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 8:7
Context8:7 For my mouth 8 speaks truth, 9
and my lips 10 hate wickedness. 11
Proverbs 11:1
Context11:1 The Lord abhors 12 dishonest scales, 13
but an accurate weight 14 is his delight.
Proverbs 11:20
Context11:20 The Lord abhors 15 those who are perverse in heart, 16
but those who are blameless in their ways 17 are his delight. 18
Proverbs 12:22
Context12:22 The Lord 19 abhors a person who lies, 20
but those who deal truthfully 21 are his delight. 22
Proverbs 13:19
Context13:19 A desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul,
but fools abhor 23 turning away from evil.
Proverbs 15:8-9
Context15:8 The Lord abhors 24 the sacrifices 25 of the wicked, 26
but the prayer 27 of the upright pleases him. 28
15:9 The Lord abhors 29 the way of the wicked,
but he loves those 30 who pursue 31 righteousness.
Proverbs 15:26
Context15:26 The Lord abhors 32 the plans 33 of the wicked, 34
but pleasant words 35 are pure. 36
Proverbs 16:12
Context16:12 Doing wickedness 37 is an abomination to kings,
because a throne 38 is established in righteousness.
Proverbs 17:15
Context17:15 The one who acquits the guilty and the one who condemns the innocent 39 –
both of them are an abomination to the Lord. 40
Proverbs 20:10
Context20:10 Diverse weights and diverse measures 41 –
the Lord abhors 42 both of them.
Proverbs 20:23
Context20:23 The Lord abhors 43 differing weights,
and dishonest scales are wicked. 44
Proverbs 21:27
Context21:27 The wicked person’s sacrifice 45 is an abomination;
how much more 46 when he brings it with evil intent! 47
Proverbs 28:9
Context28:9 The one who turns away his ear 48 from hearing the law,
[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).
[8:7] 9 tn Heb “roof of the mouth.” This expression is a metonymy of cause for the activity of speaking.
[8:7] 10 tn The word “truth” (אֱמֶת, ’emet) is derived from the verbal root אָמַן (’aman) which means “to support.” There are a number of derived nouns that have the sense of reliability: “pillars,” “master craftsman,” “nurse,” “guardian.” Modifiers related to this group of words includes things like “faithful,” “surely,” “truly” (amen). In the derived stems the verb develops various nuances: The Niphal has the meanings of “reliable, faithful, sure, steadfast,” and the Hiphil has the meaning “believe” (i.e., consider something dependable). The noun “truth” means what is reliable or dependable, firm or sure.
[8:7] 11 sn Wise lips detest wickedness; wisdom hates speaking wicked things. In fact, speaking truth results in part from detesting wickedness.
[8:7] 12 tn Heb “wickedness is an abomination to my lips” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).
[11:1] 13 tn Heb “an abomination of the
[11:1] 14 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] 15 tn Heb “a perfect stone.” Stones were used for measuring amounts of silver on the scales; here the stone that pleases the
[11:20] 17 tn Heb “an abomination of the
[11:20] 18 sn The word עִקְּשֵׁי (“crooked; twisted; perverted”) describes the wicked as having “twisted minds.” Their mentality is turned toward evil things.
[11:20] 19 tn Heb “those who are blameless of way.” The noun דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) is a genitive of specification: “blameless in their way.”
[11:20] 20 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] 21 tn Heb “an abomination of the
[12:22] 22 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] 23 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] 24 sn The contrast between “delight/pleasure” and “abomination” is emphatic. What pleases the
[13:19] 25 tn Heb “an abomination of fools.” The noun כְּסִילִים (kÿsilim, “fools”) functions as a subjective genitive: “fools hate to turn away from evil” (cf. NAB, TEV, CEV). T. T. Perowne says: “In spite of the sweetness of good desires accomplished, fools will not forsake evil to attain it” (Proverbs, 103). Cf. Prov 13:12; 29:27.
[15:8] 29 tn Heb “an abomination of the
[15:8] 30 tn Heb “sacrifice” (so many English versions).
[15:8] 31 sn The sacrifices of the wicked are hated by the
[15:8] 32 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] 33 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] 33 tn Heb “an abomination of the
[15:9] 34 tn Heb “the one who” (so NRSV).
[15:9] 35 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] 37 tn Heb “an abomination of the
[15:26] 38 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] 39 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] 40 sn The contrast is between the “thoughts” and the “words.” The thoughts that are designed to hurt people the
[15:26] 41 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] 41 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] 42 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] 45 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] 46 tn Heb “an abomination of the
[20:10] 49 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] 50 tn Heb “an abomination of the
[20:23] 53 tn Heb “an abomination of the
[20:23] 54 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).
[21:27] 57 tn Heb “the sacrifice of the wicked” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). This is a subjective genitive. The foundational clause states that ritual acts of worship brought by the wicked (thus a subjective genitive) are detestable to God. The “wicked” refers here to people who are not members of the covenant (no faith) and are not following after righteousness (no acceptable works). But often they participate in sanctuary ritual, which amounts to hypocrisy.
[21:27] 58 sn This rhetorical device shows that if the act is abomination, the wicked heart is an even greater sin. It argues from the lesser to the greater.
[21:27] 59 tn The noun זִמָּה (zimmah) means “plan; device; wickedness”; here it indicates that the person is coming to the ritual with “sinful purpose.” Some commentators suggest that this would mean he comes with the sacrifice as a bribe to pacify his conscience for a crime committed, over which he has little remorse or intent to cease (cf. NLT “with ulterior motives”). In this view, people in ancient Israel came to think that sacrifices could be given for any reason without genuine submission to God.
[28:9] 61 sn The expression “turn away the ear from hearing” uses a metonymy to mean that this individual will not listen – it indicates a deliberate refusal to follow the instruction of the law.
[28:9] 62 sn It is hard to imagine how someone who willfully refuses to obey the law of God would pray according to the will of God. Such a person is more apt to pray for some physical thing or make demands on God. (Of course a prayer of repentance would be an exception and would not be an abomination to the
[28:9] 63 sn C. H. Toy says, “If a man, on his part, is deaf to instruction, then God, on his part, is deaf to prayer” (Proverbs [ICC], 499). And W. McKane observes that one who fails to attend to God’s law is a wicked person, even if he is a man of prayer (Proverbs [OTL], 623).
