Proverbs 17:13

17:13 As for the one who repays ¹  evil for good,

evil will not leave ²  his house. ³ 

Proverbs 11:19

11:19 True ⁴  righteousness leads to ⁵  life,

but the one who pursues evil pursues it ⁶  to his own death. ⁷ 

Proverbs 1:33

1:33 But the one who listens ⁸  to me will live in security, ⁹ 

and will be at ease ¹⁰  from the dread of harm.

Proverbs 11:27

11:27 The one who diligently seeks ¹¹  good seeks favor,

but the one who searches ¹²  for evil – it will come to him. ¹³ 

Proverbs 13:21

13:21 Calamity ¹⁴  pursues sinners,

but prosperity rewards the righteous. ¹⁵ 

Proverbs 16:4

16:4 The Lord works ¹⁶  everything for its own ends ¹⁷  –

even the wicked for the day of disaster. ¹⁸ 

Proverbs 16:27

16:27 A wicked scoundrel ¹⁹  digs up ²⁰  evil,

and his slander ²¹  is like a scorching fire. ²² 

Proverbs 16:30

16:30 The one who winks his eyes ²³  devises perverse things,

and ²⁴  one who compresses his lips ²⁵  brings about ²⁶  evil.

Proverbs 22:3

22:3 A shrewd person ²⁷  sees danger ²⁸  and hides himself,

but the naive keep right on going ²⁹  and suffer for it. ³⁰ 

Proverbs 24:1

24:1 Do not envy evil people, ³¹ 

do not desire ³²  to be with them;

Proverbs 25:19

25:19 Like a bad tooth or a foot out of joint, ³³ 

so is confidence ³⁴  in an unfaithful person at the time of trouble. ³⁵ 

Proverbs 27:12

27:12 A shrewd person sees danger and hides himself,

but the naive keep right on going ³⁶  and suffer for it.

Proverbs 3:29-30

3:29 Do not plot ³⁷  evil against your neighbor

when ³⁸  he dwells by you unsuspectingly.

3:30 Do not accuse ³⁹  anyone ⁴⁰  without legitimate cause, ⁴¹ 

if he has not treated you wrongly.

[17:13]  ¹ tn The sentence begins with the participle מֵשִׁיב (meshiv, “the one who repays”). The whole first colon may be taken as an independent nominative absolute, with the formal sentence to follow. Some English versions have made the first colon a condition by supplying “if” (NAB, NIV, TEV, NLT).

[17:13]  ² tn The verb מוּשׁ (mush) means “to depart; to remove.” The Kethib is a Hiphil, which would yield a meaning of “to take away”; so the Qere, which is the Qal, makes more sense in the line.

[17:13]  ³ sn The proverb does not explain whether God will turn evil back on him directly or whether people will begin to treat him as he treated others.

[11:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “the veritable of righteousness.” The adjective כֵּן (ken, “right; honest; veritable”) functions substantivally as an attributive genitive, meaning “veritable righteousness” = true righteousness (BDB 467 s.v. 2; HALOT 482 s.v. I כֵּן 2.b). One medieval Hebrew ms, LXX, and Syriac read בֵּן (ben), “son of righteousness.” That idiom, however, usually introduces bad qualities (“son of worthlessness”). Others interpret it as “righteousness is the foundation of life.” KB identifies the form as a participle and reads it as “steadfast in righteousness”; but the verb does not otherwise exist in the Qal. W. McKane reads it as כָּן (kan, from כּוּן, kun) and translates it “strive after” life (Proverbs [OTL], 435).

[11:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “is to life.” The expression “leads to” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but the idiom implies it; it is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[11:19]  ⁶ tn The phrase “pursues it” does not appear in the Hebrew but has been supplied in the translation from context.

[11:19]  ⁷ sn “Life” and “death” describe the vicissitudes of this life but can also refer to the situation beyond the grave. The two paths head in opposite directions.

