Discovery BoxProverbs 3:29
Context3:29 Do not plot 1 evil against your neighbor
when 2 he dwells by you unsuspectingly.
Proverbs 6:22
Context6:22 When you walk about, 3 they 4 will guide you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
when you wake up, 5 they will talk 6 to you.
Proverbs 21:13
Context21:13 The one who shuts his ears 7 to the cry 8 of the poor,
he too will cry out and will not be answered. 9
Proverbs 21:29
Context21:29 A wicked person 10 shows boldness with his face, 11
but as for the upright, 12 he discerns 13 his ways.
Proverbs 22:22
Context22:22 Do not exploit 14 a poor person because he is poor
and do not crush the needy in court, 15
Proverbs 28:10
Context28:10 The one who leads the upright astray in an evil way
will himself fall into his own pit, 16
but the blameless will inherit what is good. 17
Proverbs 28:24
Context28:24 The one who robs 18 his father and mother and says, “There is no transgression,”
is a companion 19 to the one 20 who destroys.
Proverbs 31:30
Context31:30 Charm is deceitful 21 and beauty is fleeting, 22
but a woman who fears the Lord 23 will be praised.
[3:29] 1 sn The verb חָרַשׁ (kharash) means “to cut in; to engrave; to plough; to devise.” The idea of plotting is metaphorical for working, practicing or fabricating (BDB 360 s.v.).
[3:29] 2 tn The vav (ו) prefixed to the pronoun introduces a disjunctive circumstantial clause: “when….”
[6:22] 3 tn The verbal form is the Hitpael infinitive construct with a preposition and a suffixed subjective genitive to form a temporal clause. The term הָלַךְ (halakh) in this verbal stem means “to go about; to go to and fro.” The use of these terms in v. 22 also alludes to Deut 6:7.
[6:22] 4 tn Heb “it will guide you.” The verb is singular and the instruction is the subject.
[6:22] 5 tn In both of the preceding cola an infinitive construct was used for the temporal clauses; now the construction uses a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. The verb would then be equivalent to an imperfect tense, but subordinated as a temporal clause here.
[6:22] 6 sn The Hebrew verb means “talk” in the sense of “to muse; to complain; to meditate”; cf. TEV, NLT “advise you.” Instruction bound to the heart will speak to the disciple on awaking.
[21:13] 5 sn The imagery means “pay no attention to” the cry for help or “refuse to help,” so it is a metonymy of cause for the effect.
[21:13] 6 sn “Cry” here would be a metonymy of effect for the cause, the cause being the great needs of the poor.
[21:13] 7 sn The proverb is teaching that those who show mercy will receive mercy. It involves the principle of talionic justice – those who refuse the needs of others will themselves be refused when they need help (so Luke 16:19-31).
[21:29] 7 tn Heb “a wicked man.”
[21:29] 8 tn Heb “he hardens his face.” To make the face firm or hard means to show boldness (BDB 738 s.v. עָזַז Hiph); cf. NRSV “put on a bold face.”
[21:29] 9 tn The “upright” is an independent nominative absolute; the pronoun becomes the formal (emphatic) subject of the verb.
[21:29] 10 tc The Kethib is the imperfect of כּוּן (kun), “he establishes.” This reading has the support of the Syriac, Latin, and Tg. Prov 21:29, and is followed by ASV. The Qere is the imperfect tense of בִּין (bin), “he understands; he discerns.” It has the support of the LXX and is followed by NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT. The difficulty is that both make good sense in the passage and both have support. The contrast is between the wicked who shows a bold face (reflecting a hardened heart) and the upright who either gives thought to his ways (or solidifies his ways). The sense of the Qere may form a slightly better contrast, one between the outer appearance of boldness and the inner discernment of action.
[22:22] 9 tn Two negated jussives form the instruction here: אַל־תִּגְזָל (’al-tigzal, “do not exploit”) and וְאַל־תְּדַכֵּא (ve’al-tÿdakke’, “do not crush”).
[22:22] 10 tn Heb “in the gate” (so KJV); NAB, NASB, NRSV “at the gate.” The “gate” of the city was the center of activity, the place of business as well as the place for settling legal disputes. The language of the next verse suggests a legal setting, so “court” is an appropriate translation here.
[28:10] 11 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] 12 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).
[28:24] 13 sn While the expression is general enough to cover any kind of robbery, the point seems to be that because it can be rationalized it may refer to prematurely trying to gain control of the family property through some form of pressure and in the process reducing the parents’ possessions and standing in the community. The culprit could claim what he does is not wrong because the estate would be his anyway.
[28:24] 14 sn The metaphor of “companion” here means that a person who would do this is just like the criminally destructive person. It is as if they were working together, for the results are the same.
[28:24] 15 tn Heb “man who destroys” (so NASB); TEV “no better than a common thief.”
[31:30] 15 tn The first word of the twenty-first line begins with שׁ (shin), the twenty-first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The graphic distinction between שׁ (shin) and שׂ (sin) had not been made at the time the book of Proverbs was written; that graphic distinction was introduced by the Masoretes, ca.
[31:30] 16 sn The verse shows that “charm” and “beauty” do not endure as do those qualities that the fear of the
[31:30] 17 sn This chapter describes the wise woman as fearing the
