Discovery BoxProverbs 12:5
Context12:5 The plans 1 of the righteous are just;
the counsels of the wicked are deceitful. 2
Proverbs 16:3
Context16:3 Commit 3 your works 4 to the Lord,
and your plans will be established. 5
Proverbs 20:18
Context20:18 Plans 6 are established by counsel,
so 7 make war 8 with guidance.
Proverbs 6:18
Context6:18 a heart that devises wicked plans, 9
feet that are swift to run 10 to evil,
Proverbs 15:22
Context15:22 Plans fail 11 when there is no counsel,
but with abundant advisers they are established. 12
Proverbs 15:26
Context15:26 The Lord abhors 13 the plans 14 of the wicked, 15
but pleasant words 16 are pure. 17
Proverbs 19:21
Context19:21 There are many plans 18 in a person’s mind, 19
but it 20 is the counsel 21 of the Lord which will stand.
Proverbs 21:5
Context21:5 The plans of the diligent 22 lead 23 only to plenty, 24
but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. 25
[12:5] 1 tn Heb “thoughts.” This term refers not just to random thoughts, however, but to what is planned or devised.
[12:5] 2 sn The plans of good people are directed toward what is right. Advice from the wicked, however, is deceitful and can only lead to trouble.
[16:3] 3 tc The MT reads גֹּל (gol, “commit”) from the root גָּלַל (galal, “to roll”). The LXX and Tg. Prov 16:3 have “reveal” as if the root were גָּלָה (galah, “to reveal”).
[16:3] 4 tn The suffix on the plural noun would be a subjective genitive: “the works you are doing,” or here, “the works that you want to do.”
[16:3] 5 tn The syntax of the second clause shows that there is subordination: The vav on וְיִכֹּנוּ (vÿyikonu) coming after the imperative of the first clause expresses that this clause is the purpose or result. People should commit their works in order that the
[20:18] 5 tn The noun form is plural, but the verb is singular, suggesting either an abstract plural or a collective plural is being used here.
[20:18] 6 tn The clause begins with vav (ו) on “with guidance.” But the clause has an imperative for its main verb. One could take the imperfect tense in the first colon as an imperfect of injunction, and then this clause would be also instructional. But the imperfect tense is a Niphal, and so it is better to take the first colon as the foundational clause and the second colon as the consequence (cf. NAB): If that is true, then you should do this.
[20:18] 7 sn There have been attempts by various commentators to take “war” figuratively to mean life’s struggles, litigation, or evil inclinations. But there is no need and little justification for such interpretations. The proverb simply describes the necessity of taking counsel before going to war.
[6:18] 7 tn Heb “heart that devises plans of wickedness.” The latter term is an attributive genitive. The heart (metonymy of subject) represents the will; here it plots evil schemes. The heart is capable of evil schemes (Gen 6:5); the heart that does this is deceitful (Prov 12:20; 14:22).
[6:18] 8 tc The MT reads “make haste to run,” that is, be eager to seize the opportunity. The LXX omits “run,” that is, feet hastening to do evil. It must have appeared to the LXX translator that the verb was unnecessary; only one verb occurs in the other cola.
[15:22] 9 tn Heb “go wrong” (so NRSV, NLT). The verb is the Hiphil infinitive absolute from פָּרַר, parar, which means “to break; to frustrate; to go wrong” (HALOT 975 s.v. I פרר 2). The plans are made ineffectual or are frustrated when there is insufficient counsel.
[15:22] 10 sn The proverb says essentially the same thing as 11:14, but differently.
[15:26] 11 tn Heb “an abomination of the
[15:26] 12 tn The noun מַחְשְׁבוֹת (makhshÿvot) means “thoughts” (so KJV, NIV, NLT), from the verb חָשַׁב (khashav, “to think; to reckon; to devise”). So these are intentions, what is being planned (cf. NAB “schemes”).
[15:26] 13 tn The word רַע (“evil; wicked”) is a genitive of source or subjective genitive, meaning the plans that the wicked devise – “wicked plans.”
[15:26] 14 sn The contrast is between the “thoughts” and the “words.” The thoughts that are designed to hurt people the
[15:26] 15 tc The MT simply has “but pleasant words are pure” (Heb “but pure [plural] are the words of pleasantness”). Some English versions add “to him” to make the connection to the first part (cf. NAB, NIV). The LXX has: “the sayings of the pure are held in honor.” The Vulgate has: “pure speech will be confirmed by him as very beautiful.” The NIV has paraphrased here: “but those of the pure are pleasing to him.”
[19:21] 13 sn The plans (from the Hebrew verb חָשַׁב [khashav], “to think; to reckon; to devise”) in the human heart are many. But only those which God approves will succeed.
[19:21] 14 tn Heb “in the heart of a man” (cf. NAB, NIV). Here “heart” is used for the seat of thoughts, plans, and reasoning, so the translation uses “mind.” In contemporary English “heart” is more often associated with the seat of emotion than with the seat of planning and reasoning.
[19:21] 15 tn Heb “but the counsel of the
[19:21] 16 tn The antithetical parallelism pairs “counsel” with “plans.” “Counsel of the
[21:5] 15 tn The word “diligent” is an adjective used substantivally. The related verb means “to cut, sharpen, decide”; so the adjective describes one who is “sharp” – one who acts decisively. The word “hasty” has the idea of being pressed or pressured into quick actions. So the text contrasts calculated expeditiousness with unproductive haste. C. H. Toy does not like this contrast, and so proposes changing the latter to “lazy” (Proverbs [ICC], 399), but W. McKane rightly criticizes that as unnecessarily forming a pedestrian antithesis (Proverbs [OTL], 550).
[21:5] 16 tn The term “lead” is supplied in the translation.
[21:5] 17 tn The Hebrew noun translated “plenty” comes from the verb יָתַר (yatar), which means “to remain over.” So the calculated diligence will lead to abundance, prosperity.
[21:5] 18 tn Heb “lack; need; thing needed”; NRSV “to want.”
