Proverbs 11:17

11:17 A kind person ¹  benefits ²  himself, ³ 

but a cruel person brings himself trouble. ⁴ 

Proverbs 20:28

20:28 Loyal love and truth ⁵  preserve a king,

and his throne is upheld by loyal love. ⁶ 

Proverbs 31:26

31:26 She opens her mouth ⁷  with wisdom,

and loving instruction ⁸  is on her tongue.

Proverbs 3:3

3:3 Do not let truth and mercy ⁹  leave you;

bind them around your neck,

write them on the tablet of your heart. ¹⁰ 

[11:17]  ¹ tn Heb “man of kindness.”

[11:17]  ² tn The term גֹּמֶל (gomel) means “to deal fully [or “adequately”] with” someone or something. The kind person will benefit himself.

[11:17]  ³ tn Heb “his own soul.” The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) is used as a synecdoche of part (= soul) for the whole (= person): “himself” (BDB 660 s.v. 4).

[11:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “brings trouble to his flesh.”

[20:28]  ⁵ tn The first line uses two Hebrew words, חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת (khesed ve’emet, “loyal love and truth”), to tell where security lies. The first word is the covenant term for “loyal love; loving-kindness; mercy”; and the second is “truth” in the sense of what is reliable and dependable. The two words often are joined together to form a hendiadys: “faithful love.” That a hendiadys is intended here is confirmed by the fact that the second line uses only the critical word חֶסֶד.

[20:28]  ⁶ sn The emphasis is on the Davidic covenant (2 Sam 7:11-16; Ps 89:19-37). It is the Lord and his faithful love for his covenant that ultimately makes the empire secure. But the enjoyment of divine protection requires the king to show loyal love as well.

[31:26]  ⁹ tn The first word of the seventeenth line begins with פּ (pe), the seventeenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[31:26]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew phrase תּוֹרַת־חֶסֶד (torat-khesed) is open to different interpretations. (1) The word “law” could here refer to “teaching” as it does frequently in the book of Proverbs, and the word “love,” which means “loyal, covenant love,” could have the emphasis on faithfulness, yielding the idea of “faithful teaching” to parallel “wisdom” (cf. NIV). (2) The word “love” should probably have more of the emphasis on its basic meaning of “loyal love, lovingkindness.” It also would be an attributive genitive, but its force would be that of “loving instruction” or “teaching with kindness.”

[3:3]  ¹³ tn The two words חֶסֶד וֶאֶמֶת (khesed ve’emet, “mercy and truth”) form a nominal hendiadys, the second word becoming an adjective: “faithful covenant love” or “loyal [covenant] love and faithfulness.”

[3:3]  ¹⁴ sn This involves two implied comparisons (hypocatastasis). One is a comparison of living out the duties and responsibilities taught with binding a chain around the neck, and the other is a comparison of the inward appropriation of the teachings with writing them on a tablet. So the teachings are not only to become the lifestyle of the disciple but his very nature.