Proverbs 13:8

13:8 The ransom ¹  of a person’s ²  life is his wealth,

but the poor person hears no threat. ³ 

Proverbs 14:6

14:6 The scorner ⁴  seeks wisdom but finds none, ⁵ 

but understanding is easy ⁶  for a discerning person.

Proverbs 14:10

14:10 The heart knows its own bitterness, ⁷ 

and with its joy no one else ⁸  can share. ⁹ 

Proverbs 14:17

14:17 A person who has a quick temper ¹⁰  does foolish things,

and a person with crafty schemes ¹¹  is hated. ¹² 

Proverbs 14:35

14:35 The king shows favor ¹³  to a wise ¹⁴  servant,

but his wrath falls ¹⁵  on one who acts shamefully.

Proverbs 16:10

16:10 The divine verdict ¹⁶  is in the words ¹⁷  of the king,

his pronouncements ¹⁸  must not act treacherously ¹⁹  against justice.

Proverbs 17:8

17:8 A bribe works like ²⁰  a charm ²¹  for the one who offers it; ²² 

in whatever he does ²³  he succeeds. ²⁴ 

Proverbs 18:9

18:9 The one who ²⁵  is slack ²⁶  in his work

is a brother ²⁷  to one who destroys. ²⁸ 

Proverbs 19:26

19:26 The one who robs ²⁹  his father ³⁰  and chases away his mother

is a son ³¹  who brings shame and disgrace.

Proverbs 20:11

20:11 Even a young man ³²  is known ³³  by his actions,

whether his activity is pure and whether it is right. ³⁴ 

Proverbs 30:11

30:11 There is a generation ³⁵  who curse their fathers

and do not bless their mothers. ³⁶ 

[13:8]  ¹ sn As the word “ransom” (כֹּפֶר, cofer) indicates, the rich are susceptible to kidnapping and robbery. But the poor man pays no attention to blackmail – he does not have money to buy off oppressors. So the rich person is exposed to legal attacks and threats of physical violence and must use his wealth as ransom.

[13:8]  ² tn Heb “the life of a man.”

[13:8]  ³ tn The term גְּעָרָה (gÿ’arah) may mean (1) “rebuke” (so KJV, NASB) or (2) “threat” (so NIV; cf. ASV, NRSV, NLT ). If “rebuke” is the sense here, it means that the burdens of society fall on the rich as well as the dangers. But the sense of “threat” better fits the context: The rich are threatened with extortion, but the poor are not (cf. CEV “the poor don’t have that problem”).

[14:6]  ⁴ sn The “scorner” (לֵץ, lets) is intellectually arrogant; he lacks any serious interest in knowledge or religion. He pursues wisdom in a superficial way so that he can appear wise. The acquisition of wisdom is conditioned by one’s attitude toward it (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 149).

[14:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “and there is not.”

[14:6]  ⁶ sn The Niphal of קָלַל (qalal) means “to appear light; to appear trifling; to appear easy.”

[14:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “bitterness of its soul.”

[14:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “stranger” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).

[14:10]  ⁹ tn The verb is the Hitpael of II עָרַב (’arav), which means “to take in pledge; to give in pledge; to exchange.” Here it means “to share [in].” The proverb is saying that there are joys and sorrows that cannot be shared. No one can truly understand the deepest feelings of another.

[14:17]  ¹⁰ sn The proverb discusses two character traits that are distasteful to others – the quick tempered person (“short of anger” or impatient) and the crafty person (“man of devices”). C. H. Toy thinks that the proverb is antithetical and renders it “but a wise man endures” (Proverbs [ICC], 292). In other words, the quick-tempered person acts foolishly and loses people’s respect, but the wise man does not.

[14:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a man of devices.”

[14:17]  ¹² tc The LXX reads “endures” (from נָשָׂא, nasa’) rather than “is hated” (from שָׂנֵא, sane’). This change seems to have arisen on the assumption that a contrast was needed. It has: “a man of thought endures.” Other versions take מְזִמּוֹת (mÿzimmot) in a good sense; but antithetical parallelism is unwarranted here.

[14:35]  ¹³ tn Heb “the favor of a king.” The noun “king” functions as a subjective genitive: “the king shows favor….”

[14:35]  ¹⁴ sn The wise servant is shown favor, while the shameful servant is shown anger. Two Hiphil participles make the contrast: מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil, “wise”) and מֵבִישׁ (mevish, “one who acts shamefully”). The wise servant is a delight and enjoys the favor of the king because he is skillful and clever. The shameful one botches his duties; his indiscretions and incapacity expose the master to criticism (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 470).

[14:35]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “is” (so KJV, ASV).

