Proverbs 15:20

15:20 A wise child ¹  brings joy to his father,

but a foolish person ²  despises ³  his mother.

Proverbs 19:16

19:16 The one who obeys commandments guards ⁴  his life;

the one who despises his ways ⁵  will die. ⁶ 

[15:20]  ¹ tn Heb “son.”

[15:20]  ² tn Heb “a fool of a man,” a genitive of specification.

[15:20]  ³ sn The proverb is almost the same as 10:1, except that “despises” replaces “grief.” This adds the idea of the callousness of the one who inflicts grief on his mother (D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 116).

[19:16]  ⁴ tn The verb שָׁמַר (shamar) is repeated twice in this line but with two different senses, creating a polysemantic wordplay: “he who obeys/keeps (ֹֹשׁמֵר, shomer) the commandment safeguards/keeps (שֹׁמֵר, shomer) his life.”

[19:16]  ⁵ sn The expression his ways could refer either (1) to the conduct of the individual himself, or (2) to the commandments as the Lord’s ways. If the latter is the case, then the punishment is more certain.

[19:16]  ⁶ tc The Kethib is יָוְמֻת (yavmut), “will be put to death,” while the Qere reads יָמוּת (yamut, “will die”). The Qere is the preferred reading and is followed by most English versions.