1 Samuel 25:21-22

25:21 Now David had been thinking, ¹  “In vain I guarded everything that belonged to this man in the desert. I didn’t take anything from him. But he has repaid my good with evil. 25:22 God will severely punish David, ²  if I leave alive until morning even one male ³  from all those who belong to him!”

1 Samuel 25:33-34

25:33 Praised be your good judgment! May you yourself be rewarded ⁴  for having prevented me this day from shedding blood and taking matters into my own hands! 25:34 Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives – he who has prevented me from harming you – if you had not come so quickly to meet me, by morning’s light not even one male belonging to Nabal would have remained alive!”

1 Samuel 25:1

The Death of Samuel

25:1 Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned him. They buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David left and went down to the desert of Paran. ⁵ 

1 Samuel 20:10-11

20:10 David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?” 20:11 Jonathan said to David, “Come on. Let’s go out to the field.”

When the two of them had gone out into the field,

Psalms 10:5

10:5 He is secure at all times. ⁶ 

He has no regard for your commands; ⁷ 

he disdains all his enemies. ⁸ 

Proverbs 13:10

13:10 With pride ⁹  comes only ¹⁰  contention,

but wisdom is with the well-advised. ¹¹ 

Proverbs 17:14

17:14 Starting a quarrel ¹²  is like letting out water; ¹³ 

stop it before strife breaks out! ¹⁴ 

Proverbs 25:8-10

25:8 Do not go out hastily to litigation, ¹⁵ 

or ¹⁶  what will you do afterward

when your neighbor puts you to shame?

25:9 When you argue a case ¹⁷  with your neighbor,

do not reveal the secret of another person, ¹⁸ 

25:10 lest the one who hears it put you to shame

and your infamy ¹⁹  will never go away.

Ecclesiastes 7:8-9

7:8 The end of a matter ²⁰  is better than its beginning;

likewise, patience ²¹  is better than pride. ²² 

7:9 Do not let yourself be quickly provoked, ²³ 

for anger resides in the lap ²⁴  of fools.

Ecclesiastes 10:4

10:4 If the anger ²⁵  of the ruler flares up ²⁶  against you, do not resign ²⁷  from your position, ²⁸ 

for a calm ²⁹  response ³⁰  can undo ³¹  great offenses.

Daniel 3:19-22

3:19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and his disposition changed ³²  toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders ³³  to heat the furnace seven times hotter than it was normally heated. 3:20 He ordered strong ³⁴  soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. 3:21 So those men were tied up while still wearing their cloaks, trousers, turbans, and other clothes, ³⁵  and were thrown into the furnace ³⁶  of blazing fire. 3:22 But since the king’s command was so urgent, and the furnace was so excessively hot, the men who escorted ³⁷  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were killed ³⁸  by the leaping flames. ³⁹ 

[25:21]  ¹ tn Heb “said.”

[25:22]  ² tc Heb “Thus God will do to the enemies of David and thus he will add.” Most of the Old Greek ms tradition has simply “David,” with no reference to his enemies. In OT imprecations such as the one found in v. 22 it is common for the speaker to direct malediction toward himself as an indication of the seriousness with which he regards the matter at hand. In other words, the speaker invites on himself dire consequences if he fails to fulfill the matter expressed in the oath. However, in the situation alluded to in v. 22 the threat actually does not come to fruition due to the effectiveness of Abigail’s appeal to David in behalf of her husband Nabal. Instead, David is placated through Abigail’s intervention. It therefore seems likely that the reference to “the enemies of David” in the MT of v. 22 is the result of a scribal attempt to deliver David from the implied consequences of this oath. The present translation follows the LXX rather than the MT here.

[25:22]  ³ tn Heb “one who urinates against a wall” (also in v. 34); KJV “any that pisseth against the wall.”

[25:33]  ⁴ tn Heb “blessed.”

[25:1]  ⁵ tc The LXX reads “Maon” here instead of “Paran,” perhaps because the following account of Nabal is said to be in Maon (v. 2). This reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT). The MT, however, reads “Paran,” a location which would parallel this portion of David’s life with that of the nation Israel which also spent time in Paran (Num 10:12). Also, the desert of Paran was on the southern border of Judah’s territory and would be the most isolated location for hiding from Saul.

[10:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “they are firm, his ways, at every time.” The verb חַיִל (khayil, “be firm, be strong”) occurs only here and in Job 20:21, where it has the sense “endure.”

[10:5]  ⁷ tc Heb “[on a] height, your judgments from before him.” If the MT is retained, then the idea may be that God’s “judgments” are high above (i.e., not recognized) by the wicked man. However, the syntax is awkward. The translation assumes an emendation of מָרוֹם (marom, “height”) to סָרוּ (saru, “[your judgments] are turned aside”), the final mem (ם) being dittographic (note the initial mem on the immediately following word [מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ, mishÿfatekha, “your judgments”). “Judgments” probably refers here to God’s laws or commands, rather than his judicial decisions or acts of judgment.

[10:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “all his enemies, he snorts against them.” This may picture the wicked man defiantly challenging his enemies because he is confident of success. Another option is to take יָפִיחַ (yafiakh) from the root יָפַח (yafakh, “to testify”) and translate “he testifies against all his enemies,” implying that he gets the upper hand over them in legal battles. The noun יָפֵחַ (yafeakh, “witness”) is attested in biblical Hebrew (see Prov 6:19; 12:17; 14:5, 25; 19:5, 9, and Hab 2:3). The verb, however, is not clearly attested.

[13:10]  ⁹ sn The parallelism suggests pride here means contempt for the opinions of others. The wise listen to advice rather than argue out of stubborn pride.

