[27:20] 1 tn The term “as” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation in light of the analogy.
[27:20] 2 sn Countless generations of people have gone into the world below; yet “death” is never satisfied – it always takes more. The line personifies Death and Destruction. It forms the emblem in the parallelism.
[27:20] 3 tn Heb “eyes of a man.” This expression refers to the desires – what the individual looks longingly on. Ecclesiastes Rabbah 1:34 (one of the rabbinic Midrashim) says, “No man dies and has one-half of what he wanted.”
[27:20] 4 tc The LXX contains a scribal addition: “He who fixes his eye is an abomination to the
[27:21] 5 sn Once again this proverb uses emblematic parallelism. The crucible and the furnace are used to refine and thus reveal the pure metals. The analogy is that praise will reveal the person because others will examine and evaluate what an individual has done in order to make the public acclamation.
[27:21] 6 tn Heb “and a man,” but the context does not indicate this is limited only to males.
[27:21] 7 tn The verb “is proved” was supplied in the translation in view of the analogy. Many English versions supply “tested” for the same reason.
[27:21] 8 tn Heb “by [the] praise of him.” The pronominal suffix is an objective genitive, meaning “the praise about him” (= “the praise he receives”). Some commentators would take the suffix as a subjective genitive, meaning “the praise he gives”; this would mean people stand revealed by what they praise (D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 168). That does not seem to work as well with the emblem of the first line which indicates being tested. The LXX adds a couplet: “The heart of the transgressor seeks evil; but the upright heart seeks knowledge.”
