Judges 20:7

20:7 All you Israelites, ¹  make a decision here!” ² 

Proverbs 11:14

11:14 When there is no guidance ³  a nation falls,

but there is success ⁴  in the abundance of counselors.

Proverbs 13:10

13:10 With pride ⁵  comes only ⁶  contention,

but wisdom is with the well-advised. ⁷ 

Proverbs 15:22

15:22 Plans fail ⁸  when there is no counsel,

but with abundant advisers they are established. ⁹ 

Proverbs 20:18

20:18 Plans ¹⁰  are established by counsel,

so ¹¹  make war ¹²  with guidance.

Proverbs 24:6

24:6 for with guidance you wage your war,

and with numerous advisers there is victory. ¹³ 

[20:7]  ¹ tn Heb “Look, all of you sons of Israel.”

[20:7]  ² tn Heb “give for yourselves a word and advice here.”

[11:14]  ³ tn The word תַּחְבֻּלוֹת (takhvulot, “guidance; direction”) is derived from the root I חָבַל (khaval, “rope-pulling” and “steering” or “directing” a ship; BDB 286 s.v.). Thus spiritual guidance is like steering a ship, here the ship of state (R. N. Whybray, Proverbs [CBC], 68; Prov 1:5). Advice is necessary for the success of a nation.

[11:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “victory.” This term תְּשׁוּעָה (teshu’ah) means “salvation” or “victory” (BDB 448 s.v.); cf. NAB, TEV “security”; NRSV, NLT “safety.” Here, it connotes “success” as the antithesis of the nation falling. The setting could be one of battle or economics. Victory or success will be more likely with good advice. This assumes that the counselors are wise.

[13:10]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn The particle רַק (raq, “only”) modifies the noun “contention” – only contention can come from such a person.

[13:10]  ⁷ 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”).

[15:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “go wrong” (so NRSV, NLT). The verb is the Hiphil infinitive absolute from פָּרַר, parar, which means “to break; to frustrate; to go wrong” (HALOT 975 s.v. I פרר 2). The plans are made ineffectual or are frustrated when there is insufficient counsel.

[15:22]  ⁹ sn The proverb says essentially the same thing as 11:14, but differently.

[20:18]  ¹⁰ tn The noun form is plural, but the verb is singular, suggesting either an abstract plural or a collective plural is being used here.

[20:18]  ¹¹ tn The clause begins with vav (ו) on “with guidance.” But the clause has an imperative for its main verb. One could take the imperfect tense in the first colon as an imperfect of injunction, and then this clause would be also instructional. But the imperfect tense is a Niphal, and so it is better to take the first colon as the foundational clause and the second colon as the consequence (cf. NAB): If that is true, then you should do this.

[20:18]  ¹² sn There have been attempts by various commentators to take “war” figuratively to mean life’s struggles, litigation, or evil inclinations. But there is no need and little justification for such interpretations. The proverb simply describes the necessity of taking counsel before going to war.

[24:6]  ¹³ sn The point of the saying is that wise counsel is necessary in war. Victory, strategy, and counsel are more important than mere military strength – many great armies have been destroyed because of their unwise leaders. See on this theme 11:14; 20:18; and 21:22.