Proverbs 22:14

22:14 The mouth ¹  of an adulteress is like ²  a deep pit; ³ 

the one against whom the Lord is angry ⁴  will fall into it. ⁵ 

Proverbs 19:15

19:15 Laziness brings on ⁶  a deep sleep, ⁷ 

and the idle person ⁸  will go hungry. ⁹ 

Proverbs 1:14

1:14 Join with us! ¹⁰ 

We will all share ¹¹  equally in what we steal.” ¹² 

Proverbs 7:26

7:26 for she has brought down ¹³  many fatally wounded,

and all those she has slain are many. ¹⁴ 

Proverbs 11:5

11:5 The righteousness of the blameless will make straight their way, ¹⁵ 

but the wicked person will fall by his own wickedness. ¹⁶ 

Proverbs 11:14

11:14 When there is no guidance ¹⁷  a nation falls,

but there is success ¹⁸  in the abundance of counselors.

Proverbs 11:28

11:28 The one who trusts in his riches will fall,

but the righteous ¹⁹  will flourish like a green leaf. ²⁰ 

Proverbs 13:17

13:17 An unreliable ²¹  messenger falls ²²  into trouble, ²³ 

but a faithful envoy ²⁴  brings ²⁵  healing.

Proverbs 24:16-17

24:16 Although ²⁶  a righteous person may fall seven times, he gets up again,

but the wicked will be brought down ²⁷  by calamity.

24:17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, ²⁸ 

and when he stumbles do not let your heart rejoice,

Proverbs 26:27

26:27 The one who digs a pit ²⁹  will fall into it;

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

Proverbs 28:14

28:14 Blessed is the one who is always cautious, ³⁰ 

but whoever hardens his heart ³¹  will fall into evil.

Proverbs 28:18

28:18 The one who walks blamelessly will be delivered, ³² 

but whoever is perverse in his ways will fall ³³  at once. ³⁴ 

Proverbs 17:20

17:20 The one who has a perverse heart ³⁵  does not find good, ³⁶ 

and the one who is deceitful in speech ³⁷  falls into trouble.

Proverbs 28:10

28:10 The one who leads the upright astray in an evil way

will himself fall into his own pit, ³⁸ 

but the blameless will inherit what is good. ³⁹ 

[22:14]  ¹ sn The word “mouth” is a metonymy of cause; it refers to the seductive speech of the strange woman (e.g., 2:16-22; and chs. 5, 7).

[22:14]  ² tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[22:14]  ³ sn The point of the metaphor is that what the adulteress says is like a deep pit. The pit is like the hunter’s snare; it is a trap that is difficult to escape. So to succumb to the adulteress – or to any other folly this represents – is to get oneself into a difficulty that has no easy escape.

[22:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “the one who is cursed by the Lord” (cf. NASB). The construction uses the passive participle in construct with Yahweh. The “Lord” is genitive of agency after the passive form. The verb means “be indignant, express indignation.” So it is talking about one against whom the Lord is angry.

[22:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “will fall there.” The “falling” could refer to the curse itself or to the result of the curse.

[19:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “causes to fall” or “casts”; NAB “plunges…into.”

[19:15]  ⁷ tn Or “complete inactivity”; the word תַּרְדֵּמָה (tardemah) can refer to a physical “deep sleep” (e.g., Gen 2:21; Jonah 1:5, 6); but it can also be used figuratively for complete inactivity, as other words for “sleep” can. Here it refers to lethargy or debility and morbidness.

[19:15]  ⁸ tn The expression וְנֶפֶשׁ רְמִיָּה (vÿnefesh rÿmiyyah) can be translated “the soul of deceit” or “the soul of slackness.” There are two identical feminine nouns, one from the verb “beguile,” and the other from a cognate Arabic root “grow loose.” The second is more likely here in view of the parallelism (cf. NIV “a shiftless man”; NAB “the sluggard”). One who is slack, that is, idle, will go hungry.

[19:15]  ⁹ sn The two lines are related in a metonymical sense: “deep sleep” is the cause of going hungry, and “going hungry” is the effect of deep sleep.

[1:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Throw in your lot with us.” This is a figurative expression (hypocatastasis) urging the naive to join their life of crime and divide their loot equally. The noun גּוֹרָל (goral, “lot”) can refer to (1) lot thrown for decision-making processes, e.g., choosing the scapegoat (Lev 16:8), discovering a guilty party (Jonah 1:7) or allocating property (Josh 18:6); (2) allotted portion (Josh 15:1) and (3) allotted fate or future destiny (Prov 1:14; Dan 12:13; see BDB 174 s.v.). Here the criminals urged the lad to share their life. The verb תַּפִּיל (tappil) is an imperfect of injunction: “Throw in…!” but might also be an imperfect of permission: “you may throw.” It functions metonymically as an invitation to join their life of crime: “share with us” (BDB 658 s.v. 3).

[1:14]  ¹² tn Heb “there will be to all of us.”

[1:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “one purse” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV). The term כִּיס (kis, “purse; bag”) is a synecdoche of container (= purse) for contents (= stolen goods). The adjective אֶחָד (’ekhad, “one”) indicates that the thieves promised to share equally in what they had stolen.

[7:26]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “she has caused to fall.”

[7:26]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “numerous” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT) or “countless.”

[11:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “his way.”

[11:5]  ²² sn The righteous will enjoy security and serenity throughout life. Righteousness makes the path straight; wickedness destroys the wicked.

[11:14]  ²⁶ tn The word תַּחְבֻּלוֹת (takhvulot, “guidance; direction”) is derived from the root I חָבַל (khaval, “rope-pulling” and “steering” or “directing” a ship; BDB 286 s.v.). Thus spiritual guidance is like steering a ship, here the ship of state (R. N. Whybray, Proverbs [CBC], 68; Prov 1:5). Advice is necessary for the success of a nation.

