10:16 The reward 1 which the righteous receive 2 is life;
the recompense 3 which the wicked receive 4 is judgment. 5
11:18 The wicked person 6 earns 7 deceitful wages, 8
but the one who sows 9 righteousness reaps 10 a genuine 11 reward. 12
1 tn Heb “recompense” (so NAB); NASB, NIV “wages.” The noun פְּעֻלַּה (pÿ’ullah) has a two-fold range of meanings: (1) “work; deed” and (2) “reward; recompense” (BDB 821 s.v.). There is a clear correlation between a person’s conduct and its consequences. Rewards are determined by moral choices. What one receives in life depends on the use of gifts and a righteous character.
2 tn Heb “the recompense of the righteous.”
3 tn Heb “harvest.” The term תְּבוּאַת (tÿvu’at, “harvest; yield”) is used figuratively here (hypocatastasis), drawing an implied comparison between the agricultural yield of a farmer’s labors with the consequences of the actions of the wicked. They will “reap” (= judgment) what they “sow” (= sin).
4 tn Heb “the harvest of the wicked.”
5 tn Heb “sin.” The term חַטָּאת (khatta’t, “sin”) functions as a metonymy of cause (= sin) for effect (= punishment). In contrast to the righteous who receive a reward, the wicked receive punishment for their sin (cf. NASB, NIV, NCV). See D. W. Thomas, “The Meaning of חַטָּאת in Proverbs X.16,” JTS 15 (1964): 295-96.
6 tn The form is the masculine singular adjective used as a substantive.
7 tn Heb “makes” (so NAB).
8 tn Heb “wages of deception.”
9 sn The participle “sowing” provides an implied comparison (the figure is known as hypocatastasis) with the point of practicing righteousness and inspiring others to do the same. What is sown will yield fruit (1 Cor 9:11; 2 Cor 9:6; Jas 3:18).
10 tn The term “reaps” does not appear in the Hebrew but has been supplied in the translation from context for the sake of smoothness.
11 tn Heb “true” (so NASB, NRSV); KJV, NAB, NIV “sure.”
12 sn A wordplay (paronomasia) occurs between “deceptive” (שָׁקֶר, shaqer) and “reward” (שֶׂכֶר, sekher), underscoring the contrast by the repetition of sounds. The wages of the wicked are deceptive; the reward of the righteous is sure.