18:11 The wealth 1 of a rich person is like 2 a strong city, 3
and it is like a high wall in his imagination. 4
31:24 “If I have put my confidence in gold
or said to pure gold,
‘You are my security!’
31:25 if I have rejoiced because of the extent of my wealth,
or because of the great wealth my hand had gained,
49:6 They trust 5 in their wealth
and boast 6 in their great riches.
52:7 “Look, here is the man who would not make 7 God his protector!
He trusted in his great wealth
and was confident about his plans to destroy others.” 8
7:12 For wisdom provides 9 protection, 10
just as 11 money provides protection. 12
But the advantage of knowledge is this:
Wisdom preserves the life 13 of its owner.
9:23 14 The Lord says,
“Wise people should not boast that they are wise.
Powerful people should not boast that they are powerful. 15
Rich people should not boast that they are rich. 16
12:1 Meanwhile, 20 when many thousands of the crowd had gathered so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus 21 began to speak first to his disciples, “Be on your guard against 22 the yeast of the Pharisees, 23 which is hypocrisy. 24
6:17 Then 25 he came down with them and stood on a level place. 26 And a large number 27 of his disciples had gathered 28 along with 29 a vast multitude from all over Judea, from 30 Jerusalem, 31 and from the seacoast of Tyre 32 and Sidon. 33 They came to hear him and to be healed 34 of their diseases,
1 sn This proverb forms a contrast with the previous one. The rich, unlike the righteous, trust in wealth and not in God.
2 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.
3 tn Heb “city of his strength”; NIV “fortified city.” This term refers to their place of refuge, what they look to for security and protection in time of trouble.
4 tc The MT reads בְּמַשְׂכִּיתוֹ (bÿmaskito, “in his imaginations”). The LXX, Tg. Prov 18:11, and the Latin reflect בִּמְשֻׂכָּתוֹ (bimsukato, “like a fence [or, high wall]”) that is, wealth provides protection. The MT reading, on the other hand, suggests that this security is only in the mind.
5 tn Heb “the ones who trust.” The substantival participle stands in apposition to “those who deceive me” (v. 5).
6 tn The imperfect verbal form emphasizes their characteristic behavior.
7 tn The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to the ongoing nature of the action. The evildoer customarily rejected God and trusted in his own abilities. Another option is to take the imperfect as generalizing, “[here is the man who] does not make.”
8 tn Heb “he was strong in his destruction.” “Destruction” must refer back to the destructive plans mentioned in v. 2. The verb (derived from the root עָזַז, ’azaz, “be strong”) as it stands is either an imperfect (if so, probably used in a customary sense) or a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive). However the form should probably be emended to וַיָּעָז (vayya’az), a Qal preterite (with vav [ו] consecutive) from עָזַז. Note the preterite form without vav (ו) consecutive in the preceding line (וַיִּבְטַח, vayyivtakh, “and he trusted”). The prefixed vav (ו) was likely omitted by haplography (note the suffixed vav [ו] on the preceding עָשְׁרוֹ, ’oshro, “his wealth”).
9 tn Heb “wisdom is a shade.” When used with a predicate nominative in a verbless clause, the preposition בְּ (bet) which appears twice in the line בְּצֵל הַחָכְמָה בְּצֵל הַכָּסֶף (bÿtsel hakhokhmah bÿtsel hakkasef) denotes identity, the so-called bet of essence (HALOT 104 s.v. בְּ 3; BDB 88 s.v. בְּ 1.7; see also R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 45, §249).
10 tn The term צֵל (tsel, “shade, shadow”) refers to that which provides protection or a shelter from the sun (Gen 19:8; Judg 9:36; Isa 25:5; 32:2; Jer 48:45; Jonah 4:5). It is used often in a figurative sense (hypocatastasis) to connote “protection” from calamity (Num 14:9; Isa 49:2; Hos 14:8; Pss 17:8; 36:8; 57:2; 63:8; 91:1; 121:5; Lam 4:20).
11 tn The phrase “just as” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness and clarity.
12 tn Heb “Wisdom is a shade, money is a shade.” The repetition of בְּצֵל (bÿtsel, “shade; protection”) suggests that the A-line and B-line function as comparisons. Thus the Hebrew phrases “Wisdom is a shade, money is a shade” may be nuanced, “Wisdom [provides] protection [just as] money [provides] protection.” This approach is adopted by several translations: “wisdom is a defense, as money is a defense” (ASV), “wisdom is protection just as money is protection” (NASB), “wisdom like wealth is a defense” (Moffatt), “the protection of wisdom is as the protection of money” (NAB), “the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money” (RSV, NRSV), “wisdom protects as wealth protects” (MLB), and “wisdom is a shelter, as money is a shelter” (NIV). The comparison is missed by KJV: “wisdom is a defense, and money is a defense.” Less likely is taking בְּ (bet) in a locative sense: “to be in the shelter of wisdom is to be in the shelter of money” (NJPS).
13 tn The verb חָיָה (khayah, “to live”) in the Piel denotes (1) “to let live; to keep alive; to preserve alive; to allow to live happily” (Gen 12:12; Exod 1:17; Num 31:15; Deut 6:24; Josh 9:15; Isa 7:21; Jer 49:11) and (2) “to bring back to life” persons who are ill (Ps 30:4) or deceased (Hos 6:2); HALOT 309 s.v. חָיָה. Its parallelism with צֵל (tsel, “protection”) indicates that it means “to preserve someone’s life” from premature death or calamity. Therefore, “preserves the life” (RSV, NAB, ASV, NASB, NIV, NJPS) is preferable to “gives life to” (KJV, Douay, NRSV, YLT).
14 sn It is not always clear why verses were placed in their present position in the editorial process of collecting Jeremiah’s sermons and the words the
15 tn Or “Strong people should not brag that they are strong.”
16 tn Heb “…in their wisdom…in their power…in their riches.”
17 tn Grk “But answering, Jesus again said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant and has not been translated.
18 tc Most
19 tn Grk “to my soul,” which is repeated as a vocative in the following statement, but is left untranslated as redundant.
20 tn The phrase ἐν οἷς (en Jois) can be translated “meanwhile.”
21 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
22 tn According to L&N 27.59, “to pay attention to, to keep on the lookout for, to be alert for, to be on your guard against.” This is another Lukan present imperative calling for constant vigilance.
23 sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.
24 sn The pursuit of popularity can lead to hypocrisy, if one is not careful.
25 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
26 tn Or “on a plateau.” This could refer to a message given in a flat locale or in a flat locale in the midst of a more mountainous region (Jer 21:13; Isa 13:2). It is quite possible that this sermon is a summary version of the better known Sermon on the Mount from Matt 5-7.
27 tn Grk “large crowd.”
28 tn There is no verb in Greek at this point, but since “a large crowd” (see preceding tn) is in the nominative case, one needs to be supplied.
29 tn Grk “and.”
30 tn Grk “and from,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
31 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
32 map For location see Map1-A2; Map2-G2; Map4-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.
33 sn These last two locations, Tyre and Sidon, represented an expansion outside of traditional Jewish territory. Jesus’ reputation continued to expand into new regions.
34 sn To hear him and to be healed. Jesus had a two-level ministry: The word and then wondrous acts of service that showed his message of God’s care were real.