Proverbs 3:30

3:30 Do not accuse ¹  anyone ²  without legitimate cause, ³ 

if he has not treated you wrongly.

Proverbs 8:34

8:34 Blessed is the one ⁴  who listens to me,

watching ⁵  at my doors day by day,

waiting ⁶  beside my doorway. ⁷ 

Proverbs 12:14

12:14 A person will be satisfied with good from the fruit of his words, ⁸ 

and the work of his hands ⁹  will be rendered to ¹⁰  him.

Proverbs 15:11

15:11 Death and Destruction ¹¹  are before the Lord –

how much more ¹²  the hearts of humans! ¹³ 

Proverbs 17:18

17:18 The one who lacks wisdom ¹⁴  strikes hands in pledge, ¹⁵ 

and puts up financial security ¹⁶  for his neighbor. ¹⁷ 

Proverbs 20:6

20:6 Many people profess their loyalty, ¹⁸ 

but a faithful person ¹⁹  – who can find? ²⁰ 

Proverbs 24:30

24:30 I passed by the field of a sluggard,

by the vineyard of one who lacks wisdom. ²¹ 

Proverbs 28:2

28:2 When a country is rebellious ²²  it has many princes, ²³ 

but by someone who is discerning and knowledgeable ²⁴  order is maintained. ²⁵ 

Proverbs 28:17

28:17 The one who is tormented ²⁶  by the murder ²⁷  of another will flee to the pit; ²⁸ 

let no one support him.

Proverbs 30:14

30:14 There is a generation whose teeth are like ²⁹  swords ³⁰ 

and whose molars ³¹  are like knives

to devour ³²  the poor from the earth

and the needy from among the human race.

[3:30]  ¹ sn The term רִיב (riv) can mean “quarrel” or “legal accusation” (BDB 936 s.v.). Both ideas would work but the more technical legal accusation fits the context better. This is a warning to not bring legal accusations against anyone without a legitimate reason.

[3:30]  ² tn Heb “a man.”

[3:30]  ³ tn Heb “gratuitously”; NIV, TEV “for no (+ good NCV) reason.” The adverb חִנָּם (khinam) means “without cause, undeservedly,” especially of groundless hostility (HALOT 334 s.v. 3; BDB 336 s.v. c).

[8:34]  ⁴ tn Heb “the man.”

[8:34]  ⁵ tn The form לִשְׁקֹד (lishqod) is the infinitive construct serving epexegetically in the sentence. It explains how the person will listen to wisdom.

[8:34]  ⁶ tn Heb “keeping” or “guarding.”

[8:34]  ⁷ tn Heb “at the posts of my doors” (so KJV, ASV).

[12:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “fruit of the lips.” The term “fruit” is the implied comparison, meaning what is produced; and “lips” is the metonymy of cause, referring to speech. Proper speech will result in good things.

[12:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “the work of the hands of a man.”

[12:14]  ⁹ tc The Kethib has the Qal imperfect, “will return” to him (cf. NASB); the Qere preserves a Hiphil imperfect, “he/one will restore/render” to him (cf. KJV, ASV). The Qere seems to suggest that someone (God or people) will reward him in kind. Since there is no expressed subject, it may be translated as a passive voice.

[15:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Sheol and Abaddon” (שְׁאוֹל וַאֲבַדּוֹן (shÿ’ol va’adon); so ASV, NASB, NRSV; cf. KJV “Hell and destruction”; NAB “the nether world and the abyss.” These terms represent the remote underworld and all the mighty powers that reside there (e.g., Prov 27:20; Job 26:6; Ps 139:8; Amos 9:2; Rev 9:11). The Lord knows everything about this remote region.

[15:11]  ¹¹ tn The construction אַף כִּי (’af ki, “how much more!”) introduces an argument from the lesser to the greater: If all this is open before the Lord, how much more so human hearts. “Hearts” here is a metonymy of subject, meaning the motives and thoughts (cf. NCV “the thoughts of the living”).

[15:11]  ¹² tn Heb “the hearts of the sons of man,” although here “sons of man” simply means “men” or “human beings.”

[17:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “heart”; KJV, ASV “a man void of understanding”; NIV “a man lacking in judgment.”

[17:18]  ¹⁴ tn The phrase “in pledge” is supplied for the sake of clarification.

