Ecclesiastes 11:6

11:6 Sow your seed in the morning,

and do not stop working ¹  until the evening; ² 

for you do not know which activity ³  will succeed ⁴  –

whether this one or that one, or whether both will prosper equally. ⁵ 

Proverbs 4:25-27

4:25 Let your eyes look directly ⁶  in front of you

and let your gaze ⁷  look straight before you.

4:26 Make the path for your feet ⁸  level, ⁹ 

so that ¹⁰  all your ways may be established. ¹¹ 

4:27 Do not turn ¹²  to the right or to the left;

turn yourself ¹³  away from evil. ¹⁴ 

Proverbs 8:20

8:20 I walk in the path of righteousness,

in the pathway of justice,

Luke 11:42

11:42 “But woe to you Pharisees! ¹⁵  You give a tenth ¹⁶  of your mint, ¹⁷  rue, ¹⁸  and every herb, yet you neglect justice ¹⁹  and love for God! But you should have done these things without neglecting the others. ²⁰ 

[11:6]  ¹ tn Heb “do not let your hand rest.” The Hebrew phrase “do not let your hand rest” is an idiom that means “do not stop working” or “do not be idle” (e.g., Eccl 7:18); cf. BDB 628 s.v. נוּחַ B.1. Several English versions capture the sense of the idiom well: “do not stop working” (NEB); “do not be idle” (MLB); “let not your hand be idle” (NAB); “let not your hands be idle” (NIV); “stay not your hand” (Moffatt). The term “hand” is a synecdoche of part (i.e., do not let your hand rest) for the whole person (i.e., do not allow yourself to stop working).

[11:6]  ² tn The terms “morning” (בֹּקֶר, boqer) and “evening” (עֶרֶב, ’erev) form a merism (a figure of speech using two polar extremes to include everything in between) that connotes “from morning until evening.” The point is not that the farmer should plant at two times in the day (morning and evening), but that he should plant all day long (from morning until evening). This merism is reflected in several translations: “in the morning…until evening” (NEB, Moffatt).

[11:6]  ³ tn The term “activity” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.

[11:6]  ⁴ tn The verb כָּשֵׁר (kasher, “to prosper”) is used metonymically to denote “will succeed.” In 11:10, it means “skill in work.”

[11:6]  ⁵ tn Or “together.”

[4:25]  ⁶ tn The jussives in this verse are both Hiphil, the first from the verb “to gaze; to look intently [or, carefully],” (נָבַט, navat) and the second from the verb “to be smooth, straight” (יָשָׁר, yashar).

[4:25]  ⁷ tn Heb “your eyelids.” The term “eyelids” is often a poetic synonym for “eye” (it is a metonymy of adjunct, something connected with the eye put for the eye that sees); it may intensify the idea as one might squint to gain a clearer look.

[4:26]  ⁸ tn Heb “path of your foot.”

[4:26]  ⁹ sn The verb is a denominative Piel from the word פֶּלֶס (peles), “balance; scale.” In addition to telling the disciple to keep focused on a righteous life, the sage tells him to keep his path level, which is figurative for living the righteous life.

[4:26]  ¹⁰ tn The vav prefixed to the beginning of this dependent clause denotes purpose/result following the preceding imperative.

[4:26]  ¹¹ tn The Niphal jussive from כּוּן (cun, “to be fixed; to be established; to be steadfast”) continues the idiom of walking and ways for the moral sense in life.

[4:27]  ¹² sn The two verbs in this verse are from different roots, but nonetheless share the same semantic domain. The first verb is תֵּט (tet), a jussive from נָטָה (natah), which means “to turn aside” (Hiphil); the second verb is the Hiphil imperative of סוּר (sur), which means “to cause to turn to the side” (Hiphil). The disciple is not to leave the path of righteousness; but to stay on the path he must leave evil.

[4:27]  ¹³ tn Heb “your foot” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV). The term רַגְלְךָ (raglÿkha, “your foot”) is a synecdoche of part (= foot) for the whole person (= “yourself”).

[4:27]  ¹⁴ tc The LXX adds, “For the way of the right hand God knows, but those of the left hand are distorted; and he himself will make straight your paths and guide your goings in peace.” The ideas presented here are not out of harmony with Proverbs, but the section clearly shows an expansion by the translator. For a brief discussion of whether this addition is Jewish or early Christian, see C. H. Toy, Proverbs (ICC), 99.

[11:42]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “Woe to you…because you…” The causal particle ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated here for rhetorical effect (and so to the end of this chapter).

[11:42]  ¹⁶ tn Or “you tithe mint.”

[11:42]  ¹⁷ sn These small herbs were tithed with great care (Mishnah, m. Demai 2:1).

[11:42]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “and rue.” 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.

[11:42]  ¹⁹ sn Justice was a major theme of OT ethics (Mic 6:8; Zech 7:8-10).

[11:42]  ²⁰ tn Grk “those”; but this has been translated as “the others” to clarify which are meant.