Proverbs 15:20

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

but a foolish person ²  despises ³  his mother.

Proverbs 31:1

The Words of Lemuel

31:1 The words of King Lemuel, ⁴ 

an oracle ⁵  that his mother taught him:

Proverbs 23:25

23:25 May your father and your mother have joy;

may she who bore you rejoice. ⁶ 

Proverbs 19:26

19:26 The one who robs ⁷  his father ⁸  and chases away his mother

is a son ⁹  who brings shame and disgrace.

Proverbs 20:20

20:20 The one who curses ¹⁰  his father and his mother,

his lamp ¹¹  will be extinguished in the blackest ¹²  darkness.

Proverbs 29:15

29:15 A rod and reproof ¹³  impart ¹⁴  wisdom,

but a child who is unrestrained ¹⁵  brings shame ¹⁶  to his mother. ¹⁷ 

Proverbs 30:11

30:11 There is a generation ¹⁸  who curse their fathers

and do not bless their mothers. ¹⁹ 

Proverbs 4:3

4:3 When I was a son to my father, ²⁰ 

a tender only child ²¹  before my mother,

Proverbs 10:1

The First Collection of Solomonic Proverbs ²² 

10:1 The Proverbs of Solomon:

A wise child ²³  makes a father rejoice, ²⁴ 

but a foolish child ²⁵  is a grief to his mother. ²⁶ 

Proverbs 23:22

23:22 Listen to your father who begot you,

and do not despise your mother when she is old.

Proverbs 28:24

28:24 The one who robs ²⁷  his father and mother and says, “There is no transgression,”

is a companion ²⁸  to the one ²⁹  who destroys.

Proverbs 30:17

30:17 The eye ³⁰  that mocks at a father

and despises obeying ³¹  a mother –

the ravens of the valley will peck it out

and the young vultures will eat it. ³² 

Proverbs 6:20

6:20 My child, guard the commands of your father

and do not forsake the instruction of your mother.

Proverbs 1:8

1:8 Listen, ³³  my child, ³⁴  to the instruction ³⁵  from ³⁶  your father,

and do not forsake the teaching ³⁷  from ³⁸  your mother.

Proverbs 17:25

17:25 A foolish child is a grief ³⁹  to his father,

and bitterness to the mother who bore him. ⁴⁰ 

Proverbs 17:12

17:12 It is better for a person to meet ⁴¹  a mother bear being robbed of her cubs,

than ⁴²  to encounter ⁴³  a fool in his folly. ⁴⁴ 

[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).

[31:1]  ⁴ sn Nothing else is known about King Lemuel aside from this mention in the book of Proverbs. Jewish legend identifies him as Solomon, making this advice from his mother Bathsheba; but there is no evidence for that. The passage is the only direct address to a king in the book of Proverbs – something that was the norm in wisdom literature of the ancient world (Leah L. Brunner, “King and Commoner in Proverbs and Near Eastern Sources,” Dor le Dor 10 [1982]: 210-19; Brunner argues that the advice is religious and not secular).

[31:1]  ⁵ tn Some English versions take the Hebrew noun translated “oracle” here as a place name specifying the kingdom of King Lemuel; cf. NAB “king of Massa”; CEV “King Lemuel of Massa.”

[23:25]  ⁷ tn The form תָגֵל (tagel) is clearly a short form and therefore a jussive (“may she…rejoice”); if this second verb is a jussive, then the parallel יִשְׂמַח (yismakh) should be a jussive also (“may your father and your mother have joy”).

[19:26]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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.

[20:20]  ¹³ tn The form is the Piel participle of קָלַל (qalal), which means “to be light”; in the Piel stem it means “to take lightly; to treat as worthless; to treat contemptuously; to curse.” Under the Mosaic law such treatment of parents brought a death penalty (Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9; Deut 27:16).

[20:20]  ¹⁴ tn “His lamp” is a figure known as hypocatastasis (an implied comparison) meaning “his life.” Cf. NLT “the lamp of your life”; TEV “your life will end like a lamp.”

[20:20]  ¹⁵ tc The Kethib, followed by the LXX, Syriac, and Latin, has בְּאִישׁוֹן (bÿ’ishon), “in the pupil of the eye darkness,” the dark spot of the eye. But the Qere has בֶּאֱשׁוּן (be’eshun), probably to be rendered “pitch” or “blackest,” although the form occurs nowhere else. The meaning with either reading is approximately the same – deep darkness, which adds vividly to the figure of the lamp being snuffed out. This individual’s destruction will be total and final.

[29:15]  ¹⁶ tn The word “rod” is a metonymy of cause, in which the instrument being used to discipline is mentioned in place of the process of disciplining someone. So the expression refers to the process of discipline that is designed to correct someone. Some understand the words “rod and reproof” to form a hendiadys, meaning “a correcting [or, reproving] rod” (cf. NAB, NIV “the rod of correction”).

[29:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “gives” (so NAB).

[29:15]  ¹⁸ tn The form is a Pual participle; the form means “to let loose” (from the meaning “to send”; cf. KJV, NIV “left to himself”), and so in this context “unrestrained.”

[29:15]  ¹⁹ sn The Hebrew participle translated “brings shame” is a metonymy of effect; the cause is the unruly and foolish things that an unrestrained child will do.

[29:15]  ²⁰ sn The focus on the mother is probably a rhetorical variation for the “parent” (e.g., 17:21; 23:24-25) and is not meant to assume that only the mother will do the training and endure the shame for a case like this (e.g., 13:24; 23:13).

[30:11]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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).

[4:3]  ²² tn Or “a boy with my father.”

[4:3]  ²³ tc The LXX introduces the ideas of “obedient” and “beloved” for these two terms. This seems to be a free rendering, if not a translation of a different Hebrew textual tradition. The MT makes good sense and requires no emendation.