[1:33]  ⁷ tn The participle is used substantivally here: “whoever listens” will enjoy the benefits of the instruction.

[1:33]  ⁸ tn The noun בֶּטַח (betakh, “security”) functions as an adverbial accusative of manner: “in security.” The phrase refers to living in a permanent settled condition without fear of danger (e.g., Deut 33:12; Ps 16:9). It is the antithesis of the dread of disaster facing the fool and the simple.

[1:33]  ⁹ tn The verb שַׁאֲנַן (sha’anan) is a Palel perfect of שָׁאַן (sha’an) which means “to be at ease; to rest securely” (BDB 983 s.v. שָׁאַן). Elsewhere it parallels the verb “to be undisturbed” (Jer 30:10), so it means “to rest undisturbed and quiet.” The reduplicated Palel stem stresses the intensity of the idea. The perfect tense functions in the so-called “prophetic perfect” sense, emphasizing the certainty of this blessing for the wise.

[11:27]  ¹⁰ tn Two separate words are used here for “seek.” The first is שָׁחַר (shakhar, “to seek diligently”) and the second is בָּקַשׁ (baqash, “to seek after; to look for”). Whoever is seeking good is in effect seeking favor – from either God or man (e.g., Ps 5:12; Isa 49:8).

[11:27]  ¹¹ tn The participle דֹּרֵשׁ (doresh) means “to seek; to inquire; to investigate.” A person generally receives the consequences of the kind of life he seeks.

[11:27]  ¹² tn The verb is the imperfect tense, third feminine singular, referring to “evil,” the object of the participle.

[13:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “evil.” The term רָעָה (ra’ah, “evil”) here functions in a metonymical sense meaning “calamity.” “Good” is the general idea of good fortune or prosperity; the opposite, “evil,” is likewise “misfortune” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV) or calamity.

[13:21]  ¹⁴ sn This statement deals with recompense in absolute terms. It is this principle, without allowing for any of the exceptions that Proverbs itself acknowledges, that Job’s friends applied (incorrectly) to his suffering.

[16:4]  ¹⁶ sn The Hebrew verb translated “works” (פָּעַל, pa’al) means “to work out; to bring about; to accomplish.” It is used of God’s sovereign control of life (e.g., Num 23:23; Isa 26:12).

[16:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “for its answer.” The term לַמַּעֲנֵהוּ (lamma’anehu) has been taken to mean either “for his purpose” or “for its answer.” The Hebrew word is מַעֲנֶה (ma’aneh, “answer”) and not לְמַעַן (lÿma’an, “purpose”). So the suffix likely refers to “everything” (כֹּל, kol). God ensures that everyone’s actions and the consequences of those actions correspond – certainly the wicked for the day of calamity. In God’s order there is just retribution for every act.

[16:4]  ¹⁸ sn This is an example of synthetic parallelism (“A, what’s more B”). The A-line affirms a truth, and the B-line expands on it with a specific application about the wicked – whatever disaster comes their way is an appropriate correspondent for their life.

[16:27]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “a man of belial.” This phrase means “wicked scoundrel.” Some translate “worthless” (so ASV, NASB, CEV), but the phrase includes deep depravity and wickedness (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 125-26).

[16:27]  ²⁰ tn Heb “digs up” (so NASB). The “wicked scoundrel” finds out about evil and brings it to the surface (Prov 26:27; Jer 18:20). What he digs up he spreads by speech.

[16:27]  ²¹ tn Heb “on his lips” (so NAB) The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause. To say that “evil” is on his lips means that he talks about the evil he has dug up.

[16:27]  ²² sn The simile stresses the devastating way that slander hurts people. W. McKane says that this one “digs for scandal and…propagates it with words which are ablaze with misanthropy” (Proverbs [OTL], 494).

[16:30]  ²² sn The participle עֹצֶה (’otseh) describes one as shutting his eyes (cf. KJV, ASV). This could mean simply “closing the eyes,” or it could refer to “winking” (so many English versions). The proverb is saying that facial expressions often reveal if someone is plotting evil (e.g., 6:13-14).

