24:1 Do not envy evil people, 1
do not desire 2 to be with them;
24:2 for their hearts contemplate violence,
and their lips speak harm. 3
24:3 By 4 wisdom a house is built, 5
and through understanding it is established;
24:4 by knowledge its rooms are filled
with all kinds of precious and pleasing treasures.
24:5 A wise warrior 6 is strong, 7
and a man of knowledge makes his strength stronger;
1 tn Heb “evil men,” although the context indicates a generic sense.
2 tn The Hitpael jussive is from the verb that means “to crave; to desire.” This is more of a coveting, an intense desire.
3 sn This nineteenth saying warns against evil associations. Evil people are obsessed with destruction and trouble. See on this theme 1:10-19; 3:31 and 23:17. D. Kidner observes that a close view of sinners is often a good antidote to envying them (Proverbs [TOTC], 153).
4 tn The preposition בְּ (bet, “by; through”) in these two lines indicates means.
5 sn The twentieth saying, vv. 3-4, concerns the use of wisdom for domestic enterprises. In Prov 9:1 wisdom was personified as a woman who builds a house; but here the emphasis is primarily on the building – it is a sign of security and prosperity (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 442). One could still make a secondary application from this line for a household or “family” (cf. NCV, which sees this as a reference to the family).
6 sn The twenty-first saying seems to be concerned with the need for wisdom in warfare. In line with that, the word used here is גֶּבֶר (gever), “mighty man; hero; warrior.”
7 tn The expression בַּעוֹז (ba’oz) employs a beth essentiae, meaning he “is strong,” not “in strength.”