2 Chronicles 10:8-10

10:8 But Rehoboam rejected their advice and consulted the young advisers who served him, with whom he had grown up. ¹  10:9 He asked them, “How do you advise me to respond to these people who said to me, ‘Lessen the demands your father placed on us’?” ²  10:10 The young advisers with whom Rehoboam ³  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’ ⁴  – say this to them: ‘I am a lot harsher than my father! ⁵ 

2 Chronicles 22:3-4

22:3 He followed in the footsteps of Ahab’s dynasty, ⁶  for his mother gave him evil advice. ⁷  22:4 He did evil in the sight of ⁸  the Lord like Ahab’s dynasty because, after his father’s death, they ⁹  gave him advice that led to his destruction.

Proverbs 7:21-23

7:21 She persuaded him ¹⁰  with persuasive words; ¹¹ 

with her smooth talk ¹²  she compelled him. ¹³ 

7:22 Suddenly he went ¹⁴  after her

like an ox that goes to the slaughter,

like a stag prancing into a trapper’s snare ¹⁵ 

7:23 till an arrow pierces his liver ¹⁶  –

like a bird hurrying into a trap,

and he does not know that it will cost him his life. ¹⁷ 

Proverbs 20:19

20:19 The one who goes about gossiping ¹⁸  reveals secrets;

therefore do not associate ¹⁹  with someone who is always opening his mouth. ²⁰ 

Proverbs 26:8

26:8 Like tying a stone in a sling, ²¹ 

so is giving honor to a fool.

Proverbs 26:28

26:28 A lying tongue ²²  hates those crushed by it,

and a flattering mouth works ruin. ²³ 

Proverbs 29:5

29:5 The one ²⁴  who flatters ²⁵  his neighbor

spreads a net ²⁶  for his steps. ²⁷ 

Daniel 11:32

11:32 Then with smooth words he will defile ²⁸  those who have rejected ²⁹  the covenant. But the people who are loyal to ³⁰  their God will act valiantly. ³¹ 

[10:8]  ¹ tn Heb “Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders which they advised and he consulted the young men with whom he had grown up, who stood before him.”

[10:9]  ² tn Heb “Lighten the yoke which your father placed on us.”

[10:10]  ³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Rehoboam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter upon us.”

[10:10]  ⁵ 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 (so NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). As the following statement makes clear, Rehoboam’s point is that he is more harsh and demanding than his father.

[22:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “and also he walked in the ways of the house of Ahab.”

[22:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “for his mother was his adviser to do evil.”

[22:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[22:4]  ⁹ tn That is, the members of Ahab’s royal house.

[7:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “she turned him aside.” This expression means that she persuaded him. This section now begins the description of the capitulation, for the flattering speech is finished.

[7:21]  ¹¹ sn The term לֶקַח (leqakh) was used earlier in Proverbs for wise instruction; now it is used ironically for enticement to sin (see D. W. Thomas, “Textual and Philological Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 280-92).

[7:21]  ¹² tn Heb “smooth of her lips”; cf. NAB “smooth lips”; NASB “flattering lips.” The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause representing what she says.

[7:21]  ¹³ tn The verb means “to impel; to thrust; to banish,” but in this stem in this context “to compel; to force” into some action. The imperfect tense has the nuance of progressive imperfect to parallel the characteristic perfect of the first colon.

[7:22]  ¹⁴ tn The participle with “suddenly” gives a more vivid picture, almost as if to say “there he goes.”

[7:22]  ¹⁵ tn The present translation follows R. B. Y. Scott (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes [AB], 64). This third colon of the verse would usually be rendered, “fetters to the chastening of a fool” (KJV, ASV, and NASB are all similar). But there is no support that עֶכֶס (’ekhes) means “fetters.” It appears in Isaiah 3:16 as “anklets.” The parallelism here suggests that some animal imagery is required. Thus the ancient versions have “as a dog to the bonds.”

[7:23]  ¹⁶ sn The figure of an arrow piercing the liver (an implied comparison) may refer to the pangs of a guilty conscience that the guilty must reap along with the spiritual and physical ruin that follows (see on these expressions H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament).

