Proverbs 22:29

22:29 Do you see a person skilled ¹  in his work?

He will take his position before kings;

he will not take his position ²  before obscure people. ³ 

Proverbs 15:17

15:17 Better a meal of vegetables where there is love ⁴ 

than a fattened ox where there is hatred. ⁵ 

Proverbs 23:8

23:8 you will vomit up ⁶  the little bit you have eaten,

and will have wasted your pleasant words. ⁷ 

[22:29]  ¹ sn The word translated “skilled” is general enough to apply to any crafts; but it may refer to a scribe or an official (R. N. Whybray, Proverbs [CBC], 134).

[22:29]  ² tn The verb form used twice here is יִתְיַצֵּב (yityatsev), the Hitpael imperfect of יָצַב (yatsav), which means “to set or station oneself; to take one’s stand” in this stem. With the form לִפְנֵי (life) it means “to present oneself before” someone; so here it has the idea of serving as a courtier in the presence of a king.

[22:29]  ³ sn The fifth saying affirms that true skill earns recognition and advancement (cf. Instruction of Amenemope, chap. 30, 27:16-17 [ANET 424]).

[15:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “and love there.” This clause is a circumstantial clause introduced with vav, that becomes “where there is love.” The same construction is used in the second colon.

[15:17]  ⁵ sn Again the saying concerns troublesome wealth: Loving relationships with simple food are better than a feast where there is hatred. The ideal, of course, would be loving family and friends with a great meal in addition, but this proverb is only comparing two things.

[23:8]  ⁷ sn Eating and drinking with a selfish miser would be irritating and disgusting. The line is hyperbolic; the whole experience turns the stomach.

[23:8]  ⁸ tn Or “your compliments” (so NASB, NIV); cf. TEV “your flattery.”