Proverbs 13:20

13:20 The one who associates ¹  with the wise grows wise,

but a companion of fools suffers harm. ² 

Proverbs 23:20-21

23:20 Do not spend time ³  among drunkards, ⁴ 

among those who eat too much ⁵  meat,

23:21 because drunkards and gluttons become impoverished,

and drowsiness ⁶  clothes them with rags. ⁷ 

Jude 1:4

1:4 For certain men ⁸  have secretly slipped in among you ⁹  – men who long ago ¹⁰  were marked out ¹¹  for the condemnation I am about to describe ¹²  – ungodly men who have turned the grace of our God into a license for evil ¹³  and who deny our only Master ¹⁴  and Lord, ¹⁵  Jesus Christ.

Luke 15:12-17

15:12 The ¹⁶  younger of them said to his ¹⁷  father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate ¹⁸  that will belong ¹⁹  to me.’ So ²⁰  he divided his ²¹  assets between them. ²²  15:13 After ²³  a few days, ²⁴  the younger son gathered together all he had and left on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered ²⁵  his wealth ²⁶  with a wild lifestyle. 15:14 Then ²⁷  after he had spent everything, a severe famine took place in that country, and he began to be in need. 15:15 So he went and worked for ²⁸  one of the citizens of that country, who ²⁹  sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ³⁰  15:16 He ³¹  was longing to eat ³²  the carob pods ³³  the pigs were eating, but ³⁴  no one gave him anything. 15:17 But when he came to his senses ³⁵  he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food ³⁶  enough to spare, but here I am dying from hunger!

[13:20]  ¹ tn Heb “walks.” When used with the preposition אֶת (’et, “with”), the verb הָלַךְ (halakh, “to walk”) means “to associate with” someone (BDB 234 s.v. הָלַךְ II.3.b; e.g., Mic 6:8; Job 34:8). The active participle of הָלַךְ (“to walk”) stresses continual, durative action. One should stay in close association with the wise, and move in the same direction they do.

[13:20]  ² tn The verb form יֵרוֹעַ (yeroa’) is the Niphal imperfect of רָעַע (ra’a’), meaning “to suffer hurt.” Several have attempted to parallel the repetition in the wordplay of the first colon. A. Guillaume has “he who associates with fools will be left a fool” (“A Note on the Roots רִיע, יָרַע, and רָעַע in Hebrew,” JTS 15 [1964]: 294). Knox translated the Vulgate thus: “Fool he ends that fool befriends” (cited by D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 104).

[23:20]  ³ tn Heb “do not be among,” but in the sense of “associate with” (TEV); “join” (NIV); “consort…with” (NAB).

[23:20]  ⁴ tn The verb סָבָא (sava’) means “to imbibe; to drink largely.” The participial construction here, סֹבְאֵי־יַיִן (sov’e-yayin), describes “drunkards” (cf. NLT) which is somewhat stronger than saying it refers to “people who drink too much” (cf. NIV, TEV).

[23:20]  ⁵ tn The verb זָלַל (zalal) means “to be light; to be worthless; to make light of.” Making light of something came to mean “to be lavish with; to squander,” especially with regard to food. So it describes “gluttons” primarily; but in the expression there is also room for the person who wastes a lot of food as well.

[23:21]  ⁶ tn Here “drowsiness” is a metonymy of effect or adjunct, put for the drunkenness and gluttony that causes it. So all of it, the drunkenness and the drowsiness that comes from it, brings on the ruin (cf. CEV “you will end up poor”). Likewise, “rags” is a metonymy of adjunct, associated with the poverty brought on by a dissolute lifestyle.

[23:21]  ⁷ sn This is the fourteenth saying, warning about poor associations. Drunkenness and gluttony represent the epitome of the lack of discipline. In the Mishnah they are used to measure a stubborn and rebellious son (m. Sanhedrin 8). W. G. Plaut notes that excessive drinking and eating are usually symptoms of deeper problems; we usually focus more on the drinking because it is dangerous to others (Proverbs, 241-42).

[1:4]  ⁸ tn Grk “people.” However, if Jude is indeed arguing that Peter’s prophecy about false teachers has come true, these are most likely men in the original historical and cultural setting. See discussion of this point in the note on the phrase “these men” in 2 Pet 2:12.

