Proverbs 11:7

11:7 When a wicked person dies, his expectation perishes, ¹ 

and the hope of his strength ²  perishes. ³ 

Proverbs 13:12

13:12 Hope ⁴  deferred ⁵  makes the heart sick, ⁶ 

but a longing fulfilled ⁷  is like ⁸  a tree of life.

¹ tn The first colon features an imperfect tense depicting habitual action, while the second has a perfect tense verb depicting gnomic action.

² 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.”

³ 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.

⁴ sn The word “hope” (תּוֹחֶלֶת [tokhelet] from יָחַל [yakhal]) also has the implication of a tense if not anxious wait.

⁵ tn The verb is the Pual participle from מָשַׁךְ (mashakh,“to draw; to drag”).

⁶ sn Failure in realizing one’s hopes can be depressing or discouraging. People can bear frustration only so long (W. G. Plaut, Proverbs, 153).

⁷ tn Heb “a desire that comes”; cf. CEV “a wish that comes true.”

⁸ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.