Ecclesiastes 9:3

9:3 This is the unfortunate fact ¹  about everything that happens on earth: ² 

the same fate awaits ³  everyone.

In addition to this, the hearts of all people ⁴  are full of evil,

and there is folly in their hearts during their lives – then they die. ⁵ 

Ecclesiastes 10:13

10:13 At the beginning his words ⁶  are foolish

and at the end ⁷  his talk ⁸  is wicked madness, ⁹ 

Genesis 34:7

34:7 Now Jacob’s sons had come in from the field when they heard the news. ¹⁰  They ¹¹  were offended ¹²  and very angry because Shechem ¹³  had disgraced Israel ¹⁴  by sexually assaulting ¹⁵  Jacob’s daughter, a crime that should not be committed. ¹⁶ 

Joshua 7:13

7:13 Get up! Ritually consecrate the people and tell them this: ‘Ritually consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, because the Lord God of Israel says, “You are contaminated, ¹⁷  O Israel! You will not be able to stand before your enemies until you remove what is contaminating you.” ¹⁸ 

Joshua 7:2

7:2 Joshua sent men from Jericho ¹⁹  to Ai (which is located near Beth Aven, east of Bethel ²⁰ ) and instructed them, “Go up and spy on the land.” So the men went up and spied on Ai.

Joshua 13:12

13:12 the whole kingdom of Og in Bashan, who ruled in Ashtaroth and Edrei. (He was one of the few remaining Rephaites.) ²¹  Moses defeated them and took their lands. ²² 

Proverbs 17:12

17:12 It is better for a person to meet ²³  a mother bear being robbed of her cubs,

than ²⁴  to encounter ²⁵  a fool in his folly. ²⁶ 

Proverbs 26:11

26:11 Like a dog that returns to its vomit, ²⁷ 

so a fool repeats his folly. ²⁸ 

[9:3]  ¹ tn Heb “evil.”

[9:3]  ² tn Heb “under the sun.”

[9:3]  ³ tn The term “awaits” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness and stylistic reasons.

[9:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “also the heart of the sons of man.” Here “heart” is a collective singular.

[9:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “and after that [they go] to [the place of] the dead.”

[10:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “the words of his mouth.”

[10:13]  ⁷ sn The terms “beginning” and “end” form a merism, a figure of speech in which two opposites are contrasted to indicate totality (e.g., Deut 6:7; Ps 139:8; Eccl 3:2-8). The words of a fool are madness from “start to finish.”

[10:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “his mouth.”

[10:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “madness of evil.”

[34:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “when they heard.” The words “the news” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[34:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the men.” This sounds as if a new group has been introduced into the narrative, so it has been translated as “they” to indicate that it refers to Jacob’s sons, mentioned in the first part of the verse.

[34:7]  ¹² tn The Hebrew verb עָצַב (’atsav) can carry one of three semantic nuances depending on the context: (1) “to be injured” (Ps 56:5; Eccl 10:9; 1 Chr 4:10); (2) “to experience emotional pain; to be depressed emotionally; to be worried” (2 Sam 19:2; Isa 54:6; Neh 8:10-11); (3) “to be embarrassed; to be insulted; to be offended” (to the point of anger at another or oneself; Gen 6:6; 45:5; 1 Sam 20:3, 34; 1 Kgs 1:6; Isa 63:10; Ps 78:40). This third category develops from the second by metonymy. In certain contexts emotional pain leads to embarrassment and/or anger. In this last use the subject sometimes directs his anger against the source of grief (see especially Gen 6:6). The third category fits best in Gen 34:7 because Jacob’s sons were not merely wounded emotionally. On the contrary, Shechem’s action prompted them to strike out in judgment against the source of their distress.

[34:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Shechem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a disgraceful thing he did against Israel.”

[34:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “by lying with the daughter of Jacob.” The infinitive here explains the preceding verb, indicating exactly how he had disgraced Jacob. The expression “to lie with” is a euphemism for sexual relations, or in this case, sexual assault.

[34:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and so it should not be done.” The negated imperfect has an obligatory nuance here, but there is also a generalizing tone. The narrator emphasizes that this particular type of crime (sexual assault) is especially reprehensible.

[7:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “what is set apart [to destruction by the Lord] [is] in your midst.”

[7:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “remove what is set apart [i.e., to destruction by the Lord] from your midst.”

[7:2]  ¹⁹ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[7:2]  ²⁰ map For the location of Bethel see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[13:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “from the remnant of the Rephaites.”

[13:12]  ²² tn Or “dispossessed them.”

[17:12]  ²³ tn Heb “Let a man meet” (so NASB); NLT “It is safer to meet.” The infinitive absolute פָּגוֹשׁ (pagosh, “to meet”) functions as a jussive of advice. The bear meeting a man is less dangerous than a fool in his folly. It could be worded as a “better” saying, but that formula is not found here.

[17:12]  ²⁴ tn The second colon begins with וְאַל (vÿ’al), “and not.” This negative usually appears with volitives, so the fuller expression of the parallel line would be “and let not a fool in his folly [meet someone].”

[17:12]  ²⁵ tn The words “to meet” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied by the parallelism and are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:12]  ²⁶ sn The human, who is supposed to be rational and intelligent, in such folly becomes more dangerous than the beast that in this case acts with good reason. As R. L. Alden comments, “Consider meeting a fool with a knife, or gun, or even behind the wheel of a car” (Proverbs, 134). See also E. Loewenstamm, “Remarks on Proverbs 17:12 and 20:27,” VT 37 (1967): 221-24. For a slightly different nuance cf. TEV “some fool busy with a stupid project.”

[26:11]  ²⁷ sn The simile is graphic and debasing (cf. 2 Peter 2:22).

[26:11]  ²⁸ sn The point is clear: Fools repeat their disgusting mistakes, or to put it another way, whenever we repeat our disgusting mistakes we are fools. The proverb is affirming that no matter how many times a fool is warned, he never learns.