Proverbs 13:13

13:13 The one who despises instruction ¹  will pay the penalty, ² 

but whoever esteems instruction ³  will ⁴  be rewarded. ⁵ 

Proverbs 14:2

14:2 The one who walks in his uprightness fears the Lord, ⁶ 

but the one who is perverted in his ways ⁷  despises him.

Proverbs 14:16

14:16 A wise person is cautious ⁸  and turns from evil,

but a fool throws off restraint ⁹  and is overconfident. ¹⁰ 

Proverbs 31:30

31:30 Charm is deceitful ¹¹  and beauty is fleeting, ¹² 

but a woman who fears the Lord ¹³  will be praised.

[13:13]  ¹ tn Heb “the word.” The term “word” means teaching in general; its parallel “command” indicates that it is the more forceful instruction that is meant. Both of these terms are used for scripture.

[13:13]  ² tc The MT reads יֵחָבֶל (yekhavel, “he will pay [for it]”; cf. NAB, NIV) but the BHS editors suggest revocalizing the text to יְחֻבָּל (yÿkhubal, “he will be broken [for it]”; cf. NRSV “bring destruction on themselves”).

[13:13]  ³ tn Heb “fears a commandment”; NIV “respects a command.”

[13:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “he” or “that one” [will be rewarded].

[13:13]  ⁵ tc The LXX adds: “A crafty son will have no good thing, but the affairs of a wise servant will be prosperous; and his path will be directed rightly.”

[14:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “fear of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) functions as an objective genitive.

[14:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “crooked of ways”; NRSV “devious in conduct.” This construct phrase features a genitive of specification: “crooked in reference to his ways.” The term “ways” is an idiom for moral conduct. The evidence that people fear the Lord is uprightness; the evidence of those who despise him is the devious ways.

[14:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “fears.” Since the holy name (Yahweh, translated “the Lord”) is not used, it probably does not here mean fear of the Lord, but of the consequences of actions.

[14:16]  ¹² tn The Hitpael of עָבַר (’avar, “to pass over”) means “to pass over the bounds of propriety; to act insolently” (BDB 720 s.v.; cf. ASV “beareth himself insolently”).

[14:16]  ¹³ tn The verb בָּטַח here denotes self-assurance or overconfidence. Fools are not cautious and do not fear the consequences of their actions.

[31:30]  ¹⁶ tn The first word of the twenty-first line begins with שׁ (shin), the twenty-first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The graphic distinction between שׁ (shin) and שׂ (sin) had not been made at the time the book of Proverbs was written; that graphic distinction was introduced by the Masoretes, ca. a.d. 1000.

[31:30]  ¹⁷ sn The verse shows that “charm” and “beauty” do not endure as do those qualities that the fear of the Lord produces. Charm is deceitful: One may be disappointed in the character of the one with beauty. Beauty is vain (fleeting as a vapor): Physical appearance will not last. The writer is not saying these are worthless; he is saying there is something infinitely more valuable.

[31:30]  ¹⁸ sn This chapter describes the wise woman as fearing the Lord. It is the fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom – that was the motto of the book (1:7). Psalm 111:10 also repeats that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.