Discovery BoxProverbs 3:32
Context3:32 for one who goes astray 1 is an abomination 2 to the Lord,
but he reveals 3 his intimate counsel 4 to the upright.
Proverbs 6:16
Context6:16 There are six things that the Lord hates,
even 5 seven 6 things that are an abomination to him: 7
Proverbs 11:1
Context11:1 The Lord abhors 8 dishonest scales, 9
but an accurate weight 10 is his delight.
Proverbs 11:20
Context11:20 The Lord abhors 11 those who are perverse in heart, 12
but those who are blameless in their ways 13 are his delight. 14
Proverbs 12:22
Context12:22 The Lord 15 abhors a person who lies, 16
but those who deal truthfully 17 are his delight. 18
Proverbs 15:8-9
Context15:8 The Lord abhors 19 the sacrifices 20 of the wicked, 21
but the prayer 22 of the upright pleases him. 23
15:9 The Lord abhors 24 the way of the wicked,
but he loves those 25 who pursue 26 righteousness.
Proverbs 15:26
Context15:26 The Lord abhors 27 the plans 28 of the wicked, 29
but pleasant words 30 are pure. 31
Proverbs 16:12
Context16:12 Doing wickedness 32 is an abomination to kings,
because a throne 33 is established in righteousness.
Proverbs 17:15
Context17:15 The one who acquits the guilty and the one who condemns the innocent 34 –
both of them are an abomination to the Lord. 35
Proverbs 20:10
Context20:10 Diverse weights and diverse measures 36 –
the Lord abhors 37 both of them.
Proverbs 20:23
Context20:23 The Lord abhors 38 differing weights,
and dishonest scales are wicked. 39
Proverbs 29:27
Context29:27 An unjust person is an abomination to the righteous,
and the one who lives an upright life is an abomination to the wicked. 40
[3:32] 1 tn The basic meaning of the verb לוּז (luz) is “to turn aside; to depart” (BDB 531 s.v.). The Niphal stem is always used figuratively of moral apostasy from the path of righteousness: (1) “to go astray” (Prov 2:15; 3:32; 14:2) and (2) “crookedness” in action (Isa 30:12; see HALOT 522 s.v. לוז nif; BDB 531 s.v. Niph).
[3:32] 2 tn Heb “abomination of the
[3:32] 3 tn Heb “but with the upright is his intimate counsel.” The phrase “he reveals” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and clarity.
[3:32] 4 tn Heb “his counsel.” The noun סוֹד (sod) can refer to (1) “intimate circle” of friends and confidants, (2) “confidential discussion” among friends and confidants, or “secret counsel” revealed from one confidant to another and kept secret and (3) relationship of “intimacy” with a person (BDB 691 s.v.; HALOT 745 s.v.). God reveals his secret counsel to the heavenly assembly (Job 15:8; Jer 23:18, 22) and his prophets (Amos 3:7). God has brought the angels into his “intimate circle” (Ps 89:8). Likewise, those who fear the
[6:16] 5 tn The conjunction has the explicative use here (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 71, §434).
[6:16] 6 sn This saying involves a numerical ladder, paralleling six things with seven things (e.g., also 30:15, 18, 21, 24, 29). The point of such a numerical arrangement is that the number does not exhaust the list (W. M. Roth, “The Numerical Sequence x / x +1 in the Old Testament,” VT 12 [1962]: 300-311; and his “Numerical Sayings in the Old Testament,” VT 13 [1965]: 86).
[11:1] 9 tn Heb “an abomination of the
[11:1] 10 tn Heb “scales of deception.” The genitive is attributive: “deceptive scales.” This refers to dishonesty in the market where silver was weighed in the scales. God condemns dishonest business practices (Deut 25:13-16; Lev 10:35-36), as did the ancient Near East (ANET 388, 423).
[11:1] 11 tn Heb “a perfect stone.” Stones were used for measuring amounts of silver on the scales; here the stone that pleases the
[11:20] 13 tn Heb “an abomination of the
[11:20] 14 sn The word עִקְּשֵׁי (“crooked; twisted; perverted”) describes the wicked as having “twisted minds.” Their mentality is turned toward evil things.
[11:20] 15 tn Heb “those who are blameless of way.” The noun דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) is a genitive of specification: “blameless in their way.”
