Proverbs 24:23

Further Sayings of the Wise

24:23 These sayings also are from the wise:

To show partiality ¹  in judgment is terrible: ² 

Deuteronomy 23:15

Purity in the Treatment of the Nonprivileged

23:15 You must not return an escaped slave to his master when he has run away to you. ³ 

Deuteronomy 23:1

Purity in Public Worship

23:1 A man with crushed ⁴  or severed genitals ⁵  may not enter the assembly of the Lord. ⁶ 

Deuteronomy 22:9-10

Illustrations of the Principle of Purity

22:9 You must not plant your vineyard with two kinds of seed; otherwise the entire yield, both of the seed you plant and the produce of the vineyard, will be defiled. ⁷  22:10 You must not plow with an ox and a donkey harnessed together.

Deuteronomy 24:9

24:9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam ⁸  along the way after you left Egypt.

Deuteronomy 26:19

26:19 Then ⁹  he will elevate you above all the nations he has made and you will receive praise, fame, and honor. ¹⁰  You will ¹¹  be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he has said.

Deuteronomy 30:15

30:15 “Look! I have set before you today life and prosperity on the one hand, and death and disaster on the other.

Deuteronomy 30:2

30:2 Then if you and your descendants ¹²  turn to the Lord your God and obey him with your whole mind and being ¹³  just as ¹⁴  I am commanding you today,

Deuteronomy 16:1-4

The Passover-Unleavened Bread Festival

16:1 Observe the month Abib ¹⁵  and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in that month ¹⁶  he ¹⁷  brought you out of Egypt by night. 16:2 You must sacrifice the Passover animal ¹⁸  (from the flock or the herd) to the Lord your God in the place where he ¹⁹  chooses to locate his name. 16:3 You must not eat any yeast with it; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast, symbolic of affliction, for you came out of Egypt hurriedly. You must do this so you will remember for the rest of your life the day you came out of the land of Egypt. 16:4 There must not be a scrap of yeast within your land ²⁰  for seven days, nor can any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until the next morning. ²¹ 

Deuteronomy 16:2

16:2 You must sacrifice the Passover animal ²²  (from the flock or the herd) to the Lord your God in the place where he ²³  chooses to locate his name.

Deuteronomy 19:1

Laws Concerning Manslaughter

19:1 When the Lord your God destroys the nations whose land he ²⁴  is about to give you and you dispossess them and settle in their cities and houses,

Deuteronomy 19:1

Laws Concerning Manslaughter

19:1 When the Lord your God destroys the nations whose land he ²⁵  is about to give you and you dispossess them and settle in their cities and houses,

Daniel 3:8-18

3:8 Now ²⁶  at that time certain ²⁷  Chaldeans came forward and brought malicious accusations against ²⁸  the Jews. 3:9 They said ²⁹  to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! ³⁰  3:10 You have issued an edict, O king, that everyone must bow down and pay homage to the golden statue when they hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music. 3:11 And whoever does not bow down and pay homage must be thrown into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. 3:12 But there are Jewish men whom you appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego – and these men ³¹  have not shown proper respect to you, O king. They don’t serve your gods and they don’t pay homage to the golden statue that you have erected.”

3:13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in a fit of rage ³²  demanded that they bring ³³  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before him. So they brought them ³⁴  before the king. 3:14 Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don’t serve my gods and that you don’t pay homage to the golden statue that I erected? 3:15 Now if you are ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must bow down and pay homage to the statue that I had made. If you don’t pay homage to it, you will immediately be thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. Now, who is that god who can rescue you from my power?” ³⁵  3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to King Nebuchadnezzar, ³⁶  “We do not need to give you a reply ³⁷  concerning this. 3:17 If ³⁸  our God whom we are serving exists, ³⁹  he is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will rescue us, O king, from your power as well. 3:18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we don’t serve your gods, and we will not pay homage to the golden statue that you have erected.”

Daniel 6:13

6:13 Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the captives ⁴⁰  from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the edict that you issued. Three times daily he offers his prayer.” ⁴¹ 

Daniel 6:24

6:24 The king gave another order, ⁴²  and those men who had maliciously accused ⁴³  Daniel were brought and thrown ⁴⁴  into the lions’ den – they, their children, and their wives. ⁴⁵  They did not even reach the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

Romans 14:4

14:4 Who are you to pass judgment on another’s servant? Before his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord ⁴⁶  is able to make him stand.

[24:23]  ¹ tn Heb “to recognize faces”; KJV, ASV “to have respect of persons”; NLT “to show favoritism.”

[24:23]  ² tn Heb “not good.” This is a figure known as tapeinosis – a deliberate understatement to emphasize a worst-case scenario: “it is terrible!”

[23:15]  ³ tn The Hebrew text includes “from his master,” but this would be redundant in English style.

[23:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “bruised by crushing,” which many English versions take to refer to crushed testicles (NAB, NRSV, NLT); TEV “who has been castrated.”

[23:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “cut off with respect to the penis”; KJV, ASV “hath his privy member cut off”; English versions vary in their degree of euphemism here; cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV, NLT “penis”; NASB “male organ”; NCV “sex organ”; CEV “private parts”; NIV “emasculated by crushing or cutting.”

[23:1]  ⁶ sn The Hebrew term translated “assembly” (קָהָל, qahal) does not refer here to the nation as such but to the formal services of the tabernacle or temple. Since emasculated or other sexually abnormal persons were commonly associated with pagan temple personnel, the thrust here may be primarily polemical in intent. One should not read into this anything having to do with the mentally and physically handicapped as fit to participate in the life and ministry of the church.

