13:22 A benevolent 1 person leaves an inheritance 2 for his grandchildren, 3
but the wealth of a sinner is stored up for the righteous. 4
13:23 There is abundant food in the field 5 of the poor,
but it is swept away by injustice. 6
20:21 An inheritance gained easily 7 in the beginning
will not be blessed 8 in the end. 9
27:23 Pay careful attention to 10 the condition of your flocks, 11
give careful attention 12 to your herds,
27:24 for riches do not last 13 forever,
nor does a crown last 14 from generation to generation.
27:25 When the hay is removed and new grass appears,
and the grass from the hills is gathered in,
27:26 the lambs will be for your clothing,
and the goats will be for the price of a field. 15
27:27 And there will be enough goat’s milk for your food, 16
for the food of your household,
and for the sustenance 17 of your servant girls.
128:2 You 18 will eat what you worked so hard to grow. 19
You will be blessed and secure. 20
1 tn Heb “good.”
2 sn In ancient Israel the idea of leaving an inheritance was a sign of God’s blessing; blessings extended to the righteous and not the sinners.
3 tn Heb “the children of children.”
4 sn In the ultimate justice of God, the wealth of the wicked goes to the righteous after death (e.g., Ps 49:10, 17).
5 tn Heb “fallow ground” (so NASB). The word נִיר (nir) means “the tillable [or untilled; or fallow] ground.” BDB 644 s.v. says this line could be rendered: “abundant food [yields] the fallow ground of poor men” (i.e., with the
6 tc The MT reads “there is what is swept away because [there is] no justice” (וְיֵשׁ נִסְפֶּה בְּלֹא מִשְׁפָּט, vÿyesh nispeh bÿlo’ mishpat). The LXX reads “the great enjoy wealth many years, but some men perish little by little.” The Syriac reads “those who have no habitation waste wealth many years, and some waste it completely.” Tg. Prov 13:23 reads “the great man devours the land of the poor, and some men are taken away unjustly.” The Vulgate has “there is much food in the fresh land of the fathers, and for others it is collected without judgment.” C. H. Toy says that the text is corrupt (Proverbs [ICC], 277). Nevertheless, the MT makes sense: The ground could produce enough food for people if there were no injustice in the land. Poverty is unnecessary as long as there is justice and not injustice.
7 tc The Kethib reads מְבֻחֶלֶת (mÿbukhelet), “gotten by greed” (based on a cognate Syriac verb, “to be greedy”); but the Qere is מְבֹהֶלֶת (mÿvohelet), “gotten hastily [or, quickly].” A large number of
8 tn The form is the Pual imperfect, “will not be blessed,” suggesting that divine justice is at work.
9 tn Heb “in its end”; KJV, ASV “the end thereof.”
10 tn The sentence uses the infinitive absolute and the imperfect from יָדַע (yada’, “to know”). The imperfect here has been given the obligatory nuance, “you must know,” and that has to be intensified with the infinitive.
11 tn Heb “the faces of your flock.”
12 tn The idiom is “place [it on] your heart” or “take to heart.” Cf. NLT “put your heart into.”
13 tn Heb “riches are not forever” (so KJV, NASB); TEV “wealth is not permanent.” The term “last” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
14 tn The conjunction and the particle indicate that the same nuance continues here in the second colon, and so “last” has been supplied here as well.
15 sn Verse 25 is the protasis and v. 26 the apodosis. The two verses say that when the harvest is taken in, then the grass will grow, and they can sell and use their livestock. The lambs will provide clothing, and the goats when sold will pay for land.
16 sn This part of the proverb shows the proper interplay between human labor and divine provision. It teaches people to take care of what they have because it will not last forever.
17 tn Heb “life”; KJV, NAB “maintenance”; NRSV “nourishment.”
18 tn The psalmist addresses the representative God-fearing man, as indicated by the references to “your wife” (v. 3) and “the man” (v. 4), as well as the second masculine singular pronominal and verbal forms in vv. 2-6.
19 tn Heb “the work of your hands, indeed you will eat.”
20 tn Heb “how blessed you [will be] and it will be good for you.”