Proverbs 2:19

2:19 None who go in to her will return, ¹ 

nor will they reach the paths of life. ² 

Proverbs 15:1

15:1 A gentle response ³  turns away anger,

but a harsh word ⁴  stirs up wrath. ⁵ 

Proverbs 17:13

17:13 As for the one who repays ⁶  evil for good,

evil will not leave ⁷  his house. ⁸ 

Proverbs 18:13

18:13 The one who gives an answer ⁹  before he listens ¹⁰  –

that is his folly and his shame. ¹¹ 

Proverbs 20:26

20:26 A wise king separates out ¹²  the wicked;

he turns the threshing wheel over them. ¹³ 

Proverbs 22:21

22:21 to show you true and reliable words, ¹⁴ 

so that you may give accurate answers ¹⁵  to those who sent you?

Proverbs 24:18

24:18 lest the Lord see it, and be displeased, ¹⁶ 

and turn his wrath away from him. ¹⁷ 

Proverbs 26:11

26:11 Like a dog that returns to its vomit, ¹⁸ 

so a fool repeats his folly. ¹⁹ 

Proverbs 26:15

26:15 The sluggard plunges ²⁰  his hand in the dish;

he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth. ²¹ 

Proverbs 26:27

26:27 The one who digs a pit ²²  will fall into it;

the one who rolls a stone – it will come back on him.

Proverbs 27:11

27:11 Be wise, my son, ²³  and make my heart glad,

so that I may answer ²⁴  anyone who taunts me. ²⁵ 

Proverbs 29:8

29:8 Scornful people ²⁶  inflame ²⁷  a city, ²⁸ 

but those who are wise turn away wrath.

Proverbs 30:30

30:30 a lion, mightiest ²⁹  of the beasts,

who does not retreat from anything;

[2:19]  ¹ tn Heb “all who go in to her will not return.”

[2:19]  ² sn The phrase “reach the paths of life” is a figurative expression for experiencing joy and fullness of blessing (BDB 673 s.v. נָשַׂג 2.a).

[15:1]  ³ tn Heb “soft answer.” The adjective רַּךְ (rakh, “soft; tender; gentle”; BDB 940 s.v.) is more than a mild response; it is conciliatory, an answer that restores good temper and reasonableness (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 477). Gideon illustrates this kind of answer (Judg 8:1-3) that brings peace.

[15:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “word of harshness”; KJV “grievous words.” The noun עֶצֶב (’etsev, “pain, hurt”) functions as an attributive genitive. The term עֶצֶב refers to something that causes pain (BDB 780 s.v. I עֶצֶב). For example, Jephthah’s harsh answer led to war (Judg 12:1-6).

[15:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “raises anger.” A common response to painful words is to let one’s temper flare up.

[17:13]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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.

[18:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “returns a word”; KJV “He that answereth a matter.”

[18:13]  ⁸ sn Poor listening and premature answering indicate that the person has a low regard for what the other is saying, or that he is too absorbed in his own ideas. The Mishnah lists this as the second characteristic of the uncultured person (m. Avot 5:7).

[18:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “it is folly to him and shame.” The verse uses formal parallelism, with the second colon simply completing the thought of the first.

[20:26]  ⁹ tn Heb “winnows” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV). The sage draws on the process of winnowing to explain how the king uncovers and removes wickedness. The verb from which the participle מְזָרֶה (mÿzareh) is derived means “to separate; to winnow; to scatter”; the implied comparison means that the king will separate good people from bad people like wheat is separated from chaff. The image of winnowing is also used in divine judgment. The second line of the verse uses a detail of the process to make the point. Driving a wheel over the wheat represents the threshing process; the sharp iron wheels of the cart would easily serve the purpose (e.g., Isa 28:27-28).

[20:26]  ¹⁰ tn The king has the wisdom/ability to destroy evil from his kingdom. See also D. W. Thomas, “Proverbs 20:26,” JTS 15 (1964): 155-56.

[22:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to cause you to know the truth of words of truth” (NASB similar).

[22:21]  ¹² tn Heb “to return true words”; NAB “a dependable report”; NIV “sound answers.”

[24:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “and [it is] evil in his eyes.”

[24:18]  ¹⁴ sn The judgment of God should strike a note of fear in the heart of people (e.g., Lev 19:17-18). His judgment is not to be taken lightly, or personalized as a victory. If that were to happen, then the Lord might take pity on the enemies in their calamity, for he champions the downtrodden and defeated. These are probably personal enemies; the imprecatory psalms and the prophetic oracles present a different set of circumstances for the downfall of God’s enemies – even the book of Proverbs says that brings joy to the community.

[26:11]  ¹⁵ sn The simile is graphic and debasing (cf. 2 Peter 2:22).

[26:11]  ¹⁶ sn The point is clear: Fools repeat their disgusting mistakes, or to put it another way, whenever we repeat our disgusting mistakes we are fools. The proverb is affirming that no matter how many times a fool is warned, he never learns.

[26:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “buries” (so many English versions); KJV “hideth”; NAB “loses.”

[26:15]  ¹⁸ sn The proverb is stating that the sluggard is too lazy to eat; this is essentially the same point made in 19:24 (see the note there).

[26:27]  ¹⁹ sn The verse is teaching talionic justice (“an eye for an eye,” etc.), and so the activities described should be interpreted as evil in their intent. “Digging a pit” would mean laying a trap for someone (the figure of speech would be a metonymy of cause for the effect of ruining someone, if an actual pit is being dug; the figure would be hypocatastasis if digging a pit is being compared to laying a trap, but no pit is being dug). Likewise, “rolling a stone” on someone means to destroy that individual.

[27:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “my son”; the reference to a “son” is retained in the translation here because in the following lines the advice is to avoid women who are prostitutes.

[27:11]  ²² tn The verb is the cohortative of שׁוּב (shuv); after the two imperatives that provide the instruction, this form with the vav will indicate the purpose or result (indirect volitive sequence).

[27:11]  ²³ sn The expression anyone who taunts me refers to those who would reproach or treat the sage with contempt, condemning him as a poor teacher. Teachers are often criticized for the faults and weaknesses of their students; but any teacher criticized that way takes pleasure in pointing to those who have learned as proof that he has not labored in vain (e.g., 1 Thess 2:19-20; 3:8).

[29:8]  ²³ tn Heb “men of scorn”; NAB “Arrogant men”; ASV, NRSV “Scoffers”; NIV, NLT “Mockers.”

[29:8]  ²⁴ tn The verb means “to blow; to breathe” (BDB 806 s.v. פּוּחַ). In the Hiphil imperfect its meaning here is “to excite; to inflame” a city, as in blowing up a flame or kindling a fire. It is also used with “words” in 6:19 and 12:17 – they “puff out words.” Such scornful people make dangerous situations worse, whereas the wise calm things down (e.g., 2 Sam 20).

[29:8]  ²⁵ tn The term “city” is a metonymy of subject; it refers to the people in the city who can easily be set in an uproar by such scornful people.

[30:30]  ²⁵ tn Heb “mighty among the beasts,” but referring to a superlative degree (“mightiest”).