[13:10]  ¹⁰ tn The particle רַק (raq, “only”) modifies the noun “contention” – only contention can come from such a person.

[13:10]  ¹¹ tn The Niphal of יָעַץ (ya’ats, “to advise; to counsel”) means “to consult together; to take counsel.” It means being well-advised, receiving advice or consultation (cf. NCV “those who take advice are wise”).

[17:14]  ¹² tn Heb “the beginning of a quarrel”; TEV, CEV “The start of an argument.”

[17:14]  ¹³ tn The verse simply begins with “letting out water.” This phrase is a metaphor, but most English versions have made it a simile (supplying “like” or “as”). R. N. Whybray takes it literally and makes it the subject of the clause: “stealing water starts a quarrel” (Proverbs [CBC], 100). However, the verb more likely means “to let out, set free” and not “to steal,” for which there are clearer words.

[17:14]  ¹⁴ tn The temporal clause is formed with the prepositional “before,” the infinitive construct, and the following subjective genitive. The verb גָּלַע (gala’) means “to expose; to lay bare,” and in the Hitpael “to disclose oneself; to break out.”

[25:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “do not go out hastily to strive”; the verb “to strive” means dispute in the legal context. The last clause of v. 7, “what your eyes have seen,” does fit very well with the initial clause of v. 8. It would then say: What you see, do not take hastily to court, but if the case was not valid, he would end up in disgrace.

[25:8]  ¹⁶ tn The clause begins with פֶּן (pen, “lest”) which seems a bit out of place in this line. C. H. Toy suggests changing it to כִּי (ki, “for”) to make a better connection, instead of supplying an ellipsis: “lest it be said what…” (Proverbs [ICC], 461).

[25:9]  ¹⁷ tn The verse begins with the direct object רִיבְךָ (ribkha, “your case”) followed by the imperative from the same root, רִיב (riv, “argue”). It is paralleled by the negated Piel jussive. The construction of the clauses indicates that the first colon is foundational to the second: “Argue…but do not reveal,” or better, “When you argue…do not reveal.”

[25:9]  ¹⁸ sn The concern is that in arguing with one person a secret about another might be divulged, perhaps deliberately in an attempt to clear oneself. The point then is about damaging a friendship by involving the friend without necessity or warrant in someone else’s quarrel.

[25:10]  ¹⁹ tn The noun דִּבָּה (dibbah, “infamy; defamation; evil report; whispering”) is used of an evil report here (e.g., Gen 37:2), namely a true report of evil doing. So if a person betrays another person’s confidence, he will never be able to live down the bad reputation he made as one who betrays secrets (cf. NIV).

[7:8]  ²⁰ tn The term דָבָר (davar) denotes “matter; thing” here rather than “speech; word,” as the parallelism with “patience” suggests. The term was misunderstood as “speech; word” by the Vulgate (so also Douay).

[7:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “the patient of spirit.”

[7:8]  ²² tn Heb “the proud of spirit.”

[7:9]  ²³ tn Heb “Do not be hasty in your spirit to become angry.”

[7:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “bosom.”

[10:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “spirit.”

[10:4]  ²⁶ tn Heb “rises up.”

[10:4]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Do not leave.”

[10:4]  ²⁸ tn Heb “your place.” The term מָקוֹם (maqom, “place”) denotes a position, post or office (1 Kgs 20:24; Eccl 8:3; 10:4; BDB 879 s.v. מָקוֹם 1.c).

[10:4]  ²⁹ tn The noun II מַרְפֵּא (marpe’, “calmness”) is used in reference to keeping one’s composure with a peaceful heart (Prov 14:30) and responding to criticism with a gentle tongue (Prov 15:4); cf. HALOT 637 s.v. II מַרְפֵּא. It is used in reference to keeping one’s composure in an emotionally charged situation (BDB 951 s.v. מַרְפֵּא 2). The term “calmness” is used here as a metonymy of association, meaning “calm response.”

[10:4]  ³⁰ tn The term “response” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification (see preceding note on the word “calm”).

[10:4]  ³¹ tn The verbal root נוח means “to leave behind; to leave untouched” (HALOT 680 s.v. I נוח 2) in general, and in this passage, “to undo” or “to allay” offenses (HALOT 680 s.v. I נוח 3; BDB 629 s.v. נוּחַ 5) or “to avoid” offenses (BDB 629 נוּחַ 5). The point is either that (1) a composed response can calm or appease the anger of the ruler, or (2) a calm heart will help one avoid great sins that would offend the king. The root נוח (“to rest”) is repeated, creating a wordplay: “Do not leave” (אַל־תַּנַּח, ’al-tannakh) and “to avoid; to allay” (יַנִּיחַ, yanniakh). Rather than resigning (i.e., leaving), composure can appease a king (i.e., cause the anger of the king to leave).

[3:19]  ³² tn Aram “the appearance of his face was altered”; cf. NLT “his face became distorted with rage”; NAB “[his] face became livid with utter rage.”

[3:19]  ³³ tn Aram “he answered and said.”

[3:20]  ³⁴ tn This is sometimes taken as a comparative: “[some of the] strongest.”

[3:21]  ³⁵ sn There is a great deal of uncertainty with regard to the specific nature of these items of clothing.

[3:21]  ³⁶ tn Aram “into the midst of the furnace.” For stylistic reasons the words “the midst of” have been left untranslated.

[3:22]  ³⁷ tn Aram “caused to go up.”

[3:22]  ³⁸ tn The Aramaic verb is active.

[3:22]  ³⁹ tn Aram “the flame of the fire” (so KJV, ASV, NASB); NRSV “the raging flames.”