Proverbs 20:10

20:10 Diverse weights and diverse measures ¹  –

the Lord abhors ²  both of them.

Proverbs 20:23

20:23 The Lord abhors ³  differing weights,

and dishonest scales are wicked. ⁴ 

Proverbs 26:8

26:8 Like tying a stone in a sling, ⁵ 

so is giving honor to a fool.

Proverbs 26:27

26:27 The one who digs a pit ⁶  will fall into it;

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

Proverbs 27:3

27:3 A stone is heavy and sand is weighty,

but vexation ⁷  by a fool is more burdensome ⁸  than the two of them.

[20:10]  ¹ tn The construction simply uses repetition to express different kinds of weights and measures: “a stone and a stone, an ephah and an ephah.”

[20:10]  ² tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” The phrase features a subjective genitive: “the Lord abhors.”

[20:23]  ³ tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” This expression features a subjective genitive: “the Lord abhors.”

[20:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “not good.” This is a figure known as tapeinosis – a deliberate understatement to emphasize a worst-case scenario: “it is wicked!” (e.g., 11:1; 20:10).

[26:8]  ⁵ tn The translation “like tying a stone in a sling” seems to make the most sense, even though the word for “sling” occurs only here.

[26:27]  ⁷ 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.

[27:3]  ⁹ tn The subject matter is the vexation produced by a fool. The term כַּעַס (ca’as) means “vexation” (ASV); provocation” (NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); “anger” (KJV “wrath”) and usually refers to undeserved treatment. Cf. NLT “the resentment caused by a fool.”

[27:3]  ¹⁰ sn The contrast is made between dealing with the vexation of a fool and physical labor (moving stones and sand). More tiring is the vexation of a fool, for the mental and emotional effort it takes to deal with it is more draining than physical labor. It is, in the sense of this passage, almost unbearable.