Proverbs 17:14

17:14 Starting a quarrel ¹  is like letting out water; ² 

stop it before strife breaks out! ³ 

Proverbs 18:6

18:6 The lips of a fool ⁴  enter into strife, ⁵ 

and his mouth invites ⁶  a flogging. ⁷ 

Proverbs 30:33

30:33 For as the churning ⁸  of milk produces butter

and as punching the nose produces blood,

so stirring up anger ⁹  produces strife. ¹⁰ 

Proverbs 30:2

30:2 Surely ¹¹  I am more brutish ¹²  than any other human being, ¹³ 

and I do not have human understanding; ¹⁴ 

Proverbs 2:14-16

2:14 who delight ¹⁵  in doing ¹⁶  evil, ¹⁷ 

they rejoice in perverse evil; ¹⁸ 

2:15 whose paths ¹⁹  are morally crooked, ²⁰ 

and who are devious ²¹  in their ways;

2:16 to deliver you ²²  from the adulteress, ²³ 

from the sexually loose woman ²⁴  who speaks flattering ²⁵  words; ²⁶ 

Proverbs 2:1-2

Benefits of Seeking Wisdom ²⁷ 

2:1 My child, ²⁸  if ²⁹  you receive my words,

and store up ³⁰  my commands within you,

2:2 by making ³¹  your ear ³²  attentive to wisdom,

and ³³  by turning ³⁴  your heart ³⁵  to understanding,

Proverbs 14:8-12

14:8 The wisdom of the shrewd person ³⁶  is to discern ³⁷  his way,

but the folly of fools is deception. ³⁸ 

14:9 Fools mock ³⁹  at reparation, ⁴⁰ 

but among the upright there is favor. ⁴¹ 

14:10 The heart knows its own bitterness, ⁴² 

and with its joy no one else ⁴³  can share. ⁴⁴ 

14:11 The household ⁴⁵  of the wicked will be destroyed,

but the tent ⁴⁶  of the upright will flourish.

14:12 There is a way that seems right to a person, ⁴⁷ 

but its end is the way that leads to death. ⁴⁸ 

Luke 14:31-32

14:31 Or what king, going out to confront another king in battle, will not sit down ⁴⁹  first and determine whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose ⁵⁰  the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 14:32 If he cannot succeed, ⁵¹  he will send a representative ⁵²  while the other is still a long way off and ask for terms of peace. ⁵³ 

[17:14]  ¹ tn Heb “the beginning of a quarrel”; TEV, CEV “The start of an argument.”

[17:14]  ² tn The verse simply begins with “letting out water.” This phrase is a metaphor, but most English versions have made it a simile (supplying “like” or “as”). R. N. Whybray takes it literally and makes it the subject of the clause: “stealing water starts a quarrel” (Proverbs [CBC], 100). However, the verb more likely means “to let out, set free” and not “to steal,” for which there are clearer words.

[17:14]  ³ tn The temporal clause is formed with the prepositional “before,” the infinitive construct, and the following subjective genitive. The verb גָּלַע (gala’) means “to expose; to lay bare,” and in the Hitpael “to disclose oneself; to break out.”

[18:6]  ⁴ sn The “lips” is a metonymy of cause, meaning what the fool says. The “mouth” in the second colon is likewise a metonymy for speech, what comes out of the mouth.

[18:6]  ⁵ sn “Strife” is a metonymy of cause, it is the cause of the beating or flogging that follows; “flogging” in the second colon is a metonymy of effect, the flogging is the effect of the strife. The two together give the whole picture.

[18:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “calls for.” This is personification: What the fool says “calls for” a beating or flogging. The fool deserves punishment, but does not actually request it.

[18:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “blows.” This would probably be physical beatings, either administered by the father or by society (e.g., also 19:25; Ps 141:5; cf. NAB, NIV, TEV, NLT). Today, however, “a beating” could be associated with violent criminal assault, whereas the context suggests punishment. Therefore “a flogging” is used in the translation, since that term is normally associated with disciplinary action.

[30:33]  ⁸ tn This line provides the explanation for the instruction to keep silent in the previous verse. It uses two images to make the point, and in so doing repeats two words throughout. The first is the word מִיץ (mits), which is translated (in sequence) “churning,” “punching,” and “stirring up.” The form is a noun, and BDB 568 s.v. suggests translating it as “squeezing” in all three places, even in the last where it describes the pressure or the insistence on strife. This noun occurs only here. The second repeated word, the verb יוֹצִיא (yotsir), also occurs three times; it is the Hiphil imperfect, meaning “produces” (i.e., causes to go out).

[30:33]  ⁹ sn There is a subtle wordplay here with the word for anger: It is related to the word for nose in the preceding colon.

[30:33]  ¹⁰ sn The analogy indicates that continuously pressing certain things will yield results, some good, some bad. So pressing anger produces strife. The proverb advises people to strive for peace and harmony through humility and righteousness. To do that will require “letting up” on anger.

[30:2]  ¹¹ tn The particle כִּי (ki) functions in an asseverative sense, “surely; indeed; truly” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 73, §449).

