12:10 A righteous person cares for 1 the life of his animal,
but even the most compassionate acts 2 of the wicked are cruel.
20:6 Many people profess their loyalty, 3
but a faithful person 4 – who can find? 5
23:8 you will vomit up 6 the little bit you have eaten,
and will have wasted your pleasant words. 7
1 tn Heb “knows”; NLT “concerned for the welfare of.” The righteous take care of animals, not just people.
2 tn Heb “but the mercies.” The additional words appear in the translation for the sake of clarification. The line can be interpreted in two ways: (1) when the wicked exhibit a kind act, they do it in a cruel way, or (2) even the kindest of their acts is cruel by all assessments, e.g., stuffing animals with food to fatten them for market – their “kindness” is driven by ulterior motives (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 129).
3 tn Heb “many a man calls/proclaims a man of his loyal love.” The Syriac and Tg. Prov 20:6 render the verb as passive: “many are called kind.” Other suggestions include: “most men meet people who will do them occasional kindnesses” (RSV); “many men profess friendship” (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 384); “many men invite only the one who has shown them kindness.” The simplest interpretation in this context is “many proclaim [themselves to be] a kind person (= a loyal friend).” The contrast is between many who claim to be loyal friends and the one who actually proves to be faithful.
4 tn The shift to the expression “a man of faithfulness[es]” in the second line indicates that of all those who claim to show faithful love, it is rare to find one who is truly reliable (as the word אֱמוּנִים [’emunim] indicates clearly); cf. NAB, NRSV “one worthy of trust.”
5 sn The point of the rhetorical question is that a truly faithful friend is very difficult to find.
5 sn Eating and drinking with a selfish miser would be irritating and disgusting. The line is hyperbolic; the whole experience turns the stomach.
6 tn Or “your compliments” (so NASB, NIV); cf. TEV “your flattery.”