[22:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “set apart.” The verb קָדַשׁ (qadash) in the Qal verbal stem (as here) has the idea of being holy or being treated with special care. Some take the meaning as “be off-limits, forfeited,” i.e., the total produce of the vineyard, both crops and grapes, have to be forfeited to the sanctuary (cf. Exod 29:37; 30:29; Lev 6:18, 27; Num 16:37-38; Hag 2:12).

[24:9]  ⁸ sn What the Lord your God did to Miriam. The reference is to Miriam’s having contracted leprosy because of her intemperate challenge to Moses’ leadership (Num 12:1-15). The purpose for the allusion here appears to be the assertion of the theocratic leadership of the priests who, like Moses, should not be despised.

[26:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “so that.” Verses 18-19 are one sentence in the Hebrew text, but the translation divides it into three sentences for stylistic reasons. The first clause in verse 19 gives a result of the preceding clause. When Israel keeps God’s law, God will bless them with fame and honor (cf. NAB “he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory”; NLT “And if you do, he will make you greater than any other nation”).

[26:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for praise and for a name and for glory.”

[26:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and to be.” A new sentence was started here for stylistic reasons.

[30:2]  ¹² tn Heb “sons” (so NASB); KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “children.”

[30:2]  ¹³ tn Or “heart and soul” (also in vv. 6, 10).

[30:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “according to all.”

[16:1]  ¹⁵ sn The month Abib, later called Nisan (Neh 2:1; Esth 3:7), corresponds to March-April in the modern calendar.

[16:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in the month Abib.” The demonstrative “that” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[16:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[16:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “sacrifice the Passover” (so NASB). The word “animal” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[16:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in the previous verse.

[16:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “leaven must not be seen among you in all your border.”

[16:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “remain all night until the morning” (so KJV, ASV). This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[16:2]  ²² tn Heb “sacrifice the Passover” (so NASB). The word “animal” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[16:2]  ²³ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in the previous verse.

[19:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[19:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[3:8]  ²⁶ tc This expression is absent in Theodotion.

[3:8]  ²⁷ tn Aram “men.”

[3:8]  ²⁸ tn Aram “ate the pieces of.” This is a rather vivid idiom for slander.

[3:9]  ²⁹ tn Aram “answered and said,” a common Aramaic idiom that occurs repeatedly in this chapter.

[3:9]  ³⁰ sn O king, live forever! is a comment of typical court courtesy that is not necessarily indicative of the real sentiments of the speaker. Ancient oriental court protocol could sometimes require a certain amount of hypocrisy.

[3:12]  ³¹ sn Daniel’s absence from this scene has sparked the imagination of commentators, some of whom have suggested that perhaps he was unable to attend the dedication due to sickness or due to being away on business. Hippolytus supposed that Daniel may have been watching from a distance.

[3:13]  ³² tn Aram “in anger and wrath”; NASB “in rage and anger.” The expression is a hendiadys.

[3:13]  ³³ tn The Aramaic infinitive is active.

[3:13]  ³⁴ tn Aram “these men.” The pronoun is used in the translation to avoid undue repetition.

[3:15]  ³⁵ tn Aram “hand.” So also in v. 17.

[3:16]  ³⁶ tc In the MT this word is understood to begin the following address (“answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar’”). However, it seems unlikely that Nebuchadnezzar’s subordinates would address the king in such a familiar way, particularly in light of the danger that they now found themselves in. The present translation implies moving the atnach from “king” to “Nebuchadnezzar.”

[3:16]  ³⁷ tn Aram “to return a word to you.”

[3:17]  ³⁸ tc The ancient versions typically avoid the conditional element of v. 17.

[3:17]  ³⁹ tn The Aramaic expression used here is very difficult to interpret. The question concerns the meaning and syntax of אִיתַי (’itay, “is” or “exist”). There are several possibilities. (1) Some interpreters take this word closely with the participle later in the verse יָכִל (yakhil, “able”), understanding the two words to form a periphrastic construction (“if our God is…able”; cf. H. Bauer and P. Leander, Grammatik des Biblisch-Aramäischen, 365, §111b). But the separation of the two elements from one another is not an argument in favor of this understanding. (2) Other interpreters take the first part of v. 17 to mean “If it is so, then our God will deliver us” (cf. KJV, ASV, RSV, NASB). However, the normal sense of ’itay is existence; on this point see F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 45, §95. The present translation maintains the sense of existence for the verb (“If our God…exists”), even though the statement is admittedly difficult to understand in this light. The statement may be an implicit reference back to Nebuchadnezzar’s comment in v. 15, which denies the existence of a god capable of delivering from the king’s power.

[6:13]  ⁴⁰ tn Aram “from the sons of the captivity [of].”

[6:13]  ⁴¹ tn Aram “prays his prayer.”

[6:24]  ⁴² tn Aram “said.”

[6:24]  ⁴³ tn Aram “had eaten the pieces of.” The Aramaic expression is ironic, in that the accusers who had figuratively “eaten the pieces of Daniel” are themselves literally devoured by the lions.

[6:24]  ⁴⁴ tn The Aramaic active impersonal verb is often used as a substitute for the passive.

[6:24]  ⁴⁵ tc The LXX specifies only the two overseers, together with their families, as those who were cast into the lions’ den.

[14:4]  ⁴⁶ tc Most mss, especially Western and Byzantine (D F G 048 33 1739 1881 Ï latt), read θεός (qeos, “God”) in place of κύριος (kurios, “Lord”) here. However, κύριος is found in many of the most important mss (Ì⁴⁶ א A B C P Ψ pc co), and θεός looks to be an assimilation to θεός in v. 3.