Proverbs 11:18

11:18 The wicked person ¹  earns ²  deceitful wages, ³ 

but the one who sows ⁴  righteousness reaps ⁵  a genuine ⁶  reward. ⁷ 

Proverbs 13:4

13:4 The appetite ⁸  of the sluggard ⁹  craves ¹⁰  but gets nothing,

but the desire of the diligent will be abundantly satisfied. ¹¹ 

Proverbs 13:11

13:11 Wealth gained quickly ¹²  will dwindle away, ¹³ 

but the one who gathers it little by little ¹⁴  will become rich. ¹⁵ 

Proverbs 16:4

16:4 The Lord works ¹⁶  everything for its own ends ¹⁷  –

even the wicked for the day of disaster. ¹⁸ 

Proverbs 17:8

17:8 A bribe works like ¹⁹  a charm ²⁰  for the one who offers it; ²¹ 

in whatever he does ²²  he succeeds. ²³ 

Proverbs 20:11

20:11 Even a young man ²⁴  is known ²⁵  by his actions,

whether his activity is pure and whether it is right. ²⁶ 

[11:18]  ¹ tn The form is the masculine singular adjective used as a substantive.

[11:18]  ² tn Heb “makes” (so NAB).

[11:18]  ³ tn Heb “wages of deception.”

[11:18]  ⁴ sn The participle “sowing” provides an implied comparison (the figure is known as hypocatastasis) with the point of practicing righteousness and inspiring others to do the same. What is sown will yield fruit (1 Cor 9:11; 2 Cor 9:6; Jas 3:18).

[11:18]  ⁵ tn The term “reaps” does not appear in the Hebrew but has been supplied in the translation from context for the sake of smoothness.

[11:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “true” (so NASB, NRSV); KJV, NAB, NIV “sure.”

[11:18]  ⁷ sn A wordplay (paronomasia) occurs between “deceptive” (שָׁקֶר, shaqer) and “reward” (שֶׂכֶר, sekher), underscoring the contrast by the repetition of sounds. The wages of the wicked are deceptive; the reward of the righteous is sure.

[13:4]  ⁸ tn The noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, traditionally “soul”) has a broad range of meanings, and here denotes “appetite” (e.g., Ps 17:9; Prov 23:3; Eccl 2:24; Isa 5:14; Hab 2:5; BDB 660 s.v. 5.c) or (2) “desire” (e.g., Deut 12:20; Prov 19:8; 21:10; BDB 660 s.v. 6.a).

[13:4]  ⁹ sn The contrast is between the “soul (= appetite) of the sluggard” (נַפְשׁוֹ עָצֵל, nafsho ’atsel) and the “soul (= desire) of the diligent” (נֶפֶשׁ חָרֻצִים, nefesh kharutsim) – what they each long for.

[13:4]  ¹⁰ tn The Hitpael verb means “to lust after; to crave.” A related verb is used in the Decalogue’s prohibition against coveting (Exod 20:17; Deut 5:21).

[13:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “will be made fat” (cf. KJV, NASB); NRSV “is richly supplied.”

[13:11]  ¹⁵ tc The MT reads מֵהֵבֶל (mehevel, “from vanity”). The Greek and Latin versions (followed by RSV) reflect מְבֹהָל (mÿvohal, “in haste”) which exhibits metathesis. MT is the more difficult reading and therefore preferred. The alternate reading fits the parallelism better, but is therefore a less difficult reading.

[13:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “will become small.” The verb מָעָט (ma’at) means “to become small; to become diminished; to become few.” Money gained without work will diminish quickly, because it was come by too easily. The verb forms a precise contrast with רָבָה (ravah), “to become much; to become many,” but in the Hiphil, “to multiply; to make much many; to cause increase.”

[13:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “by hand”; cf. KJV, ASV, NASB “by labor.”

[13:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “will increase.”

[16:4]  ²² sn The Hebrew verb translated “works” (פָּעַל, pa’al) means “to work out; to bring about; to accomplish.” It is used of God’s sovereign control of life (e.g., Num 23:23; Isa 26:12).

[16:4]  ²³ tn Heb “for its answer.” The term לַמַּעֲנֵהוּ (lamma’anehu) has been taken to mean either “for his purpose” or “for its answer.” The Hebrew word is מַעֲנֶה (ma’aneh, “answer”) and not לְמַעַן (lÿma’an, “purpose”). So the suffix likely refers to “everything” (כֹּל, kol). God ensures that everyone’s actions and the consequences of those actions correspond – certainly the wicked for the day of calamity. In God’s order there is just retribution for every act.

[16:4]  ²⁴ sn This is an example of synthetic parallelism (“A, what’s more B”). The A-line affirms a truth, and the B-line expands on it with a specific application about the wicked – whatever disaster comes their way is an appropriate correspondent for their life.

[17:8]  ²⁹ tn The phrase “works like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[17:8]  ³⁰ tn Heb “a stone of favors”; NAB, NRSV “a magic stone.” The term שֹׁחַד (shokhad, “bribe”) could be simply translated as “a gift”; but the second half of the verse says that the one who offers it is successful. At best it could be a gift that opens doors; at worst it is a bribe. The word שֹׁחַד is never used of a disinterested gift, so there is always something of the bribe in it (e.g., Ps 15:5; Isa 1:23). Here it is “a stone that brings favor,” the genitive being the effect or the result of the gift. In other words, it has magical properties and “works like a charm.”

[17:8]  ³¹ tn Heb “in the eyes of its owner.”

[17:8]  ³² tn Heb “in all that he turns”; NASB, NIV “wherever he turns.”

[17:8]  ³³ sn As C. H. Toy points out, the sage is merely affirming a point without making a comment – those who use bribery meet with widespread success (Proverbs [ICC], 341). This does not amount to an endorsement of bribery.

[20:11]  ³⁶ sn In the first nine chapters of the book of Proverbs the Hebrew term נַעַר (na’ar) referred to an adolescent, a young person whose character was being formed in his early life.

[20:11]  ³⁷ sn The Hebrew verb נָכַר (nakhar) means “to recognize” more than simply “to know.” Certain character traits can be recognized in a child by what he does (cf. NCV “by their behavior”).

[20:11]  ³⁸ sn Character is demonstrated by actions at any age. But the emphasis of the book of Proverbs would also be that if the young child begins to show such actions, then the parents must try to foster and cultivate them; if not, they must try to develop them through teaching and discipline.