[16:30]  ²³ tn The conjunction “and” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied by the synonymous parallelism.

[16:30]  ²⁴ tn The participle קֹרֵץ (qorets) indicates that the person involved is pinching, compressing, or biting his lips (cf. NIV “purses his lips”).

[16:30]  ²⁵ tn The verb is a Piel perfect; it means “complete, finish, bring to an end.” The two cola may form the whole process: The first line has “to devise” evil, and the second has “he completes” evil. BDB, however, classifies this use of the Piel as “to accomplish in thought” meaning “to determine” something (BDB 478 s.v. כָּלָה 1f). In that case the two lines would have synonymous ideas, i.e., using facial expressions to plan evil actions.

[22:3]  ²⁵ sn The contrast is between the “shrewd” (prudent) person and the “simpleton.” The shrewd person knows where the dangers and pitfalls are in life and so can avoid them; the naive person is unwary, untrained, and gullible, unable to survive the dangers of the world and blundering into them.

[22:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “evil,” a term that is broad enough to include (1) “sin” as well as (2) any form of “danger” (NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT) or “trouble” (TEV, CEV). The second option is more likely what is meant here: The naive simpleton does not see the danger to be avoided and so suffers for it.

[22:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “go on”; the word “right” is supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning: The naive person, oblivious to impending danger, meets it head on (cf. TEV “will walk right into it”).

[22:3]  ²⁸ tn The verb עָנַשׁ (’anash) means “to fine” specifically. In the Niphal stem it means “to be fined,” or more generally, “to be punished.” In this line the punishment is the consequence of blundering into trouble – they will pay for it.

[24:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “evil men,” although the context indicates a generic sense.

[24:1]  ²⁹ tn The Hitpael jussive is from the verb that means “to crave; to desire.” This is more of a coveting, an intense desire.

[25:19]  ³¹ sn The similes in this emblematic parallelism focus on things that are incapable of performing certain activities – they are either too painful to use or are ineffective.

[25:19]  ³² tn Since there is no preposition to clarify the construction, there are two ways to take the term מִבְטָח (mivtakh, “confidence”) in the context. It can either refer (1) to reliance on an unfaithful person, or it can refer (2) to that on which the unfaithful person relies. C. H. Toy argues for the second, that what the faithless person relies on will fail him in the time of trouble (Proverbs [ICC], 466). This view requires a slight change in the MT to make “confidence” a construct noun (i.e., the confidence of the faithless); the first view, which fits better the MT as it stands, says that “confidence [in] a faithless person” is like relying on a decaying tooth or a lame foot. This is the view preferred in most English versions, including the present one.

[25:19]  ³³ tn Heb “in the day of trouble”; KJV, NASB “in time of trouble.”

[27:12]  ³⁴ tn Heb “go on”; the word “right” is supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning: The naive person, oblivious to impending danger, meets it head on.

[3:29]  ³⁷ sn The verb חָרַשׁ (kharash) means “to cut in; to engrave; to plough; to devise.” The idea of plotting is metaphorical for working, practicing or fabricating (BDB 360 s.v.).

[3:29]  ³⁸ tn The vav (ו) prefixed to the pronoun introduces a disjunctive circumstantial clause: “when….”

[3:30]  ⁴⁰ sn The term רִיב (riv) can mean “quarrel” or “legal accusation” (BDB 936 s.v.). Both ideas would work but the more technical legal accusation fits the context better. This is a warning to not bring legal accusations against anyone without a legitimate reason.

[3:30]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “a man.”

[3:30]  ⁴² tn Heb “gratuitously”; NIV, TEV “for no (+ good NCV) reason.” The adverb חִנָּם (khinam) means “without cause, undeservedly,” especially of groundless hostility (HALOT 334 s.v. 3; BDB 336 s.v. c).