Proverbs 12:10

12:10 A righteous person cares for ¹  the life of his animal,

but even the most compassionate acts ²  of the wicked are cruel.

Proverbs 20:6

20:6 Many people profess their loyalty, ³ 

but a faithful person ⁴  – who can find? ⁵ 

Proverbs 23:8

23:8 you will vomit up ⁶  the little bit you have eaten,

and will have wasted your pleasant words. ⁷ 

[12:10]  ¹ tn Heb “knows”; NLT “concerned for the welfare of.” The righteous take care of animals, not just people.

[12:10]  ² tn Heb “but the mercies.” The additional words appear in the translation for the sake of clarification. The line can be interpreted in two ways: (1) when the wicked exhibit a kind act, they do it in a cruel way, or (2) even the kindest of their acts is cruel by all assessments, e.g., stuffing animals with food to fatten them for market – their “kindness” is driven by ulterior motives (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 129).

[20:6]  ³ tn Heb “many a man calls/proclaims a man of his loyal love.” The Syriac and Tg. Prov 20:6 render the verb as passive: “many are called kind.” Other suggestions include: “most men meet people who will do them occasional kindnesses” (RSV); “many men profess friendship” (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 384); “many men invite only the one who has shown them kindness.” The simplest interpretation in this context is “many proclaim [themselves to be] a kind person (= a loyal friend).” The contrast is between many who claim to be loyal friends and the one who actually proves to be faithful.

[20:6]  ⁴ tn The shift to the expression “a man of faithfulness[es]” in the second line indicates that of all those who claim to show faithful love, it is rare to find one who is truly reliable (as the word אֱמוּנִים [’emunim] indicates clearly); cf. NAB, NRSV “one worthy of trust.”

[20:6]  ⁵ sn The point of the rhetorical question is that a truly faithful friend is very difficult to find.

[23:8]  ⁵ sn Eating and drinking with a selfish miser would be irritating and disgusting. The line is hyperbolic; the whole experience turns the stomach.

[23:8]  ⁶ tn Or “your compliments” (so NASB, NIV); cf. TEV “your flattery.”