Proverbs 4:26

4:26 Make the path for your feet ¹  level, ² 

so that ³  all your ways may be established. ⁴ 

Proverbs 5:6

5:6 Lest ⁵  she should make level the path leading to life, ⁶ 

her paths are unstable ⁷  but she does not know it. ⁸ 

Proverbs 5:21

5:21 For the ways of a person ⁹  are in front of the Lord’s eyes,

and the Lord ¹⁰  weighs ¹¹  all that person’s ¹²  paths.

[4:26]  ¹ tn Heb “path of your foot.”

[4:26]  ² sn The verb is a denominative Piel from the word פֶּלֶס (peles), “balance; scale.” In addition to telling the disciple to keep focused on a righteous life, the sage tells him to keep his path level, which is figurative for living the righteous life.

[4:26]  ³ tn The vav prefixed to the beginning of this dependent clause denotes purpose/result following the preceding imperative.

[4:26]  ⁴ tn The Niphal jussive from כּוּן (cun, “to be fixed; to be established; to be steadfast”) continues the idiom of walking and ways for the moral sense in life.

[5:6]  ⁵ tn The particle פֶּן (pen) means “lest” (probably from “for the aversion of”). It occurs this once, unusually, preceding the principal clause (BDB 814 s.v.). It means that some action has been taken to avert or avoid what follows. She avoids the path of life, albeit ignorantly.

[5:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “the path of life.” The noun חַיִּים (khayyim, “of life”) functions as a genitive of direction (“leading to”).

[5:6]  ⁷ sn The verb נוּעַ (nua’) means “to quiver; to wave; to waver; to tremble”; cf. KJV “her ways are moveable”; NAB “her paths will ramble”; NLT “She staggers down a crooked trail.” The ways of the adulterous woman are unstable (BDB 631 s.v.).

[5:6]  ⁸ sn The sadder part of the description is that this woman does not know how unstable her life is, or how uneven. However, Thomas suggests that it means, “she is not tranquil.” See D. W. Thomas, “A Note on