Proverbs 3:7

3:7 Do not be wise in your own estimation; ¹ 

fear the Lord and turn away from evil. ² 

Proverbs 5:21

5:21 For the ways of a person ³  are in front of the Lord’s eyes,

and the Lord ⁴  weighs ⁵  all that person’s ⁶  paths.

Proverbs 17:8

17:8 A bribe works like ⁷  a charm ⁸  for the one who offers it; ⁹ 

in whatever he does ¹⁰  he succeeds. ¹¹ 

Proverbs 20:8

20:8 A king sitting on the throne to judge ¹² 

separates out ¹³  all evil with his eyes. ¹⁴ 

Proverbs 20:13

20:13 Do not love sleep, ¹⁵  lest you become impoverished;

open your eyes so that ¹⁶  you might be satisfied with food. ¹⁷ 

Proverbs 23:6

23:6 Do not eat the food of a stingy person, ¹⁸ 

do not crave his delicacies;

Proverbs 23:31

23:31 Do not look on the wine when it is red,

when it sparkles ¹⁹  in the cup,

when it goes down smoothly. ²⁰ 

Proverbs 25:7

25:7 for it is better for him ²¹  to say to you, “Come up here,” ²² 

than to put you lower ²³  before a prince,

whom your eyes have seen. ²⁴ 

Proverbs 28:22

28:22 The stingy person ²⁵  hastens after riches

and does not know that poverty will overtake him. ²⁶ 

Proverbs 30:17

30:17 The eye ²⁷  that mocks at a father

and despises obeying ²⁸  a mother –

the ravens of the valley will peck it out

and the young vultures will eat it. ²⁹ 

[3:7]  ¹ tn Heb “in your own eyes” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.”

[3:7]  ² sn The second colon clarifies the first. If one fears the Lord and turns away from evil, then he is depending on the Lord and not wise in his own eyes. There is a higher source of wisdom than human insight.

[5:21]  ³ tn Heb “man.”

[5:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:21]  ⁵ tn BDB 814 s.v. פָּלַס 2 suggests that the participle מְפַּלֵּס (mÿpalles) means “to make level [or, straight].” As one’s ways are in front of the eyes of the Lord, they become straight or right. It could be translated “weighs” since it is a denominative from the noun for “balance, scale”; the Lord weighs or examines the actions.

[5:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “all his”; the referent (the person mentioned in the first half of the verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:8]  ⁵ tn The phrase “works like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[17:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “a stone of favors”; NAB, NRSV “a magic stone.” The term שֹׁחַד (shokhad, “bribe”) could be simply translated as “a gift”; but the second half of the verse says that the one who offers it is successful. At best it could be a gift that opens doors; at worst it is a bribe. The word שֹׁחַד is never used of a disinterested gift, so there is always something of the bribe in it (e.g., Ps 15:5; Isa 1:23). Here it is “a stone that brings favor,” the genitive being the effect or the result of the gift. In other words, it has magical properties and “works like a charm.”

[17:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “in the eyes of its owner.”

[17:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “in all that he turns”; NASB, NIV “wherever he turns.”

[17:8]  ⁹ sn As C. H. Toy points out, the sage is merely affirming a point without making a comment – those who use bribery meet with widespread success (Proverbs [ICC], 341). This does not amount to an endorsement of bribery.

[20:8]  ⁷ tn The infinitive construct is דִּין; it indicates purpose, “to judge” (so NIV, NCV) even though it does not have the preposition with it.

[20:8]  ⁸ tn The second line uses the image of winnowing (cf. NIV, NRSV) to state that the king’s judgment removes evil from the realm. The verb form is מִזָרֶה (mÿzareh), the Piel participle. It has been translated “to sift; to winnow; to scatter” and “to separate” – i.e., separate out evil from the land. The text is saying that a just government roots out evil (cf. NAB “dispels all evil”), but few governments have been consistently just.

[20:8]  ⁹ sn The phrase with his eyes indicates that the king will closely examine or look into all the cases that come before him.