[17:18]  ¹⁵ tn The line uses the participle עֹרֵב (’orev) with its cognate accusative עֲרֻבָּה (’arubah), “who pledges a pledge.”

[17:18]  ¹⁶ sn It is foolish to pledge security for someone’s loans (e.g., Prov 6:1-5).

[20:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “many a man calls/proclaims a man of his loyal love.” The Syriac and Tg. Prov 20:6 render the verb as passive: “many are called kind.” Other suggestions include: “most men meet people who will do them occasional kindnesses” (RSV); “many men profess friendship” (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 384); “many men invite only the one who has shown them kindness.” The simplest interpretation in this context is “many proclaim [themselves to be] a kind person (= a loyal friend).” The contrast is between many who claim to be loyal friends and the one who actually proves to be faithful.

[20:6]  ¹⁷ tn The shift to the expression “a man of faithfulness[es]” in the second line indicates that of all those who claim to show faithful love, it is rare to find one who is truly reliable (as the word אֱמוּנִים [’emunim] indicates clearly); cf. NAB, NRSV “one worthy of trust.”

[20:6]  ¹⁸ sn The point of the rhetorical question is that a truly faithful friend is very difficult to find.

[24:30]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “lacks heart”; KJV “understanding”; NAB, NASB, NLT “sense.”

[28:2]  ²² sn The Hebrew word translated “rebellious” has rebellion as its basic meaning, and that is the idea here. The proverb is describing a time when sinfulness brings about social and political unrest.

[28:2]  ²³ tn Heb “many are its princes” (so NASB).

[28:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “a man who understands [and] knows”; NRSV “an intelligent ruler”; NLT “wise and knowledgeable leaders.”

[28:2]  ²⁵ tc The LXX reads (probably from a different underlying Hebrew text): “It is the fault of a violent man that quarrels start, but they are settled by a man of discernment.” For a survey of suggestions, see C. H. Toy, Proverbs (ICC), 495, and W. McKane, Proverbs (OTL), 630.

[28:17]  ²⁵ tn The form is the Qal passive participle. The verb means “to oppress; to wrong; to extort”; here the idea of being “oppressed” would refer to the burden of a guilty conscience (hence “tormented”; cf. NAB, NRSV “burdened”). Some commentators have wanted to emend the text to read “suspected,” or “charged with,” or “given to,” etc., but if the motive is religious and not legal, then “oppressed” or “tormented” is preferred.

[28:17]  ²⁶ sn The text has “the blood of a life”; blood will be the metonymy of effect for the murder, the shedding of blood.

[28:17]  ²⁷ tn The verse is cryptic; it simply says that he will “flee to the pit.” Some have taken the “pit” to refer to the place of detention for prisoners, but why would he flee to that place? It seems rather to refer to death. This could mean that (1) since there is no place for him to go outside of the grave, he should flee to the pit (cf. TEV, NLT), or (2) he will be a fugitive until he goes to the grave (cf. NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, CEV). Neither one of these options is easily derived from the text. The verse seems to be saying that the one who is guilty of murder will flee, and no one should assist him. The meaning of “the pit” is unresolved.

[30:14]  ²⁸ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[30:14]  ²⁹ sn There are two figures used in each of these lines: teeth/great teeth and “swords/knives.” The term “teeth” is a metonymy for the process of chewing and eating. This goes with the figure of the second half of the verse that speaks about “devouring” the poor – so the whole image of eating and chewing refers to destroying the poor (an implied comparison). The figures of “swords/knives” are metaphors within this image. Comparing teeth to swords means that they are sharp and powerful. The imagery captures the rapacity of their power.

[30:14]  ³⁰ tn Heb “teeth” (so NRSV) or “jaw teeth” (so KJV, ASV, NASB) or perhaps “jawbone.” This is a different Hebrew word for “teeth” than the one in the previous line; if it refers to “jaw teeth” then a translation like “molars” would be appropriate, although this image might not fit with the metaphor (“like knives”) unless the other teeth, the incisors or front teeth, are pictured as being even longer (“like swords”).

[30:14]  ³¹ tn The Hebrew form לֶאֱכֹל (le’ekhol) is the Qal infinitive construct; it indicates the purpose of this generation’s ruthless power – it is destructive. The figure is an implied comparison (known as hypocatastasis) between “devouring” and “destroying.”