his anger (e.g., 20:2; Amos 3:4). The second simile presents his favor as beneficial for life (e.g., 16:14-15; 28:15).
16 tn Heb “is a roaring like a lion.”
17 sn The proverb makes an observation about a king’s power to terrify or to refresh. It advises people to use tact with a king.
18 tn Heb “the terror of a king” (so ASV, NASB); The term “terror” is a metonymy of effect for cause: the anger of a king that causes terror among the people. The term “king” functions as a possessive genitive: “a king’s anger” (cf. NIV “A king’s wrath”; NLT “The king’s fury”).
19 tn The verb מִתְעַבְּרוֹ (mit’abbÿro) is problematic; in the MT the form is the Hitpael participle with a pronominal suffix, which is unusual, for the direct object of this verb usually takes a preposition first: “is angry with.” The LXX rendered it “angers [or, irritates].”
20 sn The expression “sins against himself” has been taken by some to mean “forfeits his life” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “endangers his life” (cf. NCV, NLT). That may be the implication of getting oneself in trouble with an angry king (cf. TEV “making him angry is suicide”).
21 tn The Hebrew term זַרְזִיר (zarzir) means “girt”; it occurs only here with “loins” in the Bible: “that which is girt in the loins” (BDB 267 s.v.). Some have interpreted this to be the “greyhound” because it is narrow in the flanks (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 327); so KJV, ASV. Others have suggested the warhorse, zebra, raven, or starling. Tg. Prov 30:31 has it as the large fighting cock that struts around among the hens. There is no clear referent that is convincing, although most modern English versions use “strutting rooster” or something similar (cf. CEV “proud roosters”).
22 tc This last line has inspired many suggestions. The MT has “with his army around him” (אַלְקוּם עִמּוֹ, ’alqum ’immo); so NIV. This has been emended to read “against whom there is no rising up” (so KJV, ASV) or “standing over his people.” The LXX has “a king haranguing his people.” Tg. Prov 30:31 has, “a king who stands up before his people and addresses them.” Some have attempted to identify this with Alcimus, the high priest who aspired to kingship (1 Macc 7:5-22), but such a suggestion is quite remote. Another interpretation sees the word for “God” in the line: “a king with whom God is.” Furthermore, C. H. Toy thinks the text is corrupt and must have at one time referred to some majestic animal (Proverbs [ICC], 537). While all these suggestions are fascinating, they have not improved or corrected the Hebrew text. At least one can say the focus is on the stately appearance of the king at some auspicious moment. The word occurs only here; but if it is interpreted with its Arabic cognate in mind, then it refers to a band of soldiers (BDB 39 s.v. אַלְקוּם).
23 tn Aram “hand.” So also in v. 17.
24 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
25 sn Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.
26 tn Grk “will show,” but in this reflective context such a demonstration is a warning or exhortation.
27 sn The actual performer of the killing is not here specified. It could be understood to be God (so NASB, NRSV) but it could simply emphasize that, after a killing has taken place, it is God who casts the person into hell.
28 tn The direct object (“you”) is understood.
29 sn The word translated hell is “Gehenna” (γέεννα, geenna), a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew words ge hinnom (“Valley of Hinnom”). This was the valley along the south side of Jerusalem. In OT times it was used for human sacrifices to the pagan god Molech (cf. Jer 7:31; 19:5-6; 32:35), and it came to be used as a place where human excrement and rubbish were disposed of and burned. In the intertestamental period, it came to be used symbolically as the place of divine punishment (cf. 1 En. 27:2, 90:26; 4 Ezra 7:36).
30 tn Grk “by God.”
31 tn Grk “the authority,” referring to the authority just described.