Proverbs 12:25

12:25 Anxiety ¹  in a person’s heart ²  weighs him down, ³ 

but an encouraging ⁴  word brings him joy. ⁵ 

Proverbs 14:23

14:23 In all hard work ⁶  there is profit,

but merely talking about it ⁷  only brings ⁸  poverty. ⁹ 

Proverbs 15:1

15:1 A gentle response ¹⁰  turns away anger,

but a harsh word ¹¹  stirs up wrath. ¹² 

Proverbs 15:23

15:23 A person has joy ¹³  in giving an appropriate answer, ¹⁴ 

and a word at the right time ¹⁵  – how good it is!

Proverbs 16:13

16:13 The delight of kings ¹⁶  is righteous counsel, ¹⁷ 

and they love the one who speaks ¹⁸  uprightly. ¹⁹ 

Proverbs 30:8

30:8 Remove falsehood and lies ²⁰  far from me;

do not give me poverty or riches,

feed me with my allotted portion ²¹  of bread, ²² 

[12:25]  ¹ tn The word “anxiety” (דְּאָגָה, dÿ’agah) combines anxiety and fear – anxious fear (e.g., Jer 49:23; Ezek 4:16); and for the verb (e.g., Ps 38:18; Jer 17:8).

[12:25]  ² tn Heb “the heart of a man.”

[12:25]  ³ tn Heb “bows it [= his heart] down.” Anxiety weighs heavily on the heart, causing depression. The spirit is brought low.

[12:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “good.” The Hebrew word “good” (טוֹב, tov) refers to what is beneficial for life, promotes life, creates life or protects life. The “good word” here would include encouragement, kindness, and insight – the person needs to regain the proper perspective on life and renew his confidence.

[12:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “makes it [= his heart] glad.” The similarly sounding terms יַשְׁחֶנָּה (yashkhennah, “weighs it down”) and יְשַׂמְּחֶנָּה (yÿsammÿkhennah, “makes it glad”) create a wordplay (paronomasia) that dramatically emphasizes the polar opposite emotional states: depression versus joy.

[14:23]  ⁶ sn The Hebrew term עֶצֶב (’etsev, “painful toil; labor”) is first used in scripture in Gen 3:19 to describe the effects of the Fall. The point here is that people should be more afraid of idle talk than of hard labor.

[14:23]  ⁷ tn Heb “word of lips.” This construct phrase features a genitive of source (“a word from the lips”) or a subjective genitive (“speaking a word”). Talk without work (which produces nothing) is contrasted with labor that produces something.

[14:23]  ⁸ tn The term “brings” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.

[14:23]  ⁹ sn The noun מַחְסוֹר (makhsor, “need; thing needed; poverty”) comes from the verb “to lack; to be lacking; to decrease; to need.” A person given to idle talk rather than industrious work will have needs that go unmet.

[15:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “soft answer.” The adjective רַּךְ (rakh, “soft; tender; gentle”; BDB 940 s.v.) is more than a mild response; it is conciliatory, an answer that restores good temper and reasonableness (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 477). Gideon illustrates this kind of answer (Judg 8:1-3) that brings peace.

[15:1]  ¹² tn Heb “word of harshness”; KJV “grievous words.” The noun עֶצֶב (’etsev, “pain, hurt”) functions as an attributive genitive. The term עֶצֶב refers to something that causes pain (BDB 780 s.v. I עֶצֶב). For example, Jephthah’s harsh answer led to war (Judg 12:1-6).

[15:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “raises anger.” A common response to painful words is to let one’s temper flare up.

[15:23]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “joy to the man” or “the man has joy.”

[15:23]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in the answer of his mouth” (so ASV); NASB “in an apt answer.” The term “mouth” is a metonymy of cause for what he says. But because the parallelism is loosely synonymous, the answer given here must be equal to the good word spoken in season. So it is an answer that is proper or fitting.

[15:23]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “in its season.” To say the right thing at the right time is useful; to say the right thing at the wrong time is counterproductive.

[16:13]  ²¹ tn The MT has the plural, even though the verb “loves” is masculine singular. The ancient versions and two Hebrew mss read “a king.”

[16:13]  ²² tn Heb “lips of righteousness”; cf. NAB, NIV “honest lips.” The genitive “righteousness” functions as an attributive adjective. The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause for what is said: “righteous speech” or “righteous counsel.”

[16:13]  ²³ tn The MT has the singular participle followed by the plural adjective (which is here a substantive). The editors of BHS wish to follow the ancient versions in making the participle plural, “those who speak uprightly.”

[16:13]  ²⁴ sn The verse is talking about righteous kings, of course – they love righteousness and not flattery. In this proverb “righteous” and “upright” referring to what is said means “what is right and straight,” i.e., the truth (cf. NCV).

[30:8]  ²⁶ tn The two words might form a hendiadys: “falsehood and lies” being equivalent to “complete deception.” The word שָׁוְא means “false; empty; vain; to a false purpose.” The second word means “word of lying,” thus “a lying word.” Taken separately they might refer to false intentions and false words.

[30:8]  ²⁷ tn The word חֹק (khoq) means “statute”; it is also used of a definite assignment in labor (Exod 5:14; Prov 31:15), or of a set portion of food (Gen 47:22). Here it refers to food that is the proper proportion for the speaker.

[30:8]  ²⁸ sn Agur requested an honest life (not deceitful) and a balanced life (not self-sufficient). The second request about his provision is clarified in v. 9.