1 Kings 12:10-11

12:10 The young advisers with whom Rehoboam ¹  had grown up said to him, “Say this to these people who have said to you, ‘Your father made us work hard, but now lighten our burden.’ ²  Say this to them: ‘I am a lot harsher than my father! ³  12:11 My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier. ⁴  My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh.’” ⁵ 

Proverbs 10:14

10:14 Those who are wise ⁶  store up ⁷  knowledge,

but foolish speech ⁸  leads to imminent ⁹  destruction.

Proverbs 13:16

13:16 Every shrewd ¹⁰  person acts with knowledge,

but a fool displays ¹¹  his folly.

Proverbs 14:16

14:16 A wise person is cautious ¹²  and turns from evil,

but a fool throws off restraint ¹³  and is overconfident. ¹⁴ 

Proverbs 18:6-7

18:6 The lips of a fool ¹⁵  enter into strife, ¹⁶ 

and his mouth invites ¹⁷  a flogging. ¹⁸ 

18:7 The mouth of a fool is his ruin,

and his lips are a snare for his life. ¹⁹ 

Proverbs 28:25

28:25 The greedy person ²⁰  stirs up dissension, ²¹ 

but the one who trusts ²²  in the Lord will prosper. ²³ 

Proverbs 29:23

29:23 A person’s pride ²⁴  will bring him low, ²⁵ 

but one who has a lowly spirit ²⁶  will gain honor.

[12:10]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Rehoboam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:10]  ² tn Heb “Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter upon us.”

[12:10]  ³ tn Heb “My little one is thicker than my father’s hips.” The referent of “my little one” is not clear. The traditional view is that it refers to the little finger. As the following statement makes clear, Rehoboam’s point is that he is more harsh and demanding than his father.

[12:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “and now my father placed upon you a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke.”

[12:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.” “Scorpions” might allude to some type of torture using poisonous insects, but more likely it refers to a type of whip that inflicts an especially biting, painful wound. Cf. CEV “whips with pieces of sharp metal.”

[10:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “wise men.”

[10:14]  ⁷ sn The verb צָפַן (tsafan, “to store up; to treasure”) may mean (1) the wise acquire and do not lose wisdom (cf. NAB, NIV, TEV), or (2) they do not tell all that they know (cf. NCV), that is, they treasure it up for a time when they will need it. The fool, by contrast, talks without thinking.

[10:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “the mouth of foolishness”; cf. NRSV, NLT “the babbling of a fool.” The term פֶּה (peh, “mouth”) functions as a metonymy of cause for speech. The genitive אֶוִיל (’evil, “foolishness”) functions as an attributive adjective: “a foolish mouth” = foolish speech.

[10:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “near destruction.” The words of the fool that are uttered without wise forethought may invite imminent ruin (e.g., James 3:13-18). See also Ptah-hotep and Amenemope in ANET 414 and 423.

[13:16]  ¹⁰ sn The shrewd person knows the circumstances, dangers and pitfalls that lie ahead. So he deals with them wisely. This makes him cautious.

[13:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “spreads open” [his folly]. W. McKane suggests that this is a figure of a peddler displaying his wares (Proverbs [OTL], 456; cf. NAB “the fool peddles folly”). If given a chance, a fool will reveal his foolishness in public. But the wise study the facts and make decisions accordingly.

[14:16]  ¹² tn Heb “fears.” Since the holy name (Yahweh, translated “the Lord”) is not used, it probably does not here mean fear of the Lord, but of the consequences of actions.

[14:16]  ¹³ tn The Hitpael of עָבַר (’avar, “to pass over”) means “to pass over the bounds of propriety; to act insolently” (BDB 720 s.v.; cf. ASV “beareth himself insolently”).

[14:16]  ¹⁴ tn The verb בָּטַח here denotes self-assurance or overconfidence. Fools are not cautious and do not fear the consequences of their actions.

[18:6]  ¹⁵ sn The “lips” is a metonymy of cause, meaning what the fool says. The “mouth” in the second colon is likewise a metonymy for speech, what comes out of the mouth.

[18:6]  ¹⁶ sn “Strife” is a metonymy of cause, it is the cause of the beating or flogging that follows; “flogging” in the second colon is a metonymy of effect, the flogging is the effect of the strife. The two together give the whole picture.

[18:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “calls for.” This is personification: What the fool says “calls for” a beating or flogging. The fool deserves punishment, but does not actually request it.

[18:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “blows.” This would probably be physical beatings, either administered by the father or by society (e.g., also 19:25; Ps 141:5; cf. NAB, NIV, TEV, NLT). Today, however, “a beating” could be associated with violent criminal assault, whereas the context suggests punishment. Therefore “a flogging” is used in the translation, since that term is normally associated with disciplinary action.

[18:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “his soul” (so KJV, NASB, NIV).

[28:25]  ²⁰ tn Heb “wide of soul.” This is an idiom meaning “a greedy person.” The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, traditionally, “soul”) has here its more basic meaning of appetites (a person is a soul, a bundle of appetites; BDB 660 s.v. 5.a). It would mean “wide of appetite” (רְהַב־נֶפֶשׁ), thus “greedy.”

[28:25]  ²¹ sn Greed “stirs up” the strife. This individual’s attitude and actions stir up dissension because people do not long tolerate him.

[28:25]  ²² tn The construction uses the participle בּוֹטֵחַ (boteakh) followed by עַל־יְהוָה (’al-yÿhvah), which gives the sense of “relying confidently on the Lord.” This is the antithesis of the greedy person who pushes to get what he desires.

[28:25]  ²³ tn The verb דָּשֵׁן (dashen) means “to be fat,” and in the Piel/Pual stems “to make fat/to be made fat” (cf. KJV, ASV). The idea of being “fat” was symbolic of health and prosperity – the one who trusts in the Lord will be abundantly prosperous and fully gratified (cf. NRSV “will be enriched”).

[29:23]  ²⁴ tn Heb “pride of a man,” with “man” functioning as a possessive. There is no indication in the immediate context that this is restricted only to males.

[29:23]  ²⁵ tn There is a wordplay here due to the repetition of the root שָׁפֵל (shafel). In the first line the verb תִּשְׁפִּילֶנּוּ (tishpilennu) is the Hiphil imperfect of the root, rendered “will bring him low.” In the second line the word is used in the description of the “lowly of spirit,” שְׁפַל־רוּחַ (shÿfal-ruakh). The contrast works well: The proud will be brought “low,” but the one who is “lowly” will be honored. In this instance the wordplay can be preserved in the translation.

[29:23]  ²⁶ tn Heb “low in spirit”; KJV “humble in spirit.” This refers to an attitude of humility.