14:19 Those who are evil will bow 1 before those who are good,
and the wicked will bow 2 at the gates 3 of the righteous.
1 tn Many versions nuance the perfect tense verb שָׁחַח (shakhakh) as a characteristic perfect. But the proverb suggests that the reality lies in the future. So the verb is best classified as a prophetic perfect (cf. NASB, NIV, CEV, NLT): Ultimately the wicked will acknowledge and serve the righteous – a point the prophets make.
2 tn The phrase “will bow” does not appear in this line but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.
3 sn J. H. Greenstone suggests that this means that they are begging for favors (Proverbs, 154).