Proverbs 1:10-19

Admonition to Avoid Easy but Unjust Riches

1:10 My child, if sinners ¹  try to entice ²  you,

do not consent! ³ 

1:11 If they say, “Come with us!

We will ⁴  lie in wait ⁵  to shed blood; ⁶ 

we will ambush ⁷  an innocent person ⁸  capriciously. ⁹ 

1:12 We will swallow them alive ¹⁰  like Sheol, ¹¹ 

those full of vigor ¹²  like those going down to the Pit.

1:13 We will seize ¹³  all kinds ¹⁴  of precious wealth;

we will fill our houses with plunder. ¹⁵ 

1:14 Join with us! ¹⁶ 

We will all share ¹⁷  equally in what we steal.” ¹⁸ 

1:15 My child, do not go down ¹⁹  their way, ²⁰ 

withhold yourself ²¹  from their path; ²² 

1:16 for they ²³  are eager ²⁴  to inflict harm, ²⁵ 

and they hasten ²⁶  to shed blood. ²⁷ 

1:17 Surely it is futile to spread ²⁸  a net

in plain sight of ²⁹  any bird, ³⁰ 

1:18 but these men lie in wait for their own blood, ³¹ 

they ambush their own lives! ³² 

1:19 Such ³³  are the ways ³⁴  of all who gain profit unjustly; ³⁵ 

it ³⁶  takes away the life ³⁷  of those who obtain it! ³⁸ 

Proverbs 4:14-17

4:14 Do not enter the path of the wicked

or walk ³⁹  in the way of those who are evil.

4:15 Avoid it, do not go on it;

turn away from it, and go on. ⁴⁰ 

4:16 For they cannot sleep unless they cause harm; ⁴¹ 

they are robbed of sleep ⁴²  until they make someone stumble. ⁴³ 

4:17 For they eat bread ⁴⁴  gained from wickedness ⁴⁵ 

and drink wine obtained from violence. ⁴⁶ 

Proverbs 9:6

9:6 Abandon your foolish ways ⁴⁷  so that you may live, ⁴⁸ 

and proceed ⁴⁹  in the way of understanding.”

Proverbs 13:20

13:20 The one who associates ⁵⁰  with the wise grows wise,

but a companion of fools suffers harm. ⁵¹ 

Psalms 17:4-5

17:4 As for the actions of people ⁵²  –

just as you have commanded,

I have not followed in the footsteps of violent men. ⁵³ 

17:5 I carefully obey your commands; ⁵⁴ 

I do not deviate from them. ⁵⁵ 

Psalms 26:4-5

26:4 I do not associate ⁵⁶  with deceitful men,

or consort ⁵⁷  with those who are dishonest. ⁵⁸ 

26:5 I hate the mob ⁵⁹  of evil men,

and do not associate ⁶⁰  with the wicked.

Psalms 141:4

141:4 Do not let me have evil desires, ⁶¹ 

or participate in sinful activities

with men who behave wickedly. ⁶² 

I will not eat their delicacies. ⁶³ 

Psalms 141:2

141:2 May you accept my prayer like incense,

my uplifted hands like the evening offering! ⁶⁴ 

Colossians 1:17

1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together ⁶⁵  in him.

[1:10]  ¹ tn The term חַטָּא (khatta’) is the common word for “sinner” in the OT. Because the related verb is used once of sling-shot throwers who miss the mark (Judg 20:16), the idea of sin is often explained as “missing the moral mark” (BDB 306-8 s.v.). But the term should not be restricted to the idea of a sin of ignorance or simply falling short of the moral ideal. Its meaning is more likely seen in the related Akkadian term “to revolt, rebel.” It is active rebellion against authority. It is used here in reference to a gang of robbers.

[1:10]  ² tn The imperfect tense verb יְפַתּוּךָ (yÿftukha) may be nuanced in a connotative sense: “(If) they attempt to
persuade you.” The verb פָּתָה (patah) means “to persuade, entice” a person to sin (BDB 834 s.v. פָּתָה 1; see, e.g., Judg 14:15; 16:5; Prov 16:29; Hos 2:16).

[1:10]  ³ tc The MT reads the root אָבָה (’avah, “to be willing; to consent”). Some medieval Hebrew mss read the root בּוֹא (bo’, “to go”): “do not go with them.” The majority of Hebrew mss and the versions support the MT reading, which is the less common word and so the more likely original reading.

