1:17 Surely it is futile to spread 1 a net
in plain sight of 2 any bird, 3
1:18 but these men lie in wait for their own blood, 4
they ambush their own lives! 5
1:19 Such 6 are the ways 7 of all who gain profit unjustly; 8
it 9 takes away the life 10 of those who obtain it! 11
29:5 The one 12 who flatters 13 his neighbor
spreads a net 14 for his steps. 15
29:6 In the transgression of an evil person there is a snare, 16
but a righteous person can sing 17 and rejoice. 18
9:15 The nations fell 19 into the pit they had made;
their feet were caught in the net they had hidden. 20
10:9 He lies in ambush in a hidden place, like a lion in a thicket; 21
he lies in ambush, waiting to catch 22 the oppressed;
he catches the oppressed 23 by pulling in his net. 24
5:26 “Indeed, there are wicked scoundrels among my people.
They lie in wait like bird catchers hiding in ambush. 25
They set deadly traps 26 to catch people.
5:27 Like a cage filled with the birds that have been caught, 27
their houses are filled with the gains of their fraud and deceit. 28
That is how they have gotten so rich and powerful. 29
5:28 That is how 30 they have grown fat and sleek. 31
There is no limit to the evil things they do. 32
They do not plead the cause of the fatherless in such a way as to win it.
They do not defend the rights of the poor.
7:2 Faithful men have disappeared 33 from the land;
there are no godly men left. 34
They all wait in ambush so they can shed blood; 35
they hunt their own brother with a net. 36
1:15 The Babylonian tyrant 37 pulls them all up with a fishhook;
he hauls them in with his throw net. 38
When he catches 39 them in his dragnet,
he is very happy. 40
1:16 Because of his success 41 he offers sacrifices to his throw net
and burns incense to his dragnet; 42
for because of them he has plenty of food, 43
and more than enough to eat. 44
1:17 Will he then 45 continue to fill and empty his throw net? 46
Will he always 47 destroy 48 nations and spare none? 49
1 tn Heb “for the net to be spread out.” The Pual participle of זָרָה (zarah) means “to be spread” (HALOT 280 s.v. I זרה pu.1). The subject of this verbal use of the participle is the noun הָרָשֶׁת (harashet, “the net”). It is futile for the net to be spread out in plain view of birds.
2 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
3 tn Heb “all of the possessors of wings.”
4 sn They think that they are going to shed innocent blood, but in their blindness they do not realize that it is their own blood they shed. Their greed will lead to their destruction. This is an example of ironic poetic justice. They do not intend to destroy themselves; but this is what they accomplish.
5 tn Heb “their own souls.” The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) is used as a metonymy (= soul) of association (= life). The noun נֶפֶשׁ often refers to physical “life” (Exod 21:23; Num 17:3; Judg 5:18; Prov 12:10; BDB 659 s.v. 3.c).
6 tn The exclamation כֵּן (ken, “so; thus; such”) marks a conclusion (BDB 485 s.v.). It draws a comparison between the destruction of the wicked in v. 18 and the concluding statement in v. 19.
7 tc The MT reads אָרְחוֹת (’orkhot, “paths; ways” as figure for mode of life): “so are the ways [or, paths] of all who gain profit unjustly.” The BHS editors suggest emending the text to אַחֲרִית (’akharit, “end” as figure for their fate) by simple metathesis between ח (khet) and ר (resh) and by orthographic confusion between י (yod) and ו (vav), both common scribal errors: “so is the fate of all who gain profit unjustly.” The external evidence supports MT, which is also the more difficult reading. It adequately fits the context which uses “way” and “path” imagery throughout 1:10-19.
8 tn Heb “those who unjustly gain unjust gain.” The participle בֹּצֵעַ (boysea’, “those who unjustly gain”) is followed by the cognate accusative of the same root בָּצַע (batsa’, “unjust gain”) to underscore the idea that they gained their wealth through heinous criminal activity.
9 tn The subject of the verb is the noun בָּצַע (“unjust gain”), which is also the referent of the 3rd person masculine singular suffix on בְּעָלָיו (bÿ’alav, “its owners”). Greed takes away the life of those who live by greed (e.g., 15:27; 26:27). See G. R. Driver, “Problems in the Hebrew Text of Proverbs,” Bib 32 (1951): 173-74.
10 tn The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) is used as a metonymy (= soul) of association (= life). The noun נֶפֶשׁ often refers to physical “life” (Exod 21:23; Num 17:3; Judg 5:18; Prov 12:10; BDB 659 s.v. 3.c).
11 tn Heb “its owners.”
12 tn Heb “a man,” but the context here does not suggest that the proverb refers to males only.
13 tn The form is the Hiphil participle, literally “deals smoothly,” i.e., smoothing over things that should be brought to one’s attention.
14 sn The image of “spreading a net” for someone’s steps is an implied comparison (a figure of speech known as hypocatastasis): As one would literally spread a net, this individual’s flattery will come back to destroy him. A net would be spread to catch the prey, and so the idea is one of being caught and destroyed.
