17:19 The one who loves a quarrel loves transgression; 1
whoever builds his gate high seeks destruction. 2
24:27 Establish your work outside and get your fields ready;
afterward build 3 your house. 4
5:8 Those who accumulate houses are as good as dead, 5
those who also accumulate landed property 6
until there is no land left, 7
and you are the only landowners remaining within the land. 8
5:9 The Lord who commands armies told me this: 9
“Many houses will certainly become desolate,
large, impressive houses will have no one living in them. 10
9:9 All the people were aware 11 of it,
the people of Ephraim and those living in Samaria. 12
Yet with pride and an arrogant attitude, they said, 13
1:4 Edom 16 says, “Though we are devastated, we will once again build the ruined places.” So the Lord who rules over all 17 responds, “They indeed may build, but I will overthrow. They will be known as 18 the land of evil, the people with whom the Lord is permanently displeased.
1 tn Heb “the one who loves transgression the one who loves a quarrel.” There is some ambiguity in the first line. The meaning would not differ greatly if either were taken as the subject; but the parallelism suggests that the proverb is about a quarrelsome and arrogant person who loves sin and invites destruction.
2 tn Some have taken this second line literally and interpreted it to mean he has built a pretentious house. Probably it is meant to be figurative: The gate is the mouth (the figure would be hypocatastasis) and so to make it high is to say lofty things – he brags too much (e.g., 1 Sam 2:3; Prov 18:12; 29:23); cf. NCV, TEV, NLT. C. H. Toy (Proverbs [ICC], 348) wishes to emend פִּתְחוֹ (pitkho, “his gate”) to פִּיו (piv, “his mouth”), but that is unnecessary since the idea can be obtained by interpretation.
3 tn The perfect tense with vav following the imperatives takes on the force of an imperative here.
4 sn If the term “house” is understood literally, the proverb would mean that one should be financially secure before building a house (cf. NLT). If “house” is figurative for household (metonymy of subject: children or family), the proverb would mean that one should have financial security and provision before starting a family. Some English versions suggest the latter meaning by using the word “home” for “house” (e.g., TEV, CEV).
5 tn Heb “Woe [to] those who make a house touch a house.” The exclamation הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) was used in funeral laments (see 1 Kgs 13:30; Jer 22:18; 34:5) and carries the connotation of death.
6 tn Heb “[who] bring a field near a field.”
7 tn Heb “until the end of the place”; NASB “until there is no more room.”
8 tn Heb “and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land.”
9 tn Heb “in my ears, the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].”
10 tn Heb “great and good [houses], without a resident.”
11 tn The translation assumes that vv. 9-10 describe the people’s response to a past judgment (v. 8). The perfect is understood as indicating simple past and the vav (ו) is taken as conjunctive. Another option is to take the vav on the perfect as consecutive and translate, “all the people will know.”
12 tn Heb “and the people, all of them, knew; Ephraim and the residents of Samaria.”
13 tn Heb “with pride and arrogance of heart, saying.”
14 tn Aram “house.”
15 tn Aram “by the might of my strength.”
16 sn Edom, a “brother” nation to Israel, became almost paradigmatic of hostility toward Israel and God (see Num 20:14-21; Deut 2:8; Jer 49:7-22; Ezek 25:12-14; Amos 1:11-12; Obad 10-12).
17 sn The epithet
18 tn Heb “and they will call them.” The third person plural subject is indefinite; one could translate, “and people will call them.”
19 tn The participle καθίσας (kaqisas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
20 tn The first illustration involves checking to see if enough funds exist to build a watchtower. Both ψηφίζω (yhfizw, “compute”) and δαπάνη (dapanh, “cost”) are economic terms.
21 tn Grk “to complete it, lest.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation and ἵνα μήποτε ({ina mhpote, “lest”) has been translated as “Otherwise.”
22 tn The participle θέντος (qentos) has been taken temporally.
23 tn The words “the tower” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
24 tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
25 tn Or “mock,” “ridicule.” The person who did not plan ahead becomes an object of joking and ridicule.