Proverbs 11:4-8

11:4 Wealth does not profit in the day of wrath, ¹ 

but righteousness delivers from mortal danger. ² 

11:5 The righteousness of the blameless will make straight their way, ³ 

but the wicked person will fall by his own wickedness. ⁴ 

11:6 The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, ⁵ 

but the faithless will be captured ⁶  by their own desires. ⁷ 

11:7 When a wicked person dies, his expectation perishes, ⁸ 

and the hope of his strength ⁹  perishes. ¹⁰ 

11:8 The righteous person is delivered ¹¹  out of trouble,

and the wicked turns up in his stead. ¹² 

¹ sn The “day of wrath” refers to divine punishment in this life (R. N. Whybray, Proverbs [CBC], 67; e.g., also Job 21:30; Ezek 7:19; Zeph 1:18). Righteousness and not wealth is more valuable in anticipating judgment.

² tn Heb “from death.”

³ tn Heb “his way.”

⁴ sn The righteous will enjoy security and serenity throughout life. Righteousness makes the path straight; wickedness destroys the wicked.

⁵ sn The contrast is between being rescued or delivered (נָצַל, natsal) and being captured (לָכַד, lakhad). Righteousness is freeing; [evil] desires are enslaving.

⁶ tn Heb “taken captive” (so NRSV); NIV, TEV “are trapped.”

⁷ tn Heb “but by the desire of the faithless are they taken captive.”

⁷ tn The first colon features an imperfect tense depicting habitual action, while the second has a perfect tense verb depicting gnomic action.

⁸ tc There are several suggested changes for this word אוֹנִים (’onim, “vigor” or “strength”). Rashi, a Jewish scholar who lived a.d. 1040-1105, suggests that the word refers to children, a meaning implied from Gen 49:3. This would mean that even his children would not benefit from his wickedness. Tg. Prov 11:7 rendered it “who practice crookedness,” deriving it from the first root which means “wickedness.”

⁹ tc The LXX adds an antithesis to this: “When the righteous dies, hope does not perish.” The LXX translators wanted to see the hope of the righteous fulfilled in the world to come.

⁹ tn The verb is the Niphal perfect from the first root חָלַץ (khalats), meaning “to draw off; to withdraw,” and hence “to be delivered.”

¹⁰ tn The verb is masculine singular, so the subject cannot be “trouble.” The trouble from which the righteous escape will come on the wicked – but the Hebrew text literally says that the wicked “comes [= arrives; turns up; shows up] in the place of the righteous.” Cf. NASB “the wicked takes his place”; NRSV “the wicked get into it instead”; NIV “it comes on the wicked instead.”