15 tn There is some ambiguity concerning the referent of “his steps.” The net could be spread for the one flattered (cf. NRSV, “a net for the neighbor’s feet”; NLT, “their feet,” referring to others), or for the flatterer himself (cf. TEV “you set a trap for yourself”). The latter idea would make the verse more powerful: In flattering someone the flatterer is getting himself into a trap (e.g., 2:16; 7:5; 26:28; 28:23).
16 tn The Syriac and Tg. Prov 29:6 simplify the meaning by writing it with a passive verb: “the evil man is ensnared by his guilt.” The metaphor of the snare indicates that the evil person will be caught in his own transgression.
17 tc The two verbs create some difficulty because the book of Proverbs does not usually duplicate verbs like this and because the first verb יָרוּן (yarun) is irregular. The BHS editors prefer to emend it to יָרוּץ (yaruts, “will rush”; cf. NAB “runs on joyfully”). W. McKane emends it to “exult” to form a hendiadys: “is deliriously happy” (Proverbs [OTL], 638). G. R. Driver suggests changing the word to יָדוֹן (yadon) based on two Hebrew
18 sn These two verbs express the confidence of the righteous – they have no fears and so can sing. So the proverb is saying that only the righteous can enjoy a sense of security.
19 tn Heb “sank down.”
20 sn The hostility of the nations against God’s people is their downfall, for it prompts God to intervene and destroy them. See also Ps 7:15-16.
21 tn Or “in its den.”
22 tn The verb, which also appears in the next line, occurs only here and in Judg 21:21.
23 tn The singular form is collective (see v. 10) or refers to the typical or representative oppressed individual.
24 tn Or “when he [i.e., the wicked man] pulls in his net.”
25 tn The meaning of the last three words is uncertain. The pointing and meaning of the Hebrew word rendered “hiding in ambush” is debated. BDB relates the form (כְּשַׁךְ, kÿshakh) to a root שָׁכַךְ (shakhakh), which elsewhere means “decrease, abate” (cf. BDB 1013 s.v. שָׁכַךְ), and notes that this is usually understood as “like the crouching of fowlers,” but they say this meaning is dubious. HALOT 1345 s.v. I שׁוֹר questions the validity of the text and offers three proposals; the second appears to create the least textual modification, i.e., reading כְּשַׂךְ (kesakh, “as in the hiding place of (bird catchers)”; for the word שַׂךְ (sakh) see HALOT 1236 s.v. שׂךְ 4 and compare Lam 2:6 for usage. The versions do not help. The Greek does not translate the first two words of the line. The proposal given in HALOT is accepted with some hesitancy.
26 tn Heb “a destroying thing.”
27 tn The words, “that have been caught” are not in the text but are implicit in the comparison.
28 tn Heb “are filled with deceit.” The translation assumes a figure of speech of cause for effect (metonymy). Compare the same word in the same figure in Zeph 1:9.
29 tn Heb “therefore they have gotten great and rich.”
30 tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to show that this line is parallel with the preceding.
31 tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. This verb occurs only here. The lexicons generally relate it to the word translated “plate” in Song 5:14 and understand it to mean “smooth, shiny” (so BDB 799 s.v. I עֶשֶׁת) or “fat” (so HALOT 850 s.v. II עֶשֶׁת). The word in Song 5:14 more likely means “smooth” than “plate” (so TEV). So “sleek” is most likely here.
32 tn Heb “they cross over/transgress with respect to matters of evil.”
33 tn Or “have perished”; “have been destroyed.”
34 tn Heb “and an upright one among men there is not.”
35 tn Heb “for bloodshed” (so NASB); TEV “for a chance to commit murder.”
36 sn Micah compares these ungodly people to hunters trying to capture their prey with a net.
37 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Babylonian tyrant) has been specified in the translation for clarity (cf. NASB “The Chaldeans”; NIV “The wicked foe”; NRSV “The enemy”). Babylonian imperialism is here compared to a professional fisherman who repeatedly brings in his catch and has plenty to eat.
38 tn Apparently two different types of fishing nets are referred to here. The חֵרֶם (kherem, “throw net”) was used by fishermen standing on the shore (see Ezek 47:10), while the מִכְמֶרֶת (mikhmeret, “dragnet”) was used by men in a boat. See R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (WEC), 165.
39 tn Heb “and he gathers.”
40 tn Heb “Therefore he is happy and rejoices.” Here two synonyms are joined for emphasis.
41 tn Heb “therefore.”
42 sn The fishing implements (throw net and dragnet) represent Babylonian military might. The prophet depicts the Babylonians as arrogantly worshiping their own power (sacrifices…burns incense, see also v. 11b).
43 tn Heb “for by them his portion is full [or, “fat”].”
44 tn Heb “and his food is plentiful [or, “fat”].”
45 tn Or “therefore.”
46 tn Heb “Will he then empty his throw net?” The words “continue to fill and” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
47 tn Or “continually.”
48 tn Heb “kill.”
49 tn Or “without showing compassion.”