Proverbs 15:3

15:3 The eyes of the Lord ¹  are in every place,

keeping watch ²  on those who are evil and those who are good.

Proverbs 15:11

15:11 Death and Destruction ³  are before the Lord –

how much more ⁴  the hearts of humans! ⁵ 

[15:3]  ¹ sn The proverb uses anthropomorphic language to describe God’s exacting and evaluating knowledge of all people.

[15:3]  ² tn The form צֹפוֹת (tsofot, “watching”) is a feminine plural participle agreeing with “eyes.” God’s watching eyes comfort good people but convict evil.

[15:11]  ³ tn Heb “Sheol and Abaddon” (שְׁאוֹל וַאֲבַדּוֹן (shÿ’ol va’adon); so ASV, NASB, NRSV; cf. KJV “Hell and destruction”; NAB “the nether world and the abyss.” These terms represent the remote underworld and all the mighty powers that reside there (e.g., Prov 27:20; Job 26:6; Ps 139:8; Amos 9:2; Rev 9:11). The Lord knows everything about this remote region.

[15:11]  ⁴ tn The construction אַף כִּי (’af ki, “how much more!”) introduces an argument from the lesser to the greater: If all this is open before the Lord, how much more so human hearts. “Hearts” here is a metonymy of subject, meaning the motives and thoughts (cf. NCV “the thoughts of the living”).

[15:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “the hearts of the sons of man,” although here “sons of man” simply means “men” or “human beings.”