Discovery BoxProverbs 16:5
Context16:5 The Lord abhors 1 every arrogant person; 2
rest assured 3 that they will not go unpunished. 4
Proverbs 17:18
Context17:18 The one who lacks wisdom 5 strikes hands in pledge, 6
and puts up financial security 7 for his neighbor. 8
Proverbs 17:20
Context17:20 The one who has a perverse heart 9 does not find good, 10
and the one who is deceitful in speech 11 falls into trouble.
Proverbs 21:1
Context21:1 The king’s heart 12 is in the hand 13 of the Lord like channels of water; 14
he turns it wherever he wants.
Proverbs 24:30
Context24:30 I passed by the field of a sluggard,
by the vineyard of one who lacks wisdom. 15
Proverbs 25:20
Context25:20 Like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, 16
or like vinegar poured on soda, 17
so is one who sings songs to a heavy heart. 18
[16:5] 1 tn Heb “an abomination of the
[16:5] 2 tn Heb “every proud of heart”; NIV “all the proud of heart.” “Heart” is the genitive of specification; the phrase is talking about people who have proud hearts, whose ideas are arrogant. These are people who set themselves presumptuously against God (e.g., 2 Chr 26:16; Ps 131:1; Prov 18:12).
[16:5] 3 tn Heb “hand to hand.” This idiom means “you can be assured” (e.g., Prov 11:21).
[16:5] 4 tc The LXX has inserted two couplets here: “The beginning of a good way is to do justly, // and it is more acceptable with God than to do sacrifices; // he who seeks the
[17:18] 5 tn Heb “heart”; KJV, ASV “a man void of understanding”; NIV “a man lacking in judgment.”
[17:18] 6 tn The phrase “in pledge” is supplied for the sake of clarification.
[17:18] 7 tn The line uses the participle עֹרֵב (’orev) with its cognate accusative עֲרֻבָּה (’arubah), “who pledges a pledge.”
[17:18] 8 sn It is foolish to pledge security for someone’s loans (e.g., Prov 6:1-5).
[17:20] 9 tn The verse parallels two descriptions of the wicked person: “crooked/perverse of heart” (genitive of specification), and “turned away in his tongue” (deceitful). The first phrase describes twisted intentions. The second, using the Niphal participle (“one turned away”) with “tongue,” the metonymy of cause, describes one who has turned away from speaking truth. Cf. NLT “the twisted tongue tumbles into trouble.”
[17:20] 10 tn The phrase “does not find good” is a figure (tapeinosis) meaning, “will experience calamity.” The wicked person can expect trouble ahead.
[17:20] 11 tn Heb “tongue”; NIV “whose tongue is deceitful.”
[21:1] 13 sn “Heart” is a metonymy of subject; it signifies the ability to make decisions, if not the decisions themselves.
[21:1] 14 sn “Hand” in this passage is a personification; the word is frequently used idiomatically for “power,” and that is the sense intended here.
[21:1] 15 tn “Channels of water” (פַּלְגֵי, palge) is an adverbial accusative, functioning as a figure of comparison – “like channels of water.” Cf. NAB “Like a stream”; NIV “watercourse”; NRSV, NLT “a stream of water.”
[24:30] 17 tn Heb “lacks heart”; KJV “understanding”; NAB, NASB, NLT “sense.”
[25:20] 21 tc The consonants of the Hebrew text of this verse are similar to the consonants in v. 19. The LXX has a much longer reading: “Like vinegar is bad for a wound, so a pain that afflicts the body afflicts the heart. Like a moth in a garment, and a worm in wood, so the pain of a man wounds the heart” (NRSV follows much of the LXX reading; NAB follows only the second sentence of the LXX reading). The idea that v. 20 is a dittogram is not very convincing; and the Greek version is too far removed to be of help in the matter.
[25:20] 22 tn The second simile mentions pouring vinegar on soda. The LXX has “scab,” but that does not fit as a sensitive thing. The reference is to sodium carbonate (natural in Egypt) which can be neutralized with vinegar.
[25:20] 23 sn It is inappropriate and counterproductive to sing songs to a heavy heart. One needs to be sensitive to others (e.g., 1 Sam 19:9).