[10:1]  ²⁵ sn Beginning with ch. 10 there is a difference in the form of the material contained in the book of Proverbs. No longer are there long admonitions, but the actual proverbs, short aphorisms dealing with right or wrong choices. Other than a few similar themes grouped together here and there, there is no arrangement to the material as a whole. It is a long collection of approximately 400 proverbs.

[10:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “son.”

[10:1]  ²⁷ tn The imperfect tense describes progressive or habitual action, translated here with an English present tense. These fit the nature of proverbs which are general maxims, and not necessarily absolutes or universal truths. One may normally expect to find what the proverb notes, and one should live according to its instructions in the light of those expectations; but one should not be surprised if from time to time there is an exception. The fact that there may be an exception does not diminish the need to live by the sayings.

[10:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “son.”

[10:1]  ²⁹ tn Heb “grief of his mother.” The noun “grief” is in construct, and “mother” is an objective genitive. The saying declares that the consequences of wisdom or folly affects the parents.

[28:24]  ²⁸ sn While the expression is general enough to cover any kind of robbery, the point seems to be that because it can be rationalized it may refer to prematurely trying to gain control of the family property through some form of pressure and in the process reducing the parents’ possessions and standing in the community. The culprit could claim what he does is not wrong because the estate would be his anyway.

[28:24]  ²⁹ sn The metaphor of “companion” here means that a person who would do this is just like the criminally destructive person. It is as if they were working together, for the results are the same.

[28:24]  ³⁰ tn Heb “man who destroys” (so NASB); TEV “no better than a common thief.”

[30:17]  ³¹ sn The “eye” as the organ that exhibits the inner feelings most clearly, here represents a look of scorn or disdain that speaks volumes (a metonymy of cause or of adjunct). It is comparable to the “evil eye” which is stinginess (28:22).

[30:17]  ³² tn The Hebrew word לִיקֲּהַת (liqqahat, “obeying”) occurs only here and in Gen 49:10; it seems to mean “to receive” in the sense of “receiving instruction” or “obeying.” C. H. Toy suggests emending to “to old age” (לְזִקְנַת, lÿziqnat) of the mother (Proverbs [ICC], 530). The LXX with γῆρας (ghra", “old age”) suggests that a root lhq had something to do with “white hair.” D. W. Thomas suggests a corruption from lhyqt to lyqht; it would have read, “The eye that mocks a father and despises an aged mother” (“A Note on לִיקֲּהַת in Proverbs 30:17,” JTS 42 [1941]: 154-55); this is followed by NAB “or scorns an aged mother.”

[30:17]  ³³ sn The sternest punishment is for the evil eye. The punishment is talionic – eye for eye. The reference to “the valley” may indicate a place where people are not be given decent burials and the birds of prey pick the corpses clean. It is an image the prophets use in judgment passages.

[1:8]  ³⁴ tn The imperative שְׁמַע (shÿma’, “Listen!”) forms an urgent exhortation which expects immediate compliance with parental instruction.

[1:8]  ³⁵ tn Heb “my son.” It is likely that collections of proverbs grew up in the royal courts and were designed for the training of the youthful prince. But once the collection was included in the canon, the term “son” would be expanded to mean a disciple, for all the people were to learn wisdom when young. It would not be limited to sons alone but would include daughters – as the expression “the children of (בְּנֵי, bÿne) Israel” (including males and females) clearly shows. Several passages in the Mishnah and Talmud record instructions to teach daughters the Mosaic law so that they will be righteous and avoid sin as well. The translation “my child,” although not entirely satisfactory, will be used here.

[1:8]  ³⁶ tn Heb “training” or “discipline.” See note on 1:2.

[1:8]  ³⁷ tn Heb “of.” The noun אָבִיךָ (’avikha, “of your father”) may be classified as a genitive of source.

[1:8]  ³⁸ tn Heb “instruction.” In Proverbs the noun תּוֹרַה (torah) often means “instruction” or “moral direction” rather than “law” (BDB 435 s.v. 1.a). It is related to יָרָה (yarah, “to point [or, show] the way” in the Hiphil (BDB 435). Instruction attempts to point a person in the right direction (e.g., Gen 46:28).

[1:8]  ³⁹ tn Heb “of.” The noun אִמֶּךָ (’immekha, “of your mother”) may be classified as a genitive of source.

[17:25]  ³⁷ sn The Hebrew noun means “vexation, anger, grief.”

[17:25]  ³⁸ tn Heb “to the one who bore him.” Because the participle is feminine singular in Hebrew, this has been translated as “the mother who bore him.”

[17:12]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “Let a man meet” (so NASB); NLT “It is safer to meet.” The infinitive absolute פָּגוֹשׁ (pagosh, “to meet”) functions as a jussive of advice. The bear meeting a man is less dangerous than a fool in his folly. It could be worded as a “better” saying, but that formula is not found here.

[17:12]  ⁴¹ tn The second colon begins with וְאַל (vÿ’al), “and not.” This negative usually appears with volitives, so the fuller expression of the parallel line would be “and let not a fool in his folly [meet someone].”

[17:12]  ⁴² tn The words “to meet” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied by the parallelism and are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:12]  ⁴³ sn The human, who is supposed to be rational and intelligent, in such folly becomes more dangerous than the beast that in this case acts with good reason. As R. L. Alden comments, “Consider meeting a fool with a knife, or gun, or even behind the wheel of a car” (Proverbs, 134). See also E. Loewenstamm, “Remarks on Proverbs 17:12 and 20:27,” VT 37 (1967): 221-24. For a slightly different nuance cf. TEV “some fool busy with a stupid project.”