11:19 True 1 righteousness leads to 2 life,
but the one who pursues evil pursues it 3 to his own death. 4
12:11 The one who works 5 his field will have plenty 6 of food,
but whoever chases daydreams 7 lacks wisdom. 8
13:21 Calamity 9 pursues sinners,
but prosperity rewards the righteous. 10
15:9 The Lord abhors 11 the way of the wicked,
but he loves those 12 who pursue 13 righteousness.
21:21 The one who pursues righteousness and love 14
finds life, bounty, 15 and honor.
28:1 The wicked person flees when there is no one pursuing, 16
but the righteous person is as confident 17 as a lion.
28:19 The one who works his land will be satisfied with food, 18
but whoever chases daydreams 19 will have his fill 20 of poverty.
19:7 All the relatives 21 of a poor person hate him; 22
how much more do his friends avoid him –
he pursues them 23 with words, but they do not respond. 24
1 tn Heb “the veritable of righteousness.” The adjective כֵּן (ken, “right; honest; veritable”) functions substantivally as an attributive genitive, meaning “veritable righteousness” = true righteousness (BDB 467 s.v. 2; HALOT 482 s.v. I כֵּן 2.b). One medieval Hebrew
2 tn Heb “is to life.” The expression “leads to” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but the idiom implies it; it is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
3 tn The phrase “pursues it” does not appear in the Hebrew but has been supplied in the translation from context.
4 sn “Life” and “death” describe the vicissitudes of this life but can also refer to the situation beyond the grave. The two paths head in opposite directions.
5 sn In the biblical period agriculture was the most common occupation for the people; so “working a field” describes a substantial occupation, but also represents working in general. Diligent work, not get-rich-quick schemes, is the key to ensuring income.
6 tn Heb “will have his fill of” or “will be satisfied with.”
7 tn Heb “empty things” or “vain things.” The term רֵיקִים (reqim) refers to worthless pursuits in an effort to make money. The fact that the participle used is “chase after” shows how elusive these are. Cf. NIV “fantasies”; NCV “empty dreams”; TEV “useless projects.”
8 tn Heb “heart.” The term לֵב (lev, “heart”) functions as a metonymy of association for wisdom (BDB 524 s.v. 3).
9 tn Heb “evil.” The term רָעָה (ra’ah, “evil”) here functions in a metonymical sense meaning “calamity.” “Good” is the general idea of good fortune or prosperity; the opposite, “evil,” is likewise “misfortune” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV) or calamity.
10 sn This statement deals with recompense in absolute terms. It is this principle, without allowing for any of the exceptions that Proverbs itself acknowledges, that Job’s friends applied (incorrectly) to his suffering.
13 tn Heb “an abomination of the
14 tn Heb “the one who” (so NRSV).
15 sn God hates the way of the wicked, that is, their lifestyle and things they do. God loves those who pursue righteousness, the Piel verb signifying a persistent pursuit. W. G. Plaut says, “He who loves God will be moved to an active, persistent, and even dangerous search for justice” (Proverbs, 170).
17 sn These two attributes, “righteousness” (צְדָקָה, tsÿdaqah) and “loyal love” (חֶסֶד, khesed) depict the life style of the covenant-believer who is pleasing to God and a blessing to others. The first term means that he will do what is right, and the second means that he will be faithful to the covenant community.
18 sn The Hebrew term translated “bounty” is צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah) again, so there is a wordplay on the term in the verse. The first use of the word had the basic meaning of “conduct that conforms to God’s standard”; this second use may be understood as a metonymy of cause, indicating the provision or reward (“bounty”) that comes from keeping righteousness (cf. NIV “prosperity”; NCV “success”). The proverb is similar to Matt 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.”
21 sn The line portrays the insecurity of a guilty person – he flees because he has a guilty conscience, or because he is suspicious of others around him, or because he fears judgment.
22 tn The verb בָּטַח (batakh) means “to trust; to be secure; to be confident.” Cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “bold.”
25 tn Or “will have plenty of food” (Heb “bread”); so NAB, NASB, NCV.
26 tn Heb “empty things” or “vain things”; NRSV “follows worthless pursuits.”
27 tn The repetition of the verb strengthens the contrast. Both halves of the verse use the verb יִשְׂבַּע (yisba’, “will be satisfied; will be filled with; will have enough”). It is positive in the first colon, but negative in the second – with an ironic twist to say one is “satisfied” with poverty.
29 tn Heb “brothers,” but not limited only to male siblings in this context.
30 tn Heb “hate him.” The verb שָׂנֵא (sane’) may be nuanced “reject” here (metonymy of effect, cf. CEV). The kind of “dislike” or “hatred” family members show to a poor relative is to have nothing to do with him (NIV “is shunned”). If relatives do this, how much more will the poor person’s friends do so.
31 tn The direct object “them” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.
32 tn Heb “not they.” The last line of the verse is problematic. The preceding two lines are loosely synonymous in their parallelism, but the third adds something like: “he pursues [them with] words, but they [do] not [respond].” Some simply say it is a corrupt remnant of a separate proverb and beyond restoration. The basic idea does make sense, though. The idea of his family and friends rejecting the poor person reveals how superficial they are, and how they make themselves scarce. Since they are far off, he has to look for them “with words” (adverbial accusative), that is, “send word” for help. But they “are nowhere to be found” (so NIV). The LXX reads “will not be delivered” in place of “not they” – clearly an attempt to make sense out of the cryptic phrase, and, in the process, showing evidence for that text.