Proverbs 10:1

The First Collection of Solomonic Proverbs ¹ 

10:1 The Proverbs of Solomon:

A wise child ²  makes a father rejoice, ³ 

but a foolish child ⁴  is a grief to his mother. ⁵ 

Proverbs 17:25

17:25 A foolish child is a grief ⁶  to his father,

and bitterness to the mother who bore him. ⁷ 

Proverbs 23:22-25

23:22 Listen to your father who begot you,

and do not despise your mother when she is old.

23:23 Acquire ⁸  truth and do not sell it –

wisdom, and discipline, and understanding.

23:24 The father of a righteous person will rejoice greatly; ⁹ 

whoever fathers a wise child ¹⁰  will have joy in him.

23:25 May your father and your mother have joy;

may she who bore you rejoice. ¹¹ 

Proverbs 28:14

28:14 Blessed is the one who is always cautious, ¹² 

but whoever hardens his heart ¹³  will fall into evil.

Proverbs 30:11

30:11 There is a generation ¹⁴  who curse their fathers

and do not bless their mothers. ¹⁵ 

Proverbs 30:17

30:17 The eye ¹⁶  that mocks at a father

and despises obeying ¹⁷  a mother –

the ravens of the valley will peck it out

and the young vultures will eat it. ¹⁸ 

Deuteronomy 21:18-21

21:18 If a person has a stubborn, rebellious son who pays no attention to his father or mother, and they discipline him to no avail, ¹⁹  21:19 his father and mother must seize him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his city. 21:20 They must declare to the elders ²⁰  of his city, “Our son is stubborn and rebellious and pays no attention to what we say – he is a glutton and drunkard.” 21:21 Then all the men of his city must stone him to death. In this way you will purge out ²¹  wickedness from among you, and all Israel ²²  will hear about it and be afraid.

Luke 15:12-16

15:12 The ²³  younger of them said to his ²⁴  father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate ²⁵  that will belong ²⁶  to me.’ So ²⁷  he divided his ²⁸  assets between them. ²⁹  15:13 After ³⁰  a few days, ³¹  the younger son gathered together all he had and left on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered ³²  his wealth ³³  with a wild lifestyle. 15:14 Then ³⁴  after he had spent everything, a severe famine took place in that country, and he began to be in need. 15:15 So he went and worked for ³⁵  one of the citizens of that country, who ³⁶  sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ³⁷  15:16 He ³⁸  was longing to eat ³⁹  the carob pods ⁴⁰  the pigs were eating, but ⁴¹  no one gave him anything.

Luke 15:30

15:30 But when this son of yours ⁴²  came back, who has devoured ⁴³  your assets with prostitutes, ⁴⁴  you killed the fattened calf ⁴⁵  for him!’

[10:1]  ¹ sn Beginning with ch. 10 there is a difference in the form of the material contained in the book of Proverbs. No longer are there long admonitions, but the actual proverbs, short aphorisms dealing with right or wrong choices. Other than a few similar themes grouped together here and there, there is no arrangement to the material as a whole. It is a long collection of approximately 400 proverbs.

[10:1]  ² tn Heb “son.”

[10:1]  ³ tn The imperfect tense describes progressive or habitual action, translated here with an English present tense. These fit the nature of proverbs which are general maxims, and not necessarily absolutes or universal truths. One may normally expect to find what the proverb notes, and one should live according to its instructions in the light of those expectations; but one should not be surprised if from time to time there is an exception. The fact that there may be an exception does not diminish the need to live by the sayings.

[10:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “son.”

[10:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “grief of his mother.” The noun “grief” is in construct, and “mother” is an objective genitive. The saying declares that the consequences of wisdom or folly affects the parents.

[17:25]  ⁶ sn The Hebrew noun means “vexation, anger, grief.”

[17:25]  ⁷ tn Heb “to the one who bore him.” Because the participle is feminine singular in Hebrew, this has been translated as “the mother who bore him.”

[23:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “buy” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NLT); CEV “Invest in truth.”

[23:24]  ⁹ tc The Qere reading has the imperfect יָגִיל (yagil) with the cognate accusative גִּיל (gil) which intensifies the meaning and the specific future of this verb.

[23:24]  ¹⁰ tn The term “child” is supplied for the masculine singular adjective here.

[23:25]  ¹¹ tn The form תָגֵל (tagel) is clearly a short form and therefore a jussive (“may she…rejoice”); if this second verb is a jussive, then the parallel יִשְׂמַח (yismakh) should be a jussive also (“may your father and your mother have joy”).

[28:14]  ¹² tn Most commentators (and some English versions, e.g., NIV) assume that the participle מְפַחֵד (mÿfakhed, “fears”) means “fears the Lord,” even though “the Lord” is not present in the text. Such an assumption would be more convincing if the word יִרְאַת (yir’at) had been used. It is possible that the verse refers to fearing sin or its consequences. In other words, the one who is always apprehensive about the nature and consequences of sin will avoid sin and find God’s blessing. Of course the assumption that the phrase means “fear the Lord” could be correct as well. There would be little difference in the outcome; in either case sin would be avoided.

[28:14]  ¹³ sn The one who “hardens his heart” in this context is the person who refuses to fear sin and its consequences. The image of the “hard heart” is one of a stubborn will, unyielding and unbending (cf. NCV, TEV, NLT). This individual will fall into sin.

