Proverbs 11:16

11:16 A generous woman ¹  gains honor,

and ruthless men ²  seize wealth. ³ 

Proverbs 15:33

15:33 The fear of the Lord provides wise instruction, ⁴ 

and before honor comes humility. ⁵ 

Proverbs 18:12

18:12 Before destruction the heart ⁶  of a person is proud,

but humility comes ⁷  before honor. ⁸ 

Proverbs 20:3

20:3 It is an honor for a person ⁹  to cease ¹⁰  from strife,

but every fool quarrels. ¹¹ 

Proverbs 25:27

25:27 It is not good ¹²  to eat too much honey,

nor is it honorable for people to seek their own glory. ¹³ 

Proverbs 26:8

26:8 Like tying a stone in a sling, ¹⁴ 

so is giving honor to a fool.

Proverbs 29:23

29:23 A person’s pride ¹⁵  will bring him low, ¹⁶ 

but one who has a lowly spirit ¹⁷  will gain honor.

[11:16]  ¹ tn Heb “a woman of grace.” The genitive חֵן (khen, “grace”) functions as an attributive adjective. The contrast is between “a gracious woman” (אֵשֶׁת־חֵן, ’eshet-khen), a woman who is not only graceful but generous, and “powerful men,” a term usually having a bad sense, such as tyrants or ruthless men.

[11:16]  ² tn Heb “those who are terrifying.” The term עָרִיץ (’arits) refers to a person who strikes terror into the hearts of his victims. The term refers to a ruthless person who uses violence to overcome his victims (BDB 792 s.v.). Cf. ASV, NASB, NLT “violent men”; NRSV “the aggressive.”

[11:16]  ³ tc The LXX adds: “She who hates virtue makes a throne for dishonor; the idle will be destitute of means.” This reading is followed by several English versions (e.g., NAB, NEB, NRSV, TEV). C. H. Toy concludes that MT provides remnants of the original, but that the LXX does not provide the full meaning (Proverbs [ICC], 229).

[15:33]  ⁴ tn Heb “[is] instruction of wisdom” (KJV and NASB similar). The noun translated “wisdom” is an attributive genitive: “wise instruction.”

[15:33]  ⁵ tn Heb “[is] humility” (so KJV). The second clause is a parallel idea in that it stresses how one thing leads to another – humility to honor. Humble submission in faith to the Lord brings wisdom and honor.

[18:12]  ⁷ sn The term “heart” is a metonymy of subject, referring to the seat of the spiritual and intellectual capacities – the mind, the will, the motivations and intentions. Proud ambitions and intentions will lead to a fall.

[18:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “[is] before honor”; cf. CEV “humility leads to honor.”

[18:12]  ⁹ sn The way to honor is through humility (e.g., Prov 11:2; 15:33; 16:18). The humility and exaltation of Jesus provides the classic example (Phil 2:1-10).

[20:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “man.”

[20:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “cessation” (שֶׁבֶת, shevet); NAB “to shun strife”; NRSV “refrain from strife.”

[20:3]  ¹² tn Heb “breaks out.” The Hitpael of the verb גָּלַע (gala’, “to expose; to lay bare”) means “to break out; to disclose oneself,” and so the idea of flaring up in a quarrel is clear. But there are also cognate connections to the idea of “showing the teeth; snarling” and so quarreling viciously.

[25:27]  ¹³ sn This is a figure of speech known as tapeinosis – a deliberate understatement to emphasize a worst-case scenario: “it is bad!”

[25:27]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and the investigation of their glory is not glory.” This line is difficult to understand but it forms an analogy to honey – glory, like honey, is good, but not to excess. The LXX rendered this, “it is proper to honor notable sayings.” A. A. MacIntosh suggests, “He who searches for glory will be distressed” (“A Note on Prov 25:27,” VT 20 [1970]: 112-14). G. E. Bryce has “to search out difficult things is glorious” (“Another Wisdom ‘Book’ in Proverbs,” JBL 91 (1972): 145-47). R. C. Van Leeuwen suggests, “to seek difficult things is as glory” (“Proverbs 25:27 Once Again,” VT 36 [1986]: 105-14). The Hebrew is cryptic, but not unintelligible: “seeking their glory [is not] glory.” It is saying that seeking one’s own glory is dishonorable.

[26:8]  ¹⁶ tn The translation “like tying a stone in a sling” seems to make the most sense, even though the word for “sling” occurs only here.

[29:23]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “pride of a man,” with “man” functioning as a possessive. There is no indication in the immediate context that this is restricted only to males.

[29:23]  ²⁰ tn There is a wordplay here due to the repetition of the root שָׁפֵל (shafel). In the first line the verb תִּשְׁפִּילֶנּוּ (tishpilennu) is the Hiphil imperfect of the root, rendered “will bring him low.” In the second line the word is used in the description of the “lowly of spirit,” שְׁפַל־רוּחַ (shÿfal-ruakh). The contrast works well: The proud will be brought “low,” but the one who is “lowly” will be honored. In this instance the wordplay can be preserved in the translation.

[29:23]  ²¹ tn Heb “low in spirit”; KJV “humble in spirit.” This refers to an attitude of humility.