Proverbs 14:12-13

14:12 There is a way that seems right to a person, ¹ 

but its end is the way that leads to death. ² 

14:13 Even in laughter the heart may ache, ³ 

and the end ⁴  of joy may be ⁵  grief.

Proverbs 16:25

16:25 There is a way that seems right to a person, ⁶ 

but its end is the way that leads to death. ⁷ 

Proverbs 19:20

19:20 Listen to advice ⁸  and receive discipline,

that ⁹  you may become wise ¹⁰  by the end of your life. ¹¹ 

Proverbs 23:18

23:18 For surely there is a future, ¹² 

and your hope will not be cut off. ¹³ 

Proverbs 24:20

24:20 for the evil person has no future, ¹⁴ 

and the lamp of the wicked will be extinguished. ¹⁵ 

[14:12]  ¹ tn Heb “which is straight before a man.”

[14:12]  ² tn Heb “the ways of death” (so KJV, ASV). This construct phrase features a genitive of destiny: “ways that lead to [or, end in] death.” Here death means ruin (e.g., Prov 7:27; 16:25). The LXX adds “Hades,” but the verse seems to be concerned with events of this life.

[14:13]  ³ sn No joy is completely free of grief. There is a joy that is superficial and there is underlying pain that will remain after the joy is gone.

[14:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “and its end, joy, is grief.” The suffix may be regarded as an Aramaism, a proleptic suffix referring to “joy.”

[14:13]  ⁵ tn The phrase “may be” is not in the Hebrew but is supplied from the parallelism, which features an imperfect of possibility.

[16:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “There is a way that is right before a man [to the face of a man].”

[16:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “the ways of death” (so KJV, ASV). This construct phrase features a genitive of destiny: “ways that lead to [or, end in] death.”This proverb is identical to 14:12.

[19:20]  ⁷ sn The advice refers in all probability to the teachings of the sages that will make one wise.

[19:20]  ⁸ tn The proverb is one continuous thought, but the second half of the verse provides the purpose for the imperatives of the first half.

[19:20]  ⁹ tn The imperfect tense has the nuance of a final imperfect in a purpose clause, and so is translated “that you may become wise” (cf. NAB, NRSV).

[19:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “become wise in your latter end” (cf. KJV, ASV) which could obviously be misunderstood.

[23:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “end” (so KJV); ASV “a reward.”

[23:18]  ¹⁰ sn The saying is an understatement; far from being cut off, the “hope” will be realized in the end. So this saying, the thirteenth, advises people to be zealous for the fear of the Lord, their religion, rather than for anything that sinners have to offer.

[24:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “there is no end [i.e., future] for the evil.”

[24:20]  ¹² sn The saying warns against envying the wicked; v. 19 provides the instruction, and v. 20 the motivation. The motivation is that there is no future hope for them – nothing to envy, or as C. H. Toy explains, there will be no good outcome for their lives (Proverbs [ICC], 449). They will die suddenly, as the implied comparison with the lamp being snuffed out signifies.