[20:13]  ⁹ sn The proverb uses antithetical parallelism to teach that diligence leads to prosperity. It contrasts loving sleep with opening the eyes, and poverty with satisfaction. Just as “sleep” can be used for slothfulness or laziness, so opening the eyes can represent vigorous, active conduct. The idioms have caught on in modern usage as well – things like “open your eyes” or “asleep on the job.”

[20:13]  ¹⁰ tn The second line uses two imperatives in a sequence (without the vav [ו]): “open your eyes” and then (or, in order that) you will “be satisfied.”

[20:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “bread” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV), although the term often serves in a generic sense for food in general.

[23:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “an evil eye.” This is the opposite of the “good eye” which meant the generous man. The “evil eye” refers to a person who is out to get everything for himself (cf. NASB, NCV, CEV “selfish”). He is ill-mannered and inhospitable (e.g., Prov 28:22). He is up to no good – even though he may appear to be a host.

[23:31]  ¹³ tn Heb “its eye gives.” With CEV’s “bubbling up in the glass” one might think champagne was in view.

[23:31]  ¹⁴ tn The expression is difficult, and is suspected of having been added from Song 7:10, although the parallel is not exact. The verb is the Hitpael imperfect of הָלַךְ (halakh); and the prepositional phrase uses the word “upright; equity; pleasing,” from יָשָׁר (yashar). KJV has “when it moveth itself aright”; much more helpful is ASV: “when it goeth down smoothly.” Most recent English versions are similar to ASV. The phrase obviously refers to the pleasing nature of wine.

[25:7]  ¹⁵ tn The phrase “for him” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[25:7]  ¹⁶ sn This proverb, covering the two verses, is teaching that it is wiser to be promoted than to risk demotion by self-promotion. The point is clear: Trying to promote oneself could bring on public humiliation; but it would be an honor to have everyone in court hear the promotion by the king.

[25:7]  ¹⁷ tn The two infinitives construct form the contrast in this “better” sayings; each serves as the subject of its respective clause.

[25:7]  ¹⁸ tc Most modern commentators either omit this last line or attach it to the next verse. But it is in the text of the MT as well as the LXX, Syriac, Vulgate, and most modern English versions (although some of them do connect it to the following verse, e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[28:22]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a man with an evil eye” (as opposed to the generous man who has a “good” eye). This individual is selfish, unkind, unsympathetic to others. He looks only to his own gain. Cf. NAB “The avaricious man”; NLT “A greedy person.”

[28:22]  ¹⁸ sn The one who is hasty to gain wealth is involved in sin in some way, for which he will be punished by poverty. The idea of “hastening” after riches suggests a dishonest approach to acquiring wealth.

[30:17]  ¹⁹ sn The “eye” as the organ that exhibits the inner feelings most clearly, here represents a look of scorn or disdain that speaks volumes (a metonymy of cause or of adjunct). It is comparable to the “evil eye” which is stinginess (28:22).

[30:17]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew word לִיקֲּהַת (liqqahat, “obeying”) occurs only here and in Gen 49:10; it seems to mean “to receive” in the sense of “receiving instruction” or “obeying.” C. H. Toy suggests emending to “to old age” (לְזִקְנַת, lÿziqnat) of the mother (Proverbs [ICC], 530). The LXX with γῆρας (ghra", “old age”) suggests that a root lhq had something to do with “white hair.” D. W. Thomas suggests a corruption from lhyqt to lyqht; it would have read, “The eye that mocks a father and despises an aged mother” (“A Note on לִיקֲּהַת in Proverbs 30:17,” JTS 42 [1941]: 154-55); this is followed by NAB “or scorns an aged mother.”

[30:17]  ²¹ sn The sternest punishment is for the evil eye. The punishment is talionic – eye for eye. The reference to “the valley” may indicate a place where people are not be given decent burials and the birds of prey pick the corpses clean. It is an image the prophets use in judgment passages.