Proverbs 1:16

1:16 for they ¹  are eager ²  to inflict harm, ³ 

and they hasten ⁴  to shed blood. ⁵ 

Proverbs 14:29

14:29 The one who is slow to anger has great understanding,

but the one who has a quick temper ⁶  exalts ⁷  folly.

Proverbs 21:5

21:5 The plans of the diligent ⁸  lead ⁹  only to plenty, ¹⁰ 

but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. ¹¹ 

Proverbs 25:8

25:8 Do not go out hastily to litigation, ¹² 

or ¹³  what will you do afterward

when your neighbor puts you to shame?

Proverbs 28:22

28:22 The stingy person ¹⁴  hastens after riches

and does not know that poverty will overtake him. ¹⁵ 

Job 31:5

31:5 If ¹⁶  I have walked in falsehood,

and if ¹⁷  my foot has hastened ¹⁸  to deceit –

Ecclesiastes 7:9

7:9 Do not let yourself be quickly provoked, ¹⁹ 

for anger resides in the lap ²⁰  of fools.

Isaiah 28:16

28:16 Therefore, this is what the sovereign master, the Lord, says:

“Look, I am laying ²¹  a stone in Zion,

an approved ²²  stone,

set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation. ²³ 

The one who maintains his faith will not panic. ²⁴ 

[1:16]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn The imperfect tense verbs may be classified as habitual or progressive imperfects describing their ongoing continual activity.

[1:16]  ⁵ 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.

[14:29]  ⁶ tn Heb “hasty of spirit” (so KJV, ASV); NRSV, NLT “a hasty temper.” One who has a quick temper or a short fuse will be evident to everyone, due to his rash actions.

[14:29]  ⁷ sn The participle “exalts” (מֵרִים, merim) means that this person brings folly to a full measure, lifts it up, brings it to the full notice of everybody.

[21:5]  ⁸ tn The word “diligent” is an adjective used substantivally. The related verb means “to cut, sharpen, decide”; so the adjective describes one who is “sharp” – one who acts decisively. The word “hasty” has the idea of being pressed or pressured into quick actions. So the text contrasts calculated expeditiousness with unproductive haste. C. H. Toy does not like this contrast, and so proposes changing the latter to “lazy” (Proverbs [ICC], 399), but W. McKane rightly criticizes that as unnecessarily forming a pedestrian antithesis (Proverbs [OTL], 550).

[21:5]  ⁹ tn The term “lead” is supplied in the translation.

[21:5]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew noun translated “plenty” comes from the verb יָתַר (yatar), which means “to remain over.” So the calculated diligence will lead to abundance, prosperity.

[21:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “lack; need; thing needed”; NRSV “to want.”

[25:8]  ¹² tn Heb “do not go out hastily to strive”; the verb “to strive” means dispute in the legal context. The last clause of v. 7, “what your eyes have seen,” does fit very well with the initial clause of v. 8. It would then say: What you see, do not take hastily to court, but if the case was not valid, he would end up in disgrace.

[25:8]  ¹³ tn The clause begins with פֶּן (pen, “lest”) which seems a bit out of place in this line. C. H. Toy suggests changing it to כִּי (ki, “for”) to make a better connection, instead of supplying an ellipsis: “lest it be said what…” (Proverbs [ICC], 461).

[28:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a man with an evil eye” (as opposed to the generous man who has a “good” eye). This individual is selfish, unkind, unsympathetic to others. He looks only to his own gain. Cf. NAB “The avaricious man”; NLT “A greedy person.”

[28:22]  ¹⁵ sn The one who is hasty to gain wealth is involved in sin in some way, for which he will be punished by poverty. The idea of “hastening” after riches suggests a dishonest approach to acquiring wealth.

[31:5]  ¹⁶ tn The normal approach is to take this as the protasis, and then have it resumed in v. 7 after a parenthesis in v. 6. But some take v. 6 as the apodosis and a new protasis in v. 7.

[31:5]  ¹⁷ tn The “if” is understood by the use of the consecutive verb.

[31:5]  ¹⁸ sn The verbs “walk” and “hasten” (referring in the verse to the foot) are used metaphorically for the manner of life Job lived.

[7:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Do not be hasty in your spirit to become angry.”

[7:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “bosom.”

[28:16]  ²¹ tc The Hebrew text has a third person verb form, which does not agree with the first person suffix that precedes. The form should be emended to יֹסֵד (yosed), a Qal active participle used in a present progressive or imminent future sense.

[28:16]  ²² tn Traditionally “tested,” but the implication is that it has passed the test and stands approved.

[28:16]  ²³ sn The reality behind the metaphor is not entirely clear from the context. The stone appears to represent someone or something that gives Zion stability. Perhaps the ideal Davidic ruler is in view (see 32:1). Another option is that the image of beginning a building project by laying a precious cornerstone suggests that God is about to transform Zion through judgment and begin a new covenant community that will experience his protection (see 4:3-6; 31:5; 33:20-24; 35:10).

[28:16]  ²⁴ tn Heb “will not hurry,” i.e., act in panic.