Proverbs 13:17

13:17 An unreliable ¹  messenger falls ²  into trouble, ³ 

but a faithful envoy ⁴  brings ⁵  healing.

Proverbs 14:5

14:5 A truthful witness ⁶  does not lie,

but a false witness ⁷  breathes out lies. ⁸ 

Proverbs 20:6

20:6 Many people profess their loyalty, ⁹ 

but a faithful person ¹⁰  – who can find? ¹¹ 

[13:17]  ¹ tn Heb “bad.”

[13:17]  ² tn The RSV changes this to a Hiphil to read, “plunges [men] into trouble.” But the text simply says the wicked messenger “falls into trouble,” perhaps referring to punishment for his bad service.

[13:17]  ³ tn Or “evil.”

[13:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “an envoy of faithfulness.” The genitive אֱמוּנִים (’emunim, “faithfulness”) functions as an attributive adjective: “faithful envoy.” The plural form אמונים (literally, “faithfulnesses”) is characteristic of abstract nouns. The term “envoy” (צִיר, tsir) suggests that the person is in some kind of government service (e.g., Isa 18:2; Jer 49:14; cf. KJV, ASV “ambassador”). This individual can be trusted to “bring healing” – be successful in the mission. The wisdom literature of the ancient Neat East has much to say about messengers.

[13:17]  ⁵ tn The verb “brings” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

[14:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “a witness of faithfulness.” The genitive functions in an attributive sense: “faithful witness” (so KJV, NRSV); TEV “reliable witness.”

[14:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “a witness of falsehood.” The genitive functions in an attributive sense: “false witness.”

[14:5]  ⁸ sn This saying addresses the problem of legal testimony: A faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness does lie – naturally. The first colon uses the verb כָּזַב (kazav, “to lie”) and the second colon uses the noun כָּזָב (kazav, “lie; falsehood”).

[20:6]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ sn The point of the rhetorical question is that a truly faithful friend is very difficult to find.