Proverbs 24:11

24:11 Deliver those being taken away to death,

and hold back those slipping to the slaughter. ¹ 

Ecclesiastes 9:10

9:10 Whatever you find to do with your hands, ² 

do it with all your might,

because there is neither work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave, ³ 

the place where you will eventually go. ⁴ 

[24:11]  ¹ tn The idea of “slipping” (participle from מוֹט, mot) has troubled some commentators. G. R. Driver emends it to read “at the point of” (“Problems in Proverbs,” ZAW 50 [1932]: 146). But the MT as it stands makes good sense. The reference would be general, viz., to help any who are in mortal danger or who might be tottering on the edge of such disaster – whether through sin, or through disease, war, or danger. Several English versions (e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV) render this term as “staggering.”

[9:10]  ² tn Heb “Whatever your hand finds to do.”

[9:10]  ³ tn Heb “Sheol.”

[9:10]  ⁴ tn Or “where you are about to go.”