[11:14]  ²⁷ tn Heb “victory.” This term תְּשׁוּעָה (teshu’ah) means “salvation” or “victory” (BDB 448 s.v.); cf. NAB, TEV “security”; NRSV, NLT “safety.” Here, it connotes “success” as the antithesis of the nation falling. The setting could be one of battle or economics. Victory or success will be more likely with good advice. This assumes that the counselors are wise.

[11:28]  ³¹ sn The implication from the parallelism is that the righteous do not trust in their own riches, but in the Lord.

[11:28]  ³² tn Heb “leafage” or “leaf” (cf. KJV “as a branch”); TEV “leaves of summer”; NLT “leaves in spring.” The simile of a leaf is a figure of prosperity and fertility throughout the ancient Near East.

[13:17]  ³⁶ tn Heb “bad.”

[13:17]  ³⁷ tn The RSV changes this to a Hiphil to read, “plunges [men] into trouble.” But the text simply says the wicked messenger “falls into trouble,” perhaps referring to punishment for his bad service.

[13:17]  ³⁸ tn Or “evil.”

[13:17]  ³⁹ tn Heb “an envoy of faithfulness.” The genitive אֱמוּנִים (’emunim, “faithfulness”) functions as an attributive adjective: “faithful envoy.” The plural form אמונים (literally, “faithfulnesses”) is characteristic of abstract nouns. The term “envoy” (צִיר, tsir) suggests that the person is in some kind of government service (e.g., Isa 18:2; Jer 49:14; cf. KJV, ASV “ambassador”). This individual can be trusted to “bring healing” – be successful in the mission. The wisdom literature of the ancient Neat East has much to say about messengers.

[13:17]  ⁴⁰ tn The verb “brings” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

[24:16]  ⁴¹ tn The clause beginning with כִּי (ki) could be interpreted as causal or conditional; but in view of the significance of the next clause it seems better to take it as a concessive clause (“although”). Its verb then receives a modal nuance of possibility. The apodosis is then “and he rises up,” which could be a participle or a perfect tense; although he may fall, he gets up (or, will get up).

[24:16]  ⁴² tn The verb could be translated with an English present tense (“are brought down,” so NIV) to express what happens to the wicked in this life; but since the saying warns against being like the wicked, their destruction is more likely directed to the future.

[24:17]  ⁴⁶ sn The saying (vv. 17, 18) warns against gloating over the misfortune of one’s enemies. The prohibition is formed with two negated jussives “do not rejoice” and “let not be glad,” the second qualified by “your heart” as the subject, signifying the inner satisfaction of such a defeat.

[26:27]  ⁵¹ 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.

[28:14]  ⁵⁶ tn Most commentators (and some English versions, e.g., NIV) assume that the participle מְפַחֵד (mÿfakhed, “fears”) means “fears the Lord,” even though “the Lord” is not present in the text. Such an assumption would be more convincing if the word יִרְאַת (yir’at) had been used. It is possible that the verse refers to fearing sin or its consequences. In other words, the one who is always apprehensive about the nature and consequences of sin will avoid sin and find God’s blessing. Of course the assumption that the phrase means “fear the Lord” could be correct as well. There would be little difference in the outcome; in either case sin would be avoided.

[28:14]  ⁵⁷ sn The one who “hardens his heart” in this context is the person who refuses to fear sin and its consequences. The image of the “hard heart” is one of a stubborn will, unyielding and unbending (cf. NCV, TEV, NLT). This individual will fall into sin.

[28:18]  ⁶¹ tn The form is the Niphal imperfect of יָשַׁע (yasha’, “will be saved”). In all probability this refers to deliverance from misfortune. Some render it “kept safe” (NIV) or “will be safe” (NRSV, TEV). It must be interpreted in contrast to the corrupt person who will fall.

[28:18]  ⁶² tn The Qal imperfect יִפּוֹל (yipol) is given a future translation in this context, as is the previous verb (“will be delivered”) because the working out of divine retribution appears to be coming suddenly in the future. The idea of “falling” could be a metonymy of adjunct (with the falling accompanying the ruin that comes to the person), or it may simply be a comparison between falling and being destroyed. Cf. NCV “will suddenly be ruined”; NLT “will be destroyed.”

[28:18]  ⁶³ tn The last word in the verse, בְּאֶחָת (bÿ’ekhat), means “in one [= at once (?)].” This may indicate a sudden fall, for falling “in one” (the literal meaning) makes no sense. W. McKane wishes to emend the text to read “into a pit” based on v. 10b (Proverbs [OTL], 622); this emendation is followed by NAB, NRSV.

[17:20]  ⁶⁶ tn The verse parallels two descriptions of the wicked person: “crooked/perverse of heart” (genitive of specification), and “turned away in his tongue” (deceitful). The first phrase describes twisted intentions. The second, using the Niphal participle (“one turned away”) with “tongue,” the metonymy of cause, describes one who has turned away from speaking truth. Cf. NLT “the twisted tongue tumbles into trouble.”

[17:20]  ⁶⁷ tn The phrase “does not find good” is a figure (tapeinosis) meaning, “will experience calamity.” The wicked person can expect trouble ahead.

[17:20]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “tongue”; NIV “whose tongue is deceitful.”

[28:10]  ⁷¹ sn The image of falling into a pit (a figure of speech known as hypocatastasis, involving implied comparison) is meant to say that the evil to which he guides people will ultimately destroy him.

[28:10]  ⁷² sn This proverb is teaching that those who corrupt others will be destroyed, usually by their own devices, but those who manage to avoid being corrupted will be rewarded. According to this proverb the righteous can be led astray (e.g., 26:27).