[7:23]  ¹⁷ tn The expression that it is “for/about/over his life” means that it could cost him his life (e.g., Num 16:38). Alternatively, the line could refer to moral corruption and social disgrace rather than physical death – but this would not rule out physical death too.

[20:19]  ¹⁸ sn The word describes a slanderer (NASB), a tale-bearer (KJV, ASV), or an informer. BDB 940 s.v. רָכִיל says the Hebrew expression “goers of slander” means slanderous persons. However, W. McKane observes that these people are not necessarily malicious – they just talk too much (Proverbs [OTL], 537).

[20:19]  ¹⁹ tn The form is the Hitpael imperfect (of prohibition or instruction) from עָרַב (’arav). BDB 786-88 lists six roots with these radicals. The first means “to mix,” but only occurs in derivatives. BDB 786 lists this form under the second root, which means “to take on a pledge; to exchange.” The Hitpael is then defined as “to exchange pledges; to have fellowship with [or, share].” The proverb is warning people to have nothing to do with gossips.

[20:19]  ²⁰ tn The verb פֹּתֶה (poteh) is a homonym, related to I פָּתָה (patah, “to be naive; to be foolish”; HALOT 984-85 s.v. I פתה) or II פָּתָה (“to open [the lips]; to chatter”; HALOT 985 s.v. II פתה). So the phrase וּלְפֹתֶה שְׂפָתָיו may be understood either (1) as HALOT 985 s.v. II פתה suggests, “one opens his lips” = he is always talking/gossiping, or (2) as BDB suggests, “one who is foolish as to his lips” (he lacks wisdom in what he says; see BDB 834 s.v. פָּתָה 1, noted in HALOT 984 s.v. I פתה 1). The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause for what is said: gossip. If such a person is willing to talk about others, he will be willing to talk about you, so it is best to avoid him altogether.

[26:8]  ²¹ tn The translation “like tying a stone in a sling” seems to make the most sense, even though the word for “sling” occurs only here.

[26:28]  ²² tn Heb “the tongue of deception.” The subject matter of this proverb is deceptive speech. The “tongue of deception” (using a metonymy of cause with an attributive genitive) means that what is said is false. Likewise the “smooth mouth” means that what is said is smooth, flattering.

[26:28]  ²³ sn The verse makes it clear that only pain and ruin can come from deception. The statement that the lying tongue “hates those crushed by it” suggests that the sentiments of hatred help the deceiver justify what he says about people. The ruin that he brings is probably on other people, but it could also be taken to include his own ruin.

[29:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “a man,” but the context here does not suggest that the proverb refers to males only.

[29:5]  ²⁵ tn The form is the Hiphil participle, literally “deals smoothly,” i.e., smoothing over things that should be brought to one’s attention.

[29:5]  ²⁶ sn The image of “spreading a net” for someone’s steps is an implied comparison (a figure of speech known as hypocatastasis): As one would literally spread a net, this individual’s flattery will come back to destroy him. A net would be spread to catch the prey, and so the idea is one of being caught and destroyed.

[29:5]  ²⁷ tn There is some ambiguity concerning the referent of “his steps.” The net could be spread for the one flattered (cf. NRSV, “a net for the neighbor’s feet”; NLT, “their feet,” referring to others), or for the flatterer himself (cf. TEV “you set a trap for yourself”). The latter idea would make the verse more powerful: In flattering someone the flatterer is getting himself into a trap (e.g., 2:16; 7:5; 26:28; 28:23).

[11:32]  ²⁸ tn Or “corrupt.”

[11:32]  ²⁹ tn Heb “acted wickedly toward.”

[11:32]  ³⁰ tn Heb “know.” The term “know” sometimes means “to recognize.” In relational contexts it can have the connotation “recognize the authority of, be loyal to,” as it does here.

[11:32]  ³¹ sn This is an allusion to the Maccabean revolt, which struggled to bring about Jewish independence in the second century B.C.