[16:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “oracle” (so NAB, NIV) or “decision”; TEV “the king speaks with divine authority.” The term קֶסֶם (qesem) is used in the sense of “oracle; decision; verdict” (HALOT 1115-16 s.v.). The pronouncements of a king form an oracular sentence, as if he speaks for God; they are divine decisions (e.g., Num 22:7; 23:23; 2 Sam 14:20).

[16:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “on the lips.” The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause referring to what the king says – no doubt what he says officially.

[16:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “his mouth.” The term “mouth” is a metonymy of cause for what the king says: his pronouncements and legal decisions.

[16:10]  ¹⁹ sn The second line gives the effect of the first: If the king delivers such oracular sayings (קֶסֶם, qesem, translated “divine verdict”), then he must be careful in the decisions he makes. The imperfect tense then requires a modal nuance to stress the obligation of the king not to act treacherously against justice. It would also be possible to translate the verb as a jussive: Let the king not act treacherously against justice. For duties of the king, e.g., Psalm 72 and Isaiah 11. For a comparison with Ezekiel 21:23-26, see E. W. Davies, “The Meaning of qesem in Prov 16:10,” Bib 61 (1980): 554-56.

[17:8]  ¹⁹ tn The phrase “works like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[17:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “a stone of favors”; NAB, NRSV “a magic stone.” The term שֹׁחַד (shokhad, “bribe”) could be simply translated as “a gift”; but the second half of the verse says that the one who offers it is successful. At best it could be a gift that opens doors; at worst it is a bribe. The word שֹׁחַד is never used of a disinterested gift, so there is always something of the bribe in it (e.g., Ps 15:5; Isa 1:23). Here it is “a stone that brings favor,” the genitive being the effect or the result of the gift. In other words, it has magical properties and “works like a charm.”

[17:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “in the eyes of its owner.”

[17:8]  ²² tn Heb “in all that he turns”; NASB, NIV “wherever he turns.”

[17:8]  ²³ sn As C. H. Toy points out, the sage is merely affirming a point without making a comment – those who use bribery meet with widespread success (Proverbs [ICC], 341). This does not amount to an endorsement of bribery.

[18:9]  ²² tn Heb “Also, the one who.” Many commentators and a number of English versions omit the word “also.”

[18:9]  ²³ tn The form מִתְרַפֶּה (mitrappeh) is the Hitpael participle, “showing oneself slack.” The verb means “to sink; to relax,” and in the causative stem “to let drop” the hands. This is the lazy person who does not even try to work.

[18:9]  ²⁴ sn These two troubling types, the slacker and the destroyer, are closely related.

[18:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “possessor of destruction.” This idiom means “destroyer” (so ASV); KJV “a great waster”; NRSV “a vandal.”

[19:26]  ²⁵ tn The construction joins the Piel participle מְשַׁדֶּד (mÿshaded, “one who robs”) with the Hiphil imperfect יַבְרִיחַ (yavriakh, “causes to flee” = chases away). The imperfect given a progressive imperfect nuance matches the timeless description of the participle as a substantive.

[19:26]  ²⁶ sn “Father” and “mother” here represent a stereotypical word pair in the book of Proverbs, rather than describing separate crimes against each individual parent. Both crimes are against both parents.

[19:26]  ²⁷ tn The more generic “child” does not fit the activities described in this verse and so “son” is retained in the translation. In the ancient world a “son” was more likely than a daughter to behave as stated. Such behavior may reflect the son wanting to take over his father’s lands prematurely.

[20:11]  ²⁸ sn In the first nine chapters of the book of Proverbs the Hebrew term נַעַר (na’ar) referred to an adolescent, a young person whose character was being formed in his early life.

[20:11]  ²⁹ sn The Hebrew verb נָכַר (nakhar) means “to recognize” more than simply “to know.” Certain character traits can be recognized in a child by what he does (cf. NCV “by their behavior”).

[20:11]  ³⁰ sn Character is demonstrated by actions at any age. But the emphasis of the book of Proverbs would also be that if the young child begins to show such actions, then the parents must try to foster and cultivate them; if not, they must try to develop them through teaching and discipline.

[30:11]  ³¹ sn The next four verses all start with the Hebrew expression translated “There is a generation.” This is a series of denunciations of things that are dangerous in society without mentioning specific punishments or proscriptions. The word “generation” as used in this passage refers to a class or group of people.

[30:11]  ³² sn The first observation is that there is a segment in society that lacks respect for parents. This uses the antonyms “curse” and [not] “bless” to make the point. To “curse” a parent could include treating them lightly, defaming them, or showing disrespect in general. To “bless” would mean to honor, respect, or enrich in some way, which is what should be done (e.g., Exod 21:17; Prov 20:20).