Proverbs 14:11

14:11 The household ¹  of the wicked will be destroyed,

but the tent ²  of the upright will flourish.

Proverbs 11:28

11:28 The one who trusts in his riches will fall,

but the righteous ³  will flourish like a green leaf. ⁴ 

Proverbs 12:12

12:12 The wicked person desires a stronghold, ⁵ 

but the righteous root ⁶  endures. ⁷ 

[14:11]  ¹ tn Heb “house.” The term “house” is a metonymy of subject, referring to their contents: families and family life.

[14:11]  ² tn The term “tent” is a metonymy here referring to the contents of the tent: families.

[11:28]  ³ sn The implication from the parallelism is that the righteous do not trust in their own riches, but in the Lord.

[11:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “leafage” or “leaf” (cf. KJV “as a branch”); TEV “leaves of summer”; NLT “leaves in spring.” The simile of a leaf is a figure of prosperity and fertility throughout the ancient Near East.

[12:12]  ⁵ tn This line is difficult to interpret. BDB connects the term מְצוֹד (mÿtsod) to II מָצוֹד which means (1) “snare; hunting-net” and (2) what is caught: “prey” (BDB 844-45 s.v. II מָצוֹד). This would function as a metonymy of cause for what the net catches: the prey. Or it may be saying that the wicked get caught in their own net, that is, reap the consequences of their own sins. On the other hand, HALOT 622 connects מְצוֹד (mÿtsod) to II מְצוּדָה (mÿtsudah, “mountain stronghold”; cf. NAB “the stronghold of evil men will be demolished”). The LXX translated it as: “The desires of the wicked are evil.” The Syriac has: “The wicked desire to do evil.” The Latin expands it: “The desire of the wicked is a defense of the worst [things, or persons].” C. H. Toy suggests emending the text to read “wickedness is the net of bad men” (Proverbs [ICC], 250).

[12:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “the root of righteousness.” The genitive צַדִּיקִים (tsadiqim, “righteousness”) functions as an attributive adjective. The wicked want what belongs to others, but the righteous continue to flourish.

[12:12]  ⁷ tc The MT reads יִתֵּן (yitten, “gives,” from נָתַן [natan, “to give”]), and yields an awkward meaning: “the root of the righteous gives.” The LXX reads “the root of the righteous endures” (cf. NAB). This suggests a Hebrew Vorlage of אֵיתָן (’etan, “constant; continual”; HALOT 44-45 s.v. I אֵיתָן 2) which would involve the omission of א (alef) in the MT. The metaphor “root” (שֹׁרֶשׁ, shoresh) is often used in Proverbs for that which endures; so internal evidence supports the alternate tradition.