[1:11]  ⁴ tn This cohortative נֶאֶרְבָה (ne’ervah) could denote resolve (“We will lie in wait!”) or exhortation (“Let us lie in wait!”). These sinners are either expressing their determination to carry out a violent plan or they are trying to entice the lad to participate with them.

[1:11]  ⁵ tn The verb אָרַב (’arav, “to lie in wait”) it is used for planning murder (Deut 19:11), kidnapping (Judg 21:20), or seduction (Prov 23:28).

[1:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “for blood.” The term דָּם (dam, “blood”) functions as a metonymy of effect for “blood shed violently” through murder (HALOT 224 s.v. 4).

[1:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “lie in hiding.”

[1:11]  ⁸ tn The term “innocent” (נָקִי, naqi) intimates that the person to be attacked is harmless.

[1:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “without cause” (so KJV, NASB); NCV “just for fun.” The term חִנָּם (khinnam, “without cause”) emphasizes that the planned attack is completely unwarranted.

[1:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “lives.” The noun חַיִּים (khayyim, “lives”) functions as an adverbial accusative of manner: “alive.” The form is a plural of state, used to describe a condition of life which encompasses a long period of time – in this case a person’s entire life. Murder cuts short a person’s life.

[1:12]  ¹¹ tn The noun שְׁאוֹל (shÿ’ol) can mean (1) “death,” cf. NCV; (2) “the grave,” cf. KJV, NIV, NLT (3) “Sheol” as the realm of departed spirits, cf. NAB “the nether world,” and (4) “extreme danger.” Here it is parallel to the noun בוֹר (vor, “the Pit”) so it is the grave or more likely “Sheol” (cf. ASV, NRSV). Elsewhere Sheol is personified as having an insatiable appetite and swallowing people alive as they descend to their death (e.g., Num 16:30, 33; Isa 5:14; Hab 2:5). In ancient Near Eastern literature, the grave is often personified in similar manner, e.g., in Ugaritic mythological texts Mot (= “death”) is referred to as “the great swallower.”

[1:12]  ¹² tn Heb “and whole.” The vav (ו) is asseverative or appositional (“even”); it is omitted in the translation for the sake of style and smoothness. The substantival adjective תָּמִים (tamim, “whole; perfect; blameless”) is an adverbial accusative describing the condition and state of the object. Used in parallel to חַיִּים (khayyim, “alive”), it must mean “full of health” (BDB 1071 s.v. תָּמִים 2). These cutthroats want to murder a person who is full of vigor.

[1:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “find.” The use of the verb מָצָא (matsa’, “to find”) is deliberate understatement to rhetorically down-play the heinous act of thievery.

[1:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “all wealth of preciousness.”

[1:13]  ¹⁵ tn The noun שָׁלָל (shalal, “plunder”) functions as an adverbial accusative of material: “with plunder.” This term is normally used for the spoils of war (e.g., Deut 20:14; Josh 7:21; Judg 8:24, 25; 1 Sam 30:20) but here refers to “stolen goods” (so NCV, CEV; e.g., Isa 10:2; Prov 16:19; BDB 1022 s.v. 3). The enticement was to join a criminal gang and adopt a life of crime to enjoy ill-gotten gain (A. Cohen, Proverbs, 4). Cf. NAB, NRSV “booty”; TEV “loot.”

[1:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Throw in your lot with us.” This is a figurative expression (hypocatastasis) urging the naive to join their life of crime and divide their loot equally. The noun גּוֹרָל (goral, “lot”) can refer to (1) lot thrown for decision-making processes, e.g., choosing the scapegoat (Lev 16:8), discovering a guilty party (Jonah 1:7) or allocating property (Josh 18:6); (2) allotted portion (Josh 15:1) and (3) allotted fate or future destiny (Prov 1:14; Dan 12:13; see BDB 174 s.v.). Here the criminals urged the lad to share their life. The verb תַּפִּיל (tappil) is an imperfect of injunction: “Throw in…!” but might also be an imperfect of permission: “you may throw.” It functions metonymically as an invitation to join their life of crime: “share with us” (BDB 658 s.v. 3).

[1:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “there will be to all of us.”

[1:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “one purse” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV). The term כִּיס (kis, “purse; bag”) is a synecdoche of container (= purse) for contents (= stolen goods). The adjective אֶחָד (’ekhad, “one”) indicates that the thieves promised to share equally in what they had stolen.

[1:15]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “do not walk.”

[1:15]  ²⁰ tn Heb “in the way with them.”

[1:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “your foot.” The term “foot” (רֶגֶל, regel) is a synecdoche of part (= your foot) for the whole person (= yourself).

