Proverbs 10:3

10:3 The Lord satisfies ¹  the appetite ²  of the righteous,

but he thwarts ³  the craving ⁴  of the wicked.

Proverbs 15:6

15:6 In the house ⁵  of the righteous is abundant wealth, ⁶ 

but the income of the wicked brings trouble. ⁷ 

Proverbs 21:20

21:20 There is desirable treasure and olive oil ⁸  in the dwelling of the wise,

but a foolish person ⁹  devours all he has. ¹⁰ 

Deuteronomy 7:12-14

Promises of Good for Covenant Obedience

7:12 If you obey these ordinances and are careful to do them, the Lord your God will faithfully keep covenant with you ¹¹  as he promised ¹²  your ancestors. 7:13 He will love and bless you, and make you numerous. He will bless you with many children, ¹³  with the produce of your soil, your grain, your new wine, your oil, the offspring of your oxen, and the young of your flocks in the land which he promised your ancestors to give you. 7:14 You will be blessed beyond all peoples; there will be no barrenness ¹⁴  among you or your livestock.

Psalms 37:11

37:11 But the oppressed will possess the land

and enjoy great prosperity. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 37:25-26

37:25 I was once young, now I am old.

I have never seen a godly man abandoned,

or his children ¹⁶  forced to search for food. ¹⁷ 

37:26 All day long he shows compassion and lends to others, ¹⁸ 

and his children ¹⁹  are blessed.

Matthew 6:33

6:33 But above all pursue his kingdom ²⁰  and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

[10:3]  ¹ tn Heb “does not allow…to go hungry.” The expression “The Lord does not allow the appetite of the righteous to go hungry” is an example of tapeinosis – a figurative expression stated in the negative to emphasize the positive: The Lord satisfies the appetite of the righteous.

[10:3]  ² tn The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) means “soul” but its root meaning is “throat” and it has a broad range of meanings; here it denotes “appetite” (BDB 660 s.v. 5.a; see, e.g., Pss 63:6; 107:9; Prov 27:7; Isa 56:11; 58:10; Jer 50:19; Ezek 7:19). The term could denote “desire” (BDB 660 s.v. 6.a) which would include the inner urge for success. By contrast, the wicked live unfulfilled lives – as far as spiritual values are concerned.

[10:3]  ³ tn Heb “thrusts away” (cf. ASV, NASB); NLT “refuses to satisfy.” The verb הָדַף (hadaf) means “to thrust away; to push; to drive,” either to depose or reject (BDB 213 s.v.).

[10:3]  ⁴ tn This verse contrasts the “appetite” of the righteous with the “craving” of the wicked. This word הַוַּה (havvah, “craving”) means “desire” often in a bad sense, as ‘the desire of the wicked,” which could not be wholesome (Ps 52:9).

[15:6]  ⁵ tn The term בֵּית (bet, “house”) functions as an adverbial accusative of location.

[15:6]  ⁶ sn The Hebrew noun חֹסֶן (khosen) means “wealth; treasure.” Prosperity is the reward for righteousness. This is true only in so far as a proverb can be carried in its application, allowing for exceptions. The Greek text for this verse has no reference for wealth, but talks about amassing righteousness.

[15:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “will be troubled.” The function of the Niphal participle may be understood in two ways: (1) substantival use: abstract noun meaning “disturbance, calamity” (BDB 747 s.v. עָכַר) or passive noun meaning “thing troubled,” or (2) verbal use: “will be troubled” (HALOT 824 s.v. עכר nif).

[21:20]  ⁸ tn The mention of “olive oil” (שֶׁמֶן, shemen) is problematic in the line – how can a fool devour it? Several attempts have been made to alleviate the problem. The NIV interprets “treasure” as “choice food,” so that food and oil would make more sense being swallowed. C. H. Toy (Proverbs [ICC], 406) suggests dropping “oil” altogether based on the reading in the LXX, but the Greek is too general for any support: It has “precious treasure will rest on the mouth of the sage.” W. McKane wants to change “oil” to an Arabic word “expensive” to read “desirable and rare wealth” (Proverbs [OTL], 552), but this idea does not match the metaphor any better. The figure of “devouring” in the second line simply means the fool uses up whatever he has.

[21:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “a fool of a man.”

[21:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he swallows it.” The imagery compares swallowing food with consuming one’s substance. The fool does not prepare for the future.

[7:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “will keep with you the covenant and loyalty.” On the construction used here, see v. 9.

[7:12]  ¹² tn Heb “which he swore on oath.” The relative pronoun modifies “covenant,” so one could translate “will keep faithfully the covenant (or promise) he made on oath to your ancestors.”

[7:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “will bless the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[7:14]  ¹⁴ sn One of the ironies about the promises to the patriarchs concerning offspring was the characteristic barrenness of the wives of the men to whom these pledges were made (cf. Gen 11:30; 25:21; 29:31). Their affliction is in each case described by the very Hebrew word used here (עֲקָרָה, ’aqarah), an affliction that will no longer prevail in Canaan.

[37:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and they will take delight in (see v. 4) abundance of peace.”

[37:25]  ¹⁶ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[37:25]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “or his offspring searching for food.” The expression “search for food” also appears in Lam 1:11, where Jerusalem’s refugees are forced to search for food and to trade their valuable possessions for something to eat.

[37:26]  ¹⁸ tn The active participles describe characteristic behavior.

[37:26]  ¹⁹ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[6:33]  ²⁰ tc ‡ Most mss (L W Θ 0233 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat sy mae) read τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ (thn basileian tou qeou kai thn dikaiosunhn aujtou, “the kingdom of God and his righteousness”) here, but the words “of God” are lacking in א B pc sa bo Eus. On the one hand, there is the possibility of accidental omission on the part of these Alexandrian witnesses, but it seems unlikely that the scribe’s eye would skip over both words (especially since τοῦ θεοῦ is bracketed by first declension nouns). Intrinsically, the author generally has a genitive modifier with βασιλεία – especially θεοῦ or οὐρανῶν (ouranwn) – but this argument cuts both ways: Although he might be expected to use such an adjunct here, scribes might also be familiar with his practice and would thus naturally insert it if it were missing in their copy of Matthew. Although a decision is difficult, the omission of τοῦ θεοῦ is considered most likely to be original. NA²⁷ includes the words in brackets, indicating doubt as to their authenticity.