Proverbs 14:35

14:35 The king shows favor ¹  to a wise ²  servant,

but his wrath falls ³  on one who acts shamefully.

Proverbs 22:11

22:11 The one who loves a pure heart ⁴ 

and whose speech is gracious ⁵  – the king will be his friend. ⁶ 

Psalms 101:5-7

101:5 I will destroy anyone who slanders his neighbor in secret.

I will not tolerate anyone who has a cocky demeanor and an arrogant attitude. ⁷ 

101:6 I will favor the honest people of the land, ⁸ 

and allow them to live with me. ⁹ 

Those who walk in the way of integrity will attend me. ¹⁰ 

101:7 Deceitful people will not live in my palace. ¹¹ 

Liars will not be welcome in my presence. ¹² 

[14:35]  ¹ tn Heb “the favor of a king.” The noun “king” functions as a subjective genitive: “the king shows favor….”

[14:35]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “is” (so KJV, ASV).

[22:11]  ⁴ sn The “heart” is a metonymy of subject; it represents the intentions and choices that are made. “Pure of heart” uses “heart” as a genitive of specification. The expression refers to someone who has honest and clear intentions.

[22:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “grace of his lips” (so KJV, ASV). The “lips” are a metonymy of cause representing what is said; it also functions as a genitive of specification.

[22:11]  ⁶ tn The syntax of the line is somewhat difficult, because “grace of his lips” seems to be intruding on the point of the verse with little explanation. Therefore the LXX rendered it “The Lord loves the pure in heart; all who are blameless in their ways are acceptable to him.” This has very little correspondence with the Hebrew; nevertheless commentators attempt to reconstruct the verse using it, and the NAB follows the first clause of the LXX here. Some have suggested taking “king” as the subject of the whole verse (“the king loves…”), but this is forced.

[101:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “[one who has] pride of eyes and wideness [i.e., arrogance] of heart, him I will not endure.”

[101:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “my eyes [are] on the faithful of the land.”

[101:6]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew text simply reads, “in order to live with me.”

[101:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “one who walks in the way of integrity, he will minister to me.”

[101:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he will not live in the midst of my house, one who does deceit.”

[101:7]  ¹² tn Heb “one who speaks lies will not be established before my eyes.”