[1:4]  ⁹ tn “Among you” is not in the Greek text, but is obviously implied.

[1:4]  ¹⁰ tn Or “in the past.” The adverb πάλαι (palai) can refer to either, though the meaning “long ago” is more common.

[1:4]  ¹¹ tn Grk “written about.”

[1:4]  ¹² tn Grk “for this condemnation.” τοῦτο (touto) is almost surely a kataphoric demonstrative pronoun, pointing to what follows in vv. 5-18. Otherwise, the condemnation is only implied (in v. 3b) or is merely a statement of their sinfulness (“ungodly” in v. 4b), not a judgment of it.

[1:4]  ¹³ tn Grk “debauchery.” This is the same word Peter uses to predict what the false teachers will be like (2 Pet 2:2, 7, 18).

[1:4]  ¹⁴ tc Most later witnesses (P Ψ Ï sy) have θεόν (qeon, “God”) after δεσπότην (despothn, “master”), which appears to be a motivated reading in that it explicitly links “Master” to “God” in keeping with the normal NT pattern (see Luke 2:29; Acts 4:24; 2 Tim 2:21; Rev 6:10). In patristic Greek, δεσπότης (despoth") was used especially of God (cf. BDAG 220 s.v. 1.b.). The earlier and better witnesses (Ì^72,78 א A B C 0251 33 81 323 1241 1739 al co) lack θεόν; the shorter reading is thus preferred on both internal and external grounds.

[1:4]  ¹⁵ tn The terms “Master and Lord” both refer to the same person. The construction in Greek is known as the Granville Sharp rule, named after the English philanthropist-linguist who first clearly articulated the rule in 1798. Sharp pointed out that in the construction article-noun-καί-noun (where καί [kai] = “and”), when two nouns are singular, personal, and common (i.e., not proper names), they always had the same referent. Illustrations such as “the friend and brother,” “the God and Father,” etc. abound in the NT to prove Sharp’s point. For more discussion see ExSyn 270-78. See also Titus 2:13 and 2 Pet 1:1

[15:12]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[15:12]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[15:12]  ¹⁸ tn L&N 57.19 notes that in nonbiblical contexts in which the word οὐσία (ousia) occurs, it refers to considerable possessions or wealth, thus “estate.”

[15:12]  ¹⁹ tn L&N 57.3, “to belong to or come to belong to, with the possible implication of by right or by inheritance.”

[15:12]  ²⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the father’s response to the younger son’s request.

[15:12]  ²¹ tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[15:12]  ²² sn He divided his assets between them. There was advice against doing this in the OT Apocrypha (Sir 33:20). The younger son would get half of what the older son received (Deut 21:17).

[15:13]  ²³ tn Grk “And after.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[15:13]  ²⁴ tn Grk “after not many days.”

[15:13]  ²⁵ tn Or “wasted.” This verb is graphic; it means to scatter (L&N 57.151).

[15:13]  ²⁶ tn Or “estate” (the same word has been translated “estate” in v. 12).

[15:14]  ²⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the sequence of events in the parable. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style generally does not.

[15:15]  ²⁸ tn Grk “joined himself to” (in this case an idiom for beginning to work for someone).

[15:15]  ²⁹ tn Grk “and he.” Here the conjunction καί (kai) and the personal pronoun have been translated by a relative pronoun to improve the English style.

[15:15]  ³⁰ sn To a Jew, being sent to the field to feed pigs would be an insult, since pigs were considered unclean animals (Lev 11:7).

[15:16]  ³¹ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[15:16]  ³² tn Or “would gladly have eaten”; Grk “was longing to be filled with.”

[15:16]  ³³ tn This term refers to the edible pods from a carob tree (BDAG 540 s.v. κεράτιον). They were bean-like in nature and were commonly used for fattening pigs, although they were also used for food by poor people (L&N 3.46).

[15:16]  ³⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[15:17]  ³⁵ tn Grk “came to himself” (an idiom).

[15:17]  ³⁶ tn Grk “bread,” but used figuratively for food of any kind (L&N 5.1).