Proverbs 1:26-27

1:26 so ¹  I myself will laugh ²  when disaster strikes you, ³ 

I will mock when what you dread ⁴  comes,

1:27 when what you dread ⁵  comes like a whirlwind, ⁶ 

and disaster strikes you ⁷  like a devastating storm, ⁸ 

when distressing trouble ⁹  comes on you.

[1:26]  ¹ tn The conclusion or apodosis is now introduced.

[1:26]  ² sn Laughing at the consequences of the fool’s rejection of wisdom does convey hardness against the fool; it reveals the folly of rejecting wisdom (e.g., Ps 2:4). It vindicates wisdom and the appropriateness of the disaster (D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 60).

[1:26]  ³ tn Heb “at your disaster.” The 2nd person masculine singular suffix is either (1) a genitive of worth: “the disaster due you” or (2) an objective genitive: “disaster strikes you.” The term “disaster” (אֵיד, ’ed) often refers to final life-ending calamity (Prov 6:15; 24:22; BDB 15 s.v. 3). The preposition ב (bet) focuses upon time here.

[1:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “your dread” (so NASB); KJV “your fear”; NRSV “panic.” The 2nd person masculine singular suffix is a subjective genitive: “that which you dread.”

[1:27]  ⁵ tn Heb “your dread.” See note on 1:31.

[1:27]  ⁶ sn The term “whirlwind” (NAB, NIV, NRSV; cf. TEV, NLT “storm”) refers to a devastating storm and is related to the verb שׁוֹא (sho’, “to crash into ruins”; see BDB 996 s.v. שׁוֹאָה). Disaster will come swiftly and crush them like a devastating whirlwind.

[1:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “your disaster.” The 2nd person masculine singular suffix is an objective genitive: “disaster strikes you.”

[1:27]  ⁸ tn Heb “like a storm.” The noun סוּפָה (sufah, “storm”) is often used in similes to describe sudden devastation (Isa 5:28; Hos 8:7; Amos 1:14).

[1:27]  ⁹ tn Heb “distress and trouble.” The nouns “distress and trouble” mean almost the same thing so they may form a hendiadys. The two similar sounding terms צוּקָה (tsuqah) and צָרָה (tsarah) also form a wordplay (paronomasia) which also links them together.