Proverbs 1:18

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

they ambush their own lives! ² 

Proverbs 3:22

3:22 So ³  they will give ⁴  life to you, ⁵ 

and grace to adorn ⁶  your neck. ⁷ 

Proverbs 19:15

19:15 Laziness brings on ⁸  a deep sleep, ⁹ 

and the idle person ¹⁰  will go hungry. ¹¹ 

Proverbs 21:23

21:23 The one who guards his mouth and his tongue ¹² 

keeps his life ¹³  from troubles. ¹⁴ 

Proverbs 22:25

22:25 lest you learn ¹⁵  his ways

and entangle yourself in a snare. ¹⁶ 

Proverbs 23:14

23:14 If you strike ¹⁷  him with the rod,

you will deliver him ¹⁸  from death. ¹⁹ 

Proverbs 29:17

29:17 Discipline your child, and he will give you rest; ²⁰ 

he will bring you ²¹  happiness. ²² 

Proverbs 31:6

31:6 Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, ²³ 

and wine to those who are bitterly distressed; ²⁴ 

[1:18]  ¹ 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]  ² 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).

[3:22]  ³ tn Heb “and.” The vav probably denotes purpose/result.

[3:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “they will be.”

[3:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “your soul.” The noun נַפְשֶׁךָ (nafshekha, “your soul”) is a synecdoche of part (= inner soul) for the whole person (= you); see BDB 600 s.v. 4.a.2.

[3:22]  ⁶ tn The phrase “to adorn” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[3:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “grace for your neck.” See note on 1:9.

[19:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “causes to fall” or “casts”; NAB “plunges…into.”

[19:15]  ⁶ tn Or “complete inactivity”; the word תַּרְדֵּמָה (tardemah) can refer to a physical “deep sleep” (e.g., Gen 2:21; Jonah 1:5, 6); but it can also be used figuratively for complete inactivity, as other words for “sleep” can. Here it refers to lethargy or debility and morbidness.

[19:15]  ⁷ tn The expression וְנֶפֶשׁ רְמִיָּה (vÿnefesh rÿmiyyah) can be translated “the soul of deceit” or “the soul of slackness.” There are two identical feminine nouns, one from the verb “beguile,” and the other from a cognate Arabic root “grow loose.” The second is more likely here in view of the parallelism (cf. NIV “a shiftless man”; NAB “the sluggard”). One who is slack, that is, idle, will go hungry.

[19:15]  ⁸ sn The two lines are related in a metonymical sense: “deep sleep” is the cause of going hungry, and “going hungry” is the effect of deep sleep.

[21:23]  ⁷ sn “Mouth” and “tongue” are metonymies of cause, signifying what one says (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV).

[21:23]  ⁸ tn This part could also be translated “keeps himself” (so NIV), for נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) often simply means “the whole person.” The participle שֹׁמֵר (shomer) is repeated from the first line in the parallelism – to guard what is said is to guard against difficulty.

[21:23]  ⁹ sn The “troubles” (צָרוֹת, tsarot) here could refer to social and legal difficulties into which careless talk might bring someone (e.g., 13:3; 18:21). The word means “a strait, a bind, difficulty.” Careless and free talking could get the person into a tight spot.

[22:25]  ⁹ tn The verb פֶּן־תֶּאֱלַף (pen-te’elaf) is translated “lest you learn.” The idea is more precisely “become familiar with his ways.” The construction indicates that if one associates with such people he will become like them (cf. TEV “you might learn their habits”).

[22:25]  ¹⁰ sn The warning in this proverb is to avoid associating with a hothead because his influence could be fatal (a similar idea is found in the Instruction of Amenemope, chap. 9, 11:13-14 [ANET 423]).

[23:14]  ¹¹ tn Or “punish” (NIV). The syntax of these two lines suggests a conditional clause (cf. NCV, NRSV).

[23:14]  ¹² tn Heb “his soul.” The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) functions as a synecdoche of part (= soul) for the whole (= person); see BDB 660 s.v. 4.

[23:14]  ¹³ tn The term שְׁאוֹל (shÿ’ol, “Sheol”) in this context probably means “death” (so NIV, NCV, NLT) and not the realm of the departed (wicked) spirits (cf. NAB “the nether world”). In the wisdom of other lands, Ahiqar 6:82 says, “If I strike you, my son, you will not die.” The idea is that discipline helps the child to a full life; if the child dies prematurely, it would be more than likely a consequence of not being trained by discipline. In the book of Proverbs the “death” mentioned here could be social as well as physical.

[29:17]  ¹³ tn The verb, a Hiphil imperfect with a suffix, could be subordinated to the preceding imperative to form a purpose clause (indirect volitive classification): “that he may give you rest.” The same then could apply to the second part of the verse.

[29:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “your soul.” The noun נַפְשֶׁךָ (nafshekha, “your soul”) is a synecdoche of part (= inner soul) for the whole person (= you); see, e.g., Isa 43:4; 51:23; BDB 600 s.v. 4.a.2.

[29:17]  ¹⁵ sn The parallelism of this verse is synthetic; the second half adds the idea of “delight/pleasure” to that of “rest.” So a disciplined child will both relieve anxiety (“give…rest”) and bring happiness to the parents.

[31:6]  ¹⁵ sn Wine and beer should be given to those distressed and dying in order to ease their suffering and help them forget.

[31:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to the bitter of soul.” The phrase לְמָרֵי נָפֶשׁ (lÿmare nafesh) has been translated “of heavy hearts” (KJV); “in anguish” (NIV); “in misery” (TEV); “in bitter distress” (NRSV); “sorely depressed” (NAB); “in deep depression (NLT); “have lost all hope” (CEV). The word “bitter” (מַר, mar) describes the physical and mental/spiritual suffering as a result of affliction, grief, or suffering – these people are in emotional pain. So the idea of “bitterly distressed” works as well as any other translation.