[1:15]  ²² sn The word “path” (נְתִיבָה, nÿtivah) like the word “way” (דֶּרֶךְ, derekh) is used as an idiom (developed from a hypocatastasis), meaning “conduct, course of life.”

[1:16]  ²³ tn Heb “their feet.” The term “feet” is a synecdoche of the part (= their feet) for the whole person (= they), stressing the eagerness of the robbers.

[1:16]  ²⁴ tn Heb “run.” The verb רוּץ (ruts, “run”) functions here as a metonymy of association, meaning “to be eager” to do something (BDB 930 s.v.).

[1:16]  ²⁵ tn Heb “to harm.” The noun רַע (ra’) has a four-fold range of meanings: (1) “pain, harm” (Prov 3:30), (2) “calamity, disaster” (13:21), (3) “distress, misery” (14:32) and (4) “moral evil” (8:13; see BDB 948-49 s.v.). The parallelism with “swift to shed blood” suggests it means “to inflict harm, injury.”

[1:16]  ²⁶ tn The imperfect tense verbs may be classified as habitual or progressive imperfects describing their ongoing continual activity.

[1:16]  ²⁷ tc The BHS editors suggest deleting this entire verse from MT because it does not appear in several versions (Codex B of the LXX, Coptic, Arabic) and is similar to Isa 59:7a. It is possible that it was a scribal gloss (intentional addition) copied into the margin from Isaiah. But this does not adequately explain the differences. It does fit the context well enough to be original.

[1:17]  ²⁸ tn Heb “for the net to be spread out.” The Pual participle of זָרָה (zarah) means “to be spread” (HALOT 280 s.v. I זרה pu.1). The subject of this verbal use of the participle is the noun הָרָשֶׁת (harashet, “the net”). It is futile for the net to be spread out in plain view of birds.

[1:17]  ²⁹ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[1:17]  ³⁰ tn Heb “all of the possessors of wings.”

[1:18]  ³¹ sn They think that they are going to shed innocent blood, but in their blindness they do not realize that it is their own blood they shed. Their greed will lead to their destruction. This is an example of ironic poetic justice. They do not intend to destroy themselves; but this is what they accomplish.

[1:18]  ³² tn Heb “their own souls.” The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) is used as a metonymy (= soul) of association (= life). The noun נֶפֶשׁ often refers to physical “life” (Exod 21:23; Num 17:3; Judg 5:18; Prov 12:10; BDB 659 s.v. 3.c).

[1:19]  ³³ tn The exclamation כֵּן (ken, “so; thus; such”) marks a conclusion (BDB 485 s.v.). It draws a comparison between the destruction of the wicked in v. 18 and the concluding statement in v. 19.

[1:19]  ³⁴ tc The MT reads אָרְחוֹת (’orkhot, “paths; ways” as figure for mode of life): “so are the ways [or, paths] of all who gain profit unjustly.” The BHS editors suggest emending the text to אַחֲרִית (’akharit, “end” as figure for their fate) by simple metathesis between ח (khet) and ר (resh) and by orthographic confusion between י (yod) and ו (vav), both common scribal errors: “so is the fate of all who gain profit unjustly.” The external evidence supports MT, which is also the more difficult reading. It adequately fits the context which uses “way” and “path” imagery throughout 1:10-19.

[1:19]  ³⁵ tn Heb “those who unjustly gain unjust gain.” The participle בֹּצֵעַ (boysea’, “those who unjustly gain”) is followed by the cognate accusative of the same root בָּצַע (batsa’, “unjust gain”) to underscore the idea that they gained their wealth through heinous criminal activity.

[1:19]  ³⁶ tn The subject of the verb is the noun בָּצַע (“unjust gain”), which is also the referent of the 3rd person masculine singular suffix on בְּעָלָיו (bÿ’alav, “its owners”). Greed takes away the life of those who live by greed (e.g., 15:27; 26:27). See G. R. Driver, “Problems in the Hebrew Text of Proverbs,” Bib 32 (1951): 173-74.

[1:19]  ³⁷ tn The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) is used as a metonymy (= soul) of association (= life). The noun נֶפֶשׁ often refers to physical “life” (Exod 21:23; Num 17:3; Judg 5:18; Prov 12:10; BDB 659 s.v. 3.c).

[1:19]  ³⁸ tn Heb “its owners.”

[4:14]  ³⁹ tn The verb אָשַׁר (’ashar, “to walk”) is not to be confused with the identically spelled homonym אָשַׁר “to pronounce happy” as in BDB 80 s.v. אָשַׁר.

[4:15]  ⁴⁰ sn The verb עָבַר (’avar, “to cross over; to travel through”) ends both cola. In the first it warns against going on wrong paths; in the second it means “to go your own way,” but may hint that the way will cross over the wrong way. The rapid sequence of commands stresses the urgency of the matter.

[4:16]  ⁴¹ sn The verb is רָעַע (ra’a’), which means “to do evil; to harm.” The verse is using the figure of hyperbole to stress the preoccupation of some people with causing trouble. R. L. Alden says, “How sick to find peace only at the price of another man’s misfortune” (Proverbs, 47).

[4:16]  ⁴² sn Heb “their sleep is robbed/seized”; these expressions are metonymical for their restlessness in plotting evil.

[4:16]  ⁴³ sn The Hiphil imperfect (Kethib) means “cause to stumble.” This idiom (from hypocatastasis) means “bring injury/ruin to someone” (BDB 505-6 s.v. כָּשַׁל Hiph.1).

[4:17]  ⁴⁴ tn The noun is a cognate accusative stressing that they consume wickedness.

[4:17]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “the bread of wickedness” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV). There are two ways to take the genitives: (1) genitives of apposition: wickedness and violence are their food and drink (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT), or (2) genitives of source: they derive their livelihood from the evil they do (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 93).

[4:17]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “the wine of violence” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV). This is a genitive of source, meaning that the wine they drink was plundered from their violent crime. The Hebrew is structured in an AB:BA chiasm: “For they eat the bread of wickedness, and the wine of violence they drink.” The word order in the translation is reversed for the sake of smoothness and readability.

[9:6]  ⁴⁷ tn There are two ways to take this word: either as “fools” or as “foolish ways.” The spelling for “foolishness” in v. 13 differs from this spelling, and so some have taken that as an indicator that this should be “fools.” But this could still be an abstract plural here as in 1:22. Either the message is to forsake fools (i.e., bad company; cf. KJV, TEV) or forsake foolishness (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT).

[9:6]  ⁴⁸ tn The two imperatives are joined with vav; this is a volitive sequence in which result or consequence is expressed.

[9:6]  ⁴⁹ tn The verb means “go straight, go on, advance” or “go straight on in the way of understanding” (BDB 80 s.v. אָשַׁר).

[13:20]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “walks.” When used with the preposition אֶת (’et, “with”), the verb הָלַךְ (halakh, “to walk”) means “to associate with” someone (BDB 234 s.v. הָלַךְ II.3.b; e.g., Mic 6:8; Job 34:8). The active participle of הָלַךְ (“to walk”) stresses continual, durative action. One should stay in close association with the wise, and move in the same direction they do.

[13:20]  ⁵¹ tn The verb form יֵרוֹעַ (yeroa’) is the Niphal imperfect of רָעַע (ra’a’), meaning “to suffer hurt.” Several have attempted to parallel the repetition in the wordplay of the first colon. A. Guillaume has “he who associates with fools will be left a fool” (“A Note on the Roots רִיע, יָרַע, and רָעַע in Hebrew,” JTS 15 [1964]: 294). Knox translated the Vulgate thus: “Fool he ends that fool befriends” (cited by D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 104).

[17:4]  ⁵² tn Heb “with regard to the deeds of man[kind].”

[17:4]  ⁵³ tn Heb “by the word of your lips, I, I have watched the paths of the violent” (i.e., “watched” in the sense of “watched for the purpose of avoiding”).

[17:5]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “my steps stay firm in your tracks.” The infinitive absolute functions here as a finite verb (see GKC 347 §113.gg). God’s “tracks” are his commands, i.e., the moral pathways he has prescribed for the psalmist.

[17:5]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “my footsteps do not stagger.”

[26:4]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “sit.”

[26:4]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “go.” The psalmist uses the imperfect form of the verb to emphasize that he does not make a practice of associating with such people.

[26:4]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “[those who] conceal themselves.”

[26:5]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “assembly, company.”

[26:5]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “sit.” The psalmist uses the imperfect form of the verb to emphasize that he does not make a practice of associating with such people.

[141:4]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “do not turn my heart toward an evil thing.”

[141:4]  ⁶² tn Heb “to act sinfully in practices in wickedness with men, doers of evil.”

[141:4]  ⁶³ sn Their delicacies. This probably refers to the enjoyment that a sinful lifestyle appears to offer.

[141:2]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “may my prayer be established [like] incense before you, the uplifting of my hands [like] an evening offering.”

[1:17]  ⁶⁵ tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.