[11:20] 16 sn The noun means “goodwill, favor, acceptance, will”; it is related to the verb רָצַה (ratsah) which means “to be pleased with; to accept favorably.” These words are used frequently in scripture to describe what pleases the
[12:22] 17 tn Heb “an abomination of the
[12:22] 18 tn Heb “lips of lying.” The genitive שָׁקֶר (shaqer, “lying”) functions as an attributive genitive: “lying lips.” The term “lips” functions as a synecdoche of part (= lips) for the whole (= person): “a liar.”
[12:22] 19 tn Heb “but doers of truthfulness.” The term “truthfulness” is an objective genitive, meaning: “those who practice truth” or “those who act in good faith.” Their words and works are reliable.
[12:22] 20 sn The contrast between “delight/pleasure” and “abomination” is emphatic. What pleases the
[15:8] 21 tn Heb “an abomination of the
[15:8] 22 tn Heb “sacrifice” (so many English versions).
[15:8] 23 sn The sacrifices of the wicked are hated by the
[15:8] 24 sn J. H. Greenstone notes that if God will accept the prayers of the upright, he will accept their sacrifices; for sacrifice is an outer ritual and easily performed even by the wicked, but prayer is a private and inward act and not usually fabricated by unbelievers (Proverbs, 162).
[15:8] 25 tn Heb “[is] his pleasure.” The 3rd person masculine singular suffix functions as a subjective genitive: “he is pleased.” God is pleased with the prayers of the upright.
[15:9] 25 tn Heb “an abomination of the
[15:9] 26 tn Heb “the one who” (so NRSV).
[15:9] 27 sn God hates the way of the wicked, that is, their lifestyle and things they do. God loves those who pursue righteousness, the Piel verb signifying a persistent pursuit. W. G. Plaut says, “He who loves God will be moved to an active, persistent, and even dangerous search for justice” (Proverbs, 170).
[15:26] 29 tn Heb “an abomination of the
[15:26] 30 tn The noun מַחְשְׁבוֹת (makhshÿvot) means “thoughts” (so KJV, NIV, NLT), from the verb חָשַׁב (khashav, “to think; to reckon; to devise”). So these are intentions, what is being planned (cf. NAB “schemes”).
[15:26] 31 tn The word רַע (“evil; wicked”) is a genitive of source or subjective genitive, meaning the plans that the wicked devise – “wicked plans.”
[15:26] 32 sn The contrast is between the “thoughts” and the “words.” The thoughts that are designed to hurt people the
[15:26] 33 tc The MT simply has “but pleasant words are pure” (Heb “but pure [plural] are the words of pleasantness”). Some English versions add “to him” to make the connection to the first part (cf. NAB, NIV). The LXX has: “the sayings of the pure are held in honor.” The Vulgate has: “pure speech will be confirmed by him as very beautiful.” The NIV has paraphrased here: “but those of the pure are pleasing to him.”
[16:12] 33 sn The “wickedness” mentioned here (רֶשַׁע, resha’) might better be understood as a criminal act, for the related word “wicked” can also mean the guilty criminal. If a king is trying to have a righteous administration, he will detest any criminal acts.
[16:12] 34 tn The “throne” represents the administration, or the decisions made from the throne by the king, and so the word is a metonymy of adjunct (cf. NLT “his rule”).
[17:15] 37 tn Heb “he who justifies the wicked and and he who condemns the righteous” (so NASB). The first colon uses two Hiphil participles, מַצְדִּיק (matsdiq) and מַרְשִׁיעַ (marshia’). The first means “to declare righteous” (a declarative Hiphil), and the second means “to make wicked [or, guilty]” or “to condemn” (i.e., “to declare guilty”). To declare someone righteous who is a guilty criminal, or to condemn someone who is innocent, are both abominations for the Righteous Judge of the whole earth.
[17:15] 38 tn Heb “an abomination of the
[20:10] 41 tn The construction simply uses repetition to express different kinds of weights and measures: “a stone and a stone, an ephah and an ephah.”
[20:10] 42 tn Heb “an abomination of the
[20:23] 45 tn Heb “an abomination of the
[20:23] 46 tn Heb “not good.” This is a figure known as tapeinosis – a deliberate understatement to emphasize a worst-case scenario: “it is wicked!” (e.g., 11:1; 20:10).
[29:27] 49 tn Heb “who is upright in the way” (so NASB; KJV and ASV are similar). Here “in the way” refers to the course of a person’s life, hence “who lives an upright life.” Cf. NAB “he who walks uprightly.”