[30:2]  ¹² tn The noun בַּעַר (ba’ar) means “brutishness”; here it functions as a predicate adjective. It is followed by מֵאִישׁ (me’ish) expressing comparative degree: “more than a man” or “more than any man,” with “man” used in a generic sense. He is saying that he has fallen beneath the level of mankind. Cf. NRSV “I am too stupid to be human.”

[30:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “than man.” The verse is using hyperbole; this individual feels as if he has no intelligence at all, that he is more brutish than any other human. Of course this is not true, or he would not be able to speculate on the God of the universe at all.

[30:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the understanding of a man,” with “man” used attributively here.

[2:14]  ¹⁵ tn The articular plural active participle functions as the second attributive adjective for אִישׁ (’ish, “man”) in v. 12b.

[2:14]  ¹⁶ tn The Qal infinitive construct is the complementary use of the form, expressing the direct object of the participle.

[2:14]  ¹⁷ tn Or “harm.”

[2:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the perversity of evil” (so NASB). The noun רָע (ra’, “evil”) functions as an attributed genitive which is modified by the construct noun תַהְפֻּכוֹת (tahpukhot, “perversity”) which functions as an attributive adjective.

[2:15]  ¹⁹ tn The noun in this relative clause is an accusative of specification: The evil people are twisted with respect to their paths/conduct.

[2:15]  ²⁰ tn Heb “crooked.” The adjective עִקֵּשׁ (’iqqesh, “crooked; twisted”) uses the morphological pattern of adjectives that depict permanent bodily defects, e.g., blindness, lameness. Their actions are morally defective and, apart from repentance, are permanently crooked and twisted.

[2:15]  ²¹ tn The Niphal participle of לוּז (luz, “devious; crooked”) describes conduct that is morally deceptive, crafty, and cunning (Isa 30:12).

[2:16]  ²² sn This purpose clause introduced by לְהַצִּילְךָ (lÿhatsilkha, “to deliver you”) parallels the purpose clause introduced by לְהַצִּילְךָ (“to deliver you”) in v. 12. There it introduced deliverance from the evil man, and now from the evil woman. The description of the evil man encompassed four poetic lines in the Hebrew text (vv. 12-15); likewise, the description of the evil woman is four poetic lines (vv. 16-19).

[2:16]  ²³ tn Heb “strange woman” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “the loose woman.” The root זוּר (zur, “to be a stranger”) sometimes refers to people who are ethnically foreign to Israel (Isa 1:7; Hos 7:9; 8:7) but it often refers to what is morally estranged from God or his covenant people (Pss 58:4; 78:30; BDB 266 s.v.). Referring to a woman, it means adulteress or prostitute (Prov 2:16; 5:3, 20; 7:5; 22:14; 23:33; see BDB 266 s.v. 2.b). It does not mean that she is a foreigner but that she is estranged from the community with its social and religious values (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 285). It describes her as outside the framework of the covenant community (L. A. Snijders, “The Meaning of זוּר in the Old Testament: An Exegetical Study,” OTS 10 [1954]: 85-86). Here an Israelite woman is in view because her marriage is called a “covenant with God.” She is an adulteress, acting outside the legal bounds of the marriage contract.

[2:16]  ²⁴ tn Heb “alien woman.” The adjective נָכְרִי (nokhri, “foreign; alien”) refers to (1) people who are ethnically alien to Israel (Exod 21:8; Deut 17:15; Judg 19:12; Ruth 2:10; 1 Kgs 11:1, 8; Ezra 10:2, 10, 11; see BDB 649 s.v. 1); (2) people who are morally alienated from God and his covenant people (Job 19:15; Ps 69:9; Prov 20:16; Eccl 6:2; Jer 2:21; see BDB 649 s.v. 3) and (3) as a technical term in Proverbs for a harlot or promiscuous woman as someone who is morally alienated from God and moral society (Prov 2:16; 5:20; 6:24; 7:5; 20:16; 23:27; 27:13; see BDB 649 s.v. 2). The description of the woman as a “strange woman” and now an “alien woman” is within the context of the people of Israel. She is a “foreigner” in the sense that she is a nonconformist, wayward and loose. It does not necessarily mean that she is not ethnically Israelite (though BDB notes that most harlots in Israel were originally chiefly foreigners by reason of their otherwise homeless condition).

[2:16]  ²⁵ tn Heb “makes smooth.” The Hiphil of II חָלַק (“to be smooth; to be slippery”) means (1) “to make smooth” (metal with hammer) and (2) “to use smooth words,” that is, to flatter (Pss 5:10; 36:3; Prov 2:16; 7:5; 28:23; 29:5; see BDB 325 s.v. 2; HALOT 322 s.v. I חלק hif.2). The related Arabic cognate verb means “make smooth, lie, forge, fabricate.” The seductive speech of the temptress is compared to olive oil (5:3) and is recounted (7:14-20).

[2:16]  ²⁶ tn Heb “whose words she makes smooth.” The phrase is a relative clause that does not have a relative pronoun. The antecedent of the 3rd person feminine singular suffix is clearly “the sexually loose woman” earlier in the line.

