Proverbs 1:15

1:15 My child, do not go down ¹  their way, ² 

withhold yourself ³  from their path; ⁴ 

Proverbs 2:20

2:20 So ⁵  you will walk in the way of good people, ⁶ 

and will keep on the paths of the righteous. ⁷ 

Proverbs 4:14

4:14 Do not enter the path of the wicked

or walk ⁸  in the way of those who are evil.

Proverbs 7:19

7:19 For my husband ⁹  is not at home; ¹⁰ 

he has gone on a journey of some distance.

Proverbs 16:29

16:29 A violent person ¹¹  entices ¹²  his neighbor,

and leads him down a path that is terrible. ¹³ 

Proverbs 22:5

22:5 Thorns and snares ¹⁴  are in the path of the perverse,

but the one who guards himself keeps far from them.

Proverbs 23:19

23:19 Listen, my child, ¹⁵  and be wise,

and guide your heart on the right way.

Proverbs 26:13

26:13 The sluggard ¹⁶  says, “There is a lion in the road!

A lion in the streets!” ¹⁷ 

[1:15]  ¹ tn Heb “do not walk.”

[1:15]  ² tn Heb “in the way with them.”

[1:15]  ³ tn Heb “your foot.” The term “foot” (רֶגֶל, regel) is a synecdoche of part (= your foot) for the whole person (= yourself).

[1:15]  ⁴ 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.”

[2:20]  ⁵ tn The conjunction לְמַעַן (lÿma’an, “so; as a result”) introduces the concluding result (BDB 775 s.v. מַעַן 2; HALOT 614 s.v. מַעַן 2.c) of heeding the admonition to attain wisdom (2:1-11) and to avoid the evil men and women and their destructive ways (2:12-19).

[2:20]  ⁶ tn The noun “good” (טוֹבִים, tovim) does not function as an attributive genitive (“the good way”) because it is a plural noun and the term “way” (דֶרֶךְ, derekh) is singular. Rather it functions as a genitive of possession identifying the people who walk on this path: “the way of the good people.”

[2:20]  ⁷ tn In the light of the parallelism, the noun “righteous” (צַדִּיקִים, tsadiqim) functions as a genitive of possession rather than an attributive genitive.

[4:14]  ⁹ 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.

[7:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “the man.” The LXX interpreted it as “my husband,” taking the article to be used as a possessive. Many English versions do the same.

[7:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in his house.”

[16:29]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “man of violence.” He influences his friends toward violence. The term חָמָס (khamas, “violence”) often refers to sins against society, social injustices, and crimes.

[16:29]  ¹⁸ tn The verb in the first colon is the Piel imperfect, and the form in the second is the Hiphil perfect; the first is a habitual imperfect, and the second a gnomic perfect. The first verb, “to persuade, seduce, entice,” is the metonymy of cause; the second verb, “to lead,” is the metonymy of effect, the two together forming the whole process.

[16:29]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “not good” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “a harmful path.” The expression “a way that is not good” is an example of tapeinosis – a deliberate understatement for the sake of emphasis: It is terrible. This refers to crime and violence. The understatement is used to warn people away from villains and to remind them to follow a good path.

[22:5]  ²¹ tc Because MT reading צִנִּים (tsinnim, “thorns”) does not make a very good match with “traps,” it has created some difficulty for interpreters. The word “thorns” may be obscure, but it is supported by the LXX (“prickly plants”) and an apparent cognate “thorns” in Num 33:55 and Josh 23:13. But some (including the editors of BHS) suggest changing it to צַמִּים (tsammim, “traps” changing a נ [nun] to a מ [mem]). But BDB 855 s.v. צַמִּים acknowledges that this word is a doubtful word, attested only a couple of times in Job (e.g., 18:9). W. McKane traces a development from the idea of צֵן (tsen, “basket; trap”) to support this change (Proverbs [OTL], 565). The present translation (like many other English versions) has retained “thorns,” even though the parallelism with “traps” is not very good; as the harder reading it is preferred. The variant readings have little textual or philological support, and simplify the line.

[23:19]  ²⁵ tn Heb “my son,” but the immediate context does not limit this to male children.

[26:13]  ²⁹ sn The Book of Fools covered vv. 1-12. This marks the beginning of what may be called the Book of Sluggards (vv. 13-16).

[26:13]  ³⁰ tn Heb “in the broad plazas”; NAB, NASB “in the square.” This proverb makes the same point as 22:13, namely, that the sluggard uses absurd excuses to get out of work. D. Kidner notes that in this situation the sluggard has probably convinced himself that he is a realist and not a lazy person (Proverbs [TOTC], 163).