[30:11]  ¹⁴ sn The next four verses all start with the Hebrew expression translated “There is a generation.” This is a series of denunciations of things that are dangerous in society without mentioning specific punishments or proscriptions. The word “generation” as used in this passage refers to a class or group of people.

[30:11]  ¹⁵ sn The first observation is that there is a segment in society that lacks respect for parents. This uses the antonyms “curse” and [not] “bless” to make the point. To “curse” a parent could include treating them lightly, defaming them, or showing disrespect in general. To “bless” would mean to honor, respect, or enrich in some way, which is what should be done (e.g., Exod 21:17; Prov 20:20).

[30:17]  ¹⁶ sn The “eye” as the organ that exhibits the inner feelings most clearly, here represents a look of scorn or disdain that speaks volumes (a metonymy of cause or of adjunct). It is comparable to the “evil eye” which is stinginess (28:22).

[30:17]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew word לִיקֲּהַת (liqqahat, “obeying”) occurs only here and in Gen 49:10; it seems to mean “to receive” in the sense of “receiving instruction” or “obeying.” C. H. Toy suggests emending to “to old age” (לְזִקְנַת, lÿziqnat) of the mother (Proverbs [ICC], 530). The LXX with γῆρας (ghra", “old age”) suggests that a root lhq had something to do with “white hair.” D. W. Thomas suggests a corruption from lhyqt to lyqht; it would have read, “The eye that mocks a father and despises an aged mother” (“A Note on לִיקֲּהַת in Proverbs 30:17,” JTS 42 [1941]: 154-55); this is followed by NAB “or scorns an aged mother.”

[30:17]  ¹⁸ sn The sternest punishment is for the evil eye. The punishment is talionic – eye for eye. The reference to “the valley” may indicate a place where people are not be given decent burials and the birds of prey pick the corpses clean. It is an image the prophets use in judgment passages.

[21:18]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and he does not listen to them.”

[21:20]  ²⁰ tc The LXX and Smr read “to the men,” probably to conform to this phrase in v. 21. However, since judicial cases were the responsibility of the elders in such instances (cf. Deut 19:12; 21:3, 6; 25:7-8) the reading of the MT is likely original and correct here.

[21:21]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew term בִּעַרְתָּה (bi’artah), here and elsewhere in such contexts (cf. Deut 13:5; 17:7, 12; 19:19; 21:9), suggests God’s anger which consumes like fire (thus בָעַר, ba’ar, “to burn”). See H. Ringgren, TDOT 2:203-4.

[21:21]  ²² tc Some LXX traditions read הַנִּשְׁאָרִים (hannish’arim, “those who remain”) for the MT’s יִשְׂרָאֵל (yisra’el, “Israel”), understandable in light of Deut 19:20. However, the more difficult reading found in the MT is more likely original.

[15:12]  ²³ tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[15:12]  ²⁴ tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[15:12]  ²⁵ tn L&N 57.19 notes that in nonbiblical contexts in which the word οὐσία (ousia) occurs, it refers to considerable possessions or wealth, thus “estate.”

[15:12]  ²⁶ tn L&N 57.3, “to belong to or come to belong to, with the possible implication of by right or by inheritance.”

[15:12]  ²⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the father’s response to the younger son’s request.

[15:12]  ²⁸ tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[15:12]  ²⁹ sn He divided his assets between them. There was advice against doing this in the OT Apocrypha (Sir 33:20). The younger son would get half of what the older son received (Deut 21:17).

[15:13]  ³⁰ tn Grk “And after.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[15:13]  ³¹ tn Grk “after not many days.”

[15:13]  ³² tn Or “wasted.” This verb is graphic; it means to scatter (L&N 57.151).

[15:13]  ³³ tn Or “estate” (the same word has been translated “estate” in v. 12).

[15:14]  ³⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the sequence of events in the parable. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style generally does not.

[15:15]  ³⁵ tn Grk “joined himself to” (in this case an idiom for beginning to work for someone).

[15:15]  ³⁶ tn Grk “and he.” Here the conjunction καί (kai) and the personal pronoun have been translated by a relative pronoun to improve the English style.

[15:15]  ³⁷ sn To a Jew, being sent to the field to feed pigs would be an insult, since pigs were considered unclean animals (Lev 11:7).

[15:16]  ³⁸ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[15:16]  ³⁹ tn Or “would gladly have eaten”; Grk “was longing to be filled with.”

[15:16]  ⁴⁰ tn This term refers to the edible pods from a carob tree (BDAG 540 s.v. κεράτιον). They were bean-like in nature and were commonly used for fattening pigs, although they were also used for food by poor people (L&N 3.46).

[15:16]  ⁴¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[15:30]  ⁴² sn Note the younger son is not “my brother” but this son of yours (an expression with a distinctly pejorative nuance).

[15:30]  ⁴³ sn This is another graphic description. The younger son’s consumption had been like a glutton. He had both figuratively and literally devoured the assets which were given to him.

[15:30]  ⁴⁴ sn The charge concerning the prostitutes is unproven, but essentially the older brother accuses the father of committing an injustice by rewarding his younger son’s unrighteous behavior.

[15:30]  ⁴⁵ sn See note on the phrase “fattened calf” in v. 23.