[2:1]  ²⁷ sn The chapter begins with an admonition to receive wisdom (1-4) and then traces the benefits: the knowledge of God and his protection (5-8), moral discernment for living (9-11), protection from evil men (12-15) and immoral women (16-19), and enablement for righteous living (20-22).

[2:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “my son.”

[2:1]  ²⁹ sn Verses 1-11 form one long conditional sentence in the Hebrew text: (1) the protasis (“if…”) encompasses vv. 1-4 and (2) the apodosis (“then…”) consists of two parallel panels in vv. 5-8 and vv. 9-11 both of which are introduced by the particle אָז (’az, “then”).

[2:1]  ³⁰ sn The verb “to store up” (צָפַן, tsafan; cf. NAB, NLT “treasure”) in the second colon qualifies the term “receive” (לָקַח, laqakh) in the first, just as “commands” intensifies “words.” This pattern of intensification through parallelism occurs throughout the next three verses. The verb “to store up; to treasure” is used in reference to things of value for future use, e.g., wealth, dowry for a bride. Since proverbs will be useful throughout life and not always immediately applicable, the idea of storing up the sayings is fitting. They will form the way people think which in turn will influence attitudes (W. G. Plaut, Proverbs, 43).

[2:2]  ³¹ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct לְהַקְשִׁיב (lÿhaqshiv, “by making attentive”) functions as an epexegetical explanation of how one will receive the instruction.

[2:2]  ³² sn The word “ear” is a metonymy of cause; the word is used as the instrument of hearing. But in parallelism with “heart” it indicates one aspect of the mental process of hearing and understanding. A “hearing ear” describes an obedient or responsive person (BDB 24 s.v. אֹזֶן 2).

[2:2]  ³³ tn The conjunction “and” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

[2:2]  ³⁴ tn The Hiphil imperfect (“by turning”) continues the nuance introduced by the infinitive construct in the first colon (GKC 352 §114.r). The verb נָטָה (natah) normally means “to stretch out” and only occasionally “to turn” or “to incline” one’s heart to something, as is the case here.

[2:2]  ³⁵ tn Or “mind” (the center of the will, the choice).

[14:8]  ³⁶ tn Or “the prudent [person]” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV).

[14:8]  ³⁷ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct denotes purpose. Those who are shrewd will use it to give careful consideration to all their ways.

[14:8]  ³⁸ tn The word means “deception,” but some suggest “self-deception” here (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 466; and D. W. Thomas, “Textual and Philological Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 286); cf. NLT “fools deceive themselves.” The parallelism would favor this, but there is little support for it. The word usually means “craft practiced on others.” If the line is saying the fool is deceitful, there is only a loose antithesis between the cola.

[14:9]  ³⁹ tn The noun “fools” is plural but the verb “mock” is singular. This has led some to reverse the line to say “guilty/guilt offering mocks fools” (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 287); see, e.g., Isa 1:14; Amos 5:22. But lack of agreement between subject and verb is not an insurmountable difficulty.

[14:9]  ⁴⁰ tc The LXX reads “houses of transgressors will owe purification.” Tg. Prov 14:9 has “guilt has its home among fools” (apparently reading לִין לוּן, lin lun).

[14:9]  ⁴¹ tn The word רָצוֹן (ratson) means “favor; acceptance; pleasing.” It usually means what is pleasing or acceptable to God. In this passage it either means that the upright try to make amends, or that the upright find favor for doing so.

[14:10]  ⁴² tn Heb “bitterness of its soul.”

[14:10]  ⁴³ tn Heb “stranger” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).

[14:10]  ⁴⁴ tn The verb is the Hitpael of II עָרַב (’arav), which means “to take in pledge; to give in pledge; to exchange.” Here it means “to share [in].” The proverb is saying that there are joys and sorrows that cannot be shared. No one can truly understand the deepest feelings of another.

[14:11]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “house.” The term “house” is a metonymy of subject, referring to their contents: families and family life.

[14:11]  ⁴⁶ tn The term “tent” is a metonymy here referring to the contents of the tent: families.

[14:12]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “which is straight before a man.”

[14:12]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “the ways of death” (so KJV, ASV). This construct phrase features a genitive of destiny: “ways that lead to [or, end in] death.” Here death means ruin (e.g., Prov 7:27; 16:25). The LXX adds “Hades,” but the verse seems to be concerned with events of this life.

[14:31]  ⁴⁹ tn The participle καθίσας (kaqisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[14:31]  ⁵⁰ tn On the meaning of this verb see also L&N 55.3, “to meet in battle, to face in battle.”

[14:32]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “And if not.” Here δέ (de) has not been translated; “succeed” is implied and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[14:32]  ⁵² tn Grk “a messenger.”

[14:32]  ⁵³ sn This image is slightly different from the former one about the tower (vv. 28-30). The first part of the illustration (sit down first and determine) deals with preparation. The second part of the illustration (ask for terms of peace) has to do with recognizing who is stronger. This could well suggest thinking about what refusing the “stronger one” (God) might mean, and thus constitutes a warning. Achieving peace with God, the more powerful king, is the point of the illustration.