Proverbs 27:5

27:5 Better is open ¹  rebuke

than hidden ²  love.

Proverbs 10:17

10:17 The one who heeds instruction ³  is on the way to ⁴  life,

but the one who rejects ⁵  rebuke goes astray.

Proverbs 12:1

12:1 The one who loves discipline loves knowledge, ⁶ 

but the one who hates reproof is stupid. ⁷ 

Proverbs 13:18

13:18 The one who neglects ⁸  discipline ends up in ⁹  poverty and shame,

but the one who accepts reproof is honored. ¹⁰ 

Proverbs 15:5

15:5 A fool rejects his father’s discipline,

but whoever heeds reproof shows good sense. ¹¹ 

Proverbs 15:10

15:10 Severe discipline ¹²  is for the one who abandons the way;

the one who hates reproof ¹³  will die.

Proverbs 15:31-32

15:31 The person ¹⁴  who hears the reproof that leads to life ¹⁵ 

is at home ¹⁶  among the wise. ¹⁷ 

15:32 The one who refuses correction despises himself, ¹⁸ 

but whoever hears ¹⁹  reproof acquires understanding. ²⁰ 

[27:5]  ¹ tn Heb “revealed” or “uncovered” (Pual participle from גָּלָה, galah). This would specify the reproof or rebuke as direct, honest, and frank, whether it was coming from a friend or an enemy.

[27:5]  ² tn The Hebrew term translated “hidden” (a Pual participle from סָתַר, satar) refers to a love that is carefully concealed; this is contrasted with the open rebuke in the first line. What is described, then, is someone too timid, too afraid, or not trusting enough to admit that reproof is a genuine part of love (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 610). It is a love that is not expressed in proper concern for the one loved. See also, e.g., 28:23 and 29:3.

[10:17]  ³ tn Heb “discipline.” The noun מוּסָר (musar) has a basic two-fold range of meanings: (1) “discipline” (so NIV; NAB “admonition”; NCV, NLT “correction”) and (2) “instruction” (BDB 416 s.v.; so KJV, NASB, NRSV). The wise person listens to instruction (first colon); however, the fool will not even take discipline to heart (second colon).

[10:17]  ⁴ tn The term is a genitive of location indicating the goal (IBHS 147-48 §9.5.2f).

[10:17]  ⁵ sn The contrast with the one who holds fast to discipline is the one who forsakes or abandons reproof or correction. Whereas the first is an example, this latter individual causes people to wander from the true course of life, that is, causes them to err.

[12:1]  ⁵ sn Those who wish to improve themselves must learn to accept correction; the fool hates/rejects any correction.

[12:1]  ⁶ sn The word בָּעַר (ba’ar, “brutish; stupid”) normally describes dumb animals that lack intellectual sense. Here, it describes the moral fool who is not willing to learn from correction. He is like a dumb animal (so the term here functions as a hypocatastasis: implied comparison).

[13:18]  ⁷ tn The verb III פָּרַע (para’) normally means “to let go; to let alone” and here “to neglect; to avoid; to reject” (BDB 828 s.v.).

[13:18]  ⁸ tn The phrase “ends up in” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

[13:18]  ⁹ sn Honor and success are contrasted with poverty and shame; the key to enjoying the one and escaping the other is discipline and correction. W. McKane, Proverbs (OTL), 456, notes that it is a difference between a man of weight (power and wealth, from the idea of “heavy” for “honor”) and the man of straw (lowly esteemed and poor).

[15:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “is prudent” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NCV, NLT “is wise.” Anyone who accepts correction or rebuke will become prudent in life.

[15:10]  ¹¹ tn The two lines are parallel synonymously, so the “severe discipline” of the first colon is parallel to “will die” of the second. The expression מוּסָר רָע (musar ra’, “severe discipline”) indicates a discipline that is catastrophic or harmful to life.

[15:10]  ¹² sn If this line and the previous line are synonymous, then the one who abandons the way also refuses any correction, and so there is severe punishment. To abandon the way means to leave the life of righteousness which is the repeated subject of the book of Proverbs.

[15:31]  ¹³ tn Heb “ear” (so KJV, NRSV). The term “ear” is a synecdoche of part (= ear) for the whole (= person).

[15:31]  ¹⁴ tn “Life” is an objective genitive: Reproof brings or preserves life. Cf. NIV “life-giving rebuke”; NLT “constructive criticism.”

[15:31]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “lodges.” This means to live with, to be at home with.

[15:31]  ¹⁶ sn The proverb is one full sentence; it affirms that a teachable person is among the wise.

[15:32]  ¹⁵ sn To “despise oneself” means to reject oneself as if there was little value. The one who ignores discipline is not interested in improving himself.

[15:32]  ¹⁶ tn Or “heeds” (so NAB, NIV); NASB “listens to.”

[15:32]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew text reads קוֹנֶה לֵּב (qoneh lev), the participle of קָנָה (qanah, “to acquire; to possess”) with its object, “heart.” The word “heart” is frequently a metonymy of subject, meaning all the capacities of the human spirit and/or mind. Here it refers to the ability to make judgments or discernment.