Proverbs 4:12

4:12 When you walk, your steps ¹  will not be hampered, ² 

and when you run, ³  you will not stumble.

Proverbs 19:5

19:5 A false witness ⁴  will not go unpunished,

and the one who spouts out ⁵  lies will not escape punishment. ⁶ 

Proverbs 27:20

27:20 As ⁷  Death and Destruction are never satisfied, ⁸ 

so the eyes of a person ⁹  are never satisfied. ¹⁰ 

[4:12]  ¹ sn The noun צַעֲדֶךָ (tsa’adekha, “your steps”) and the temporal infinitive בְּלֶכְתְּךָ (belekhtÿkha, “when you walk”) use the idiom of walking to represent the course of life. On that course there will be no obstacles; the “path” will be straight – morally and practically.

[4:12]  ² sn The verb צָרַר (tsarar, “to be narrow; to be constricted”) refers to that which is narrow or constricted, signifying distress, trouble, adversity; that which was wide-open or broad represents freedom and deliverance.

[4:12]  ³ sn The progression from walking to running is an idiom called “anabasis,” suggesting that as greater and swifter progress is made, there will be nothing to impede the progress (e.g., Isa 40:31).

[19:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “a witness of lies.” This expression is an attributive genitive: “a lying witness” (cf. CEV “dishonest witnesses”). This is paralleled by “the one who pours out lies.”

[19:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “breathes out”; NAB “utters”; NIV “pours out.”

[19:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “will not escape” (so NAB, NASB); NIV “will not go free.” Here “punishment” is implied, and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[27:20]  ⁷ tn The term “as” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation in light of the analogy.

[27:20]  ⁸ sn Countless generations of people have gone into the world below; yet “death” is never satisfied – it always takes more. The line personifies Death and Destruction. It forms the emblem in the parallelism.

[27:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “eyes of a man.” This expression refers to the desires – what the individual looks longingly on. Ecclesiastes Rabbah 1:34 (one of the rabbinic Midrashim) says, “No man dies and has one-half of what he wanted.”

[27:20]  ¹⁰ tc The LXX contains a scribal addition: “He who fixes his eye is an abomination to the Lord, and the uninstructed do not restrain their tongues.” This is unlikely to be original.