Proverbs 21:5

21:5 The plans of the diligent ¹  lead ²  only to plenty, ³ 

but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. ⁴ 

Proverbs 28:20

28:20 A faithful person ⁵  will have an abundance of blessings,

but the one who hastens ⁶  to gain riches will not go unpunished.

Proverbs 29:20

29:20 Do you see someone ⁷  who is hasty in his words? ⁸ 

There is more hope for a fool than for him. ⁹ 

Proverbs 19:2

19:2 It is dangerous ¹⁰  to have zeal ¹¹  without knowledge,

and the one who acts hastily ¹²  makes poor choices. ¹³ 

[21:5]  ¹ tn The word “diligent” is an adjective used substantivally. The related verb means “to cut, sharpen, decide”; so the adjective describes one who is “sharp” – one who acts decisively. The word “hasty” has the idea of being pressed or pressured into quick actions. So the text contrasts calculated expeditiousness with unproductive haste. C. H. Toy does not like this contrast, and so proposes changing the latter to “lazy” (Proverbs [ICC], 399), but W. McKane rightly criticizes that as unnecessarily forming a pedestrian antithesis (Proverbs [OTL], 550).

[21:5]  ² tn The term “lead” is supplied in the translation.

[21:5]  ³ tn The Hebrew noun translated “plenty” comes from the verb יָתַר (yatar), which means “to remain over.” So the calculated diligence will lead to abundance, prosperity.

[21:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “lack; need; thing needed”; NRSV “to want.”

[28:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “a man of faithfulness,” although the context does not indicate this should be limited only to males.

[28:20]  ⁶ sn The proverb is not rebuking diligent labor. One who is eager to get rich quickly is the opposite of the faithful person. The first person is faithful to God and to the covenant community; the second is trying to get rich as quickly as possible, at the least without doing an honest day’s work and at the worst dishonestly. In a hurry to gain wealth, he falls into various schemes and will pay for it. Tg. Prov 28:20 interprets this to say he hastens through deceit and wrongdoing.

[29:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “a man,” but there is no indication in the immediate context that this should be limited only to males.

[29:20]  ¹⁰ sn The focus of this proverb is on someone who is hasty in his words. This is the person who does not stop to think, but acts on the spur of the moment. To speak before thinking is foolishness.

[29:20]  ¹¹ sn Rash speech cannot easily be remedied. The prospects for a fool are better (e.g., Prov 26:12).

[19:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “not good.” This is a figure known as tapeinosis (a deliberate understatement to emphasize a worst-case scenario): “it is dangerous!”

[19:2]  ¹⁴ tn The interpretation of this line depends largely on the meaning of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) which has a broad range of meanings: (1) the breathing substance of man, (2) living being, (3) life, (4) person, (5) seat of the appetites, (6) seat of emotions and passions, (7) activities of intellect, emotion and will, (8) moral character, etc. (BDB 659-61 s.v.). In light of the synonymous parallelism, the most likely nuance here is “zeal, passion” (HALOT 713 s.v. 8). NIV takes the word in the sense of “vitality” and “drive” – “it is not good to have zeal without knowledge” (cf. NCV, TEV, and NLT which are all similar).

[19:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he who is hasty with his feet.” The verb אוּץ (’uts) means “to be pressed; to press; to make haste.” The verb is followed by the preposition בְּ (bet) which indicates that with which one hastens – his feet. The word “feet” is a synecdoche of part for the whole person – body and mind working together (cf. NLT “a person who moves too quickly”).

[19:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “misses the goal.” The participle חוֹטֵא (khote’) can be translated “sins” (cf. KJV, ASV), but in this context it refers only to actions without knowledge, which could lead to sin, or could lead simply to making poor choices (cf. NAB “blunders”; NASB “errs”; NCV “might make a mistake”).