Discovery BoxProverbs 1:13
Context1:13 We will seize 1 all kinds 2 of precious wealth;
we will fill our houses with plunder. 3
Proverbs 3:15
Context3:15 She is more precious than rubies,
and none of the things 4 you desire 5 can compare 6 with her. 7
Proverbs 12:27
Context12:27 The lazy person does not roast 8 his prey,
but personal possessions 9 are precious to the diligent.
Proverbs 24:4
Context24:4 by knowledge its rooms are filled
with all kinds of precious and pleasing treasures.
[1:13] 1 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] 2 tn Heb “all wealth of preciousness.”
[1:13] 3 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.”
[3:15] 4 tn Heb “all of your desires cannot compare with her.”
[3:15] 5 tn Heb “your desires.” The 2nd person masculine singular suffix on the noun probably functions as subjective genitive.
[3:15] 6 tn The imperfect tense verb יָסַד (yasad, “to establish be like; to resemble”) has a potential nuance here: “can be compared with.”
[3:15] 7 tn Heb “All of your desires do not compare with her.”
[12:27] 7 tc The MT reads יַחֲרֹךְ (yakharokh) from II חָרַךְ (kharakh, “to roast”?). On the other hand, several versions (LXX, Syriac, Vulgate) reflect a Hebrew Vorlage of יַדְרִיךְ (yadrikh) from דָרַךְ (darakh, “to gain”), meaning: “a lazy person cannot catch his prey” (suggested by Gemser; cf. NAB). The MT is the more difficult reading, being a hapax legomenon, and therefore should be retained; the versions are trying to make sense out of a rare expression.
