13:12 Hope 1 deferred 2 makes the heart sick, 3
but a longing fulfilled 4 is like 5 a tree of life.
1 sn The word “hope” (תּוֹחֶלֶת [tokhelet] from יָחַל [yakhal]) also has the implication of a tense if not anxious wait.
2 tn The verb is the Pual participle from מָשַׁךְ (mashakh,“to draw; to drag”).
3 sn Failure in realizing one’s hopes can be depressing or discouraging. People can bear frustration only so long (W. G. Plaut, Proverbs, 153).
4 tn Heb “a desire that comes”; cf. CEV “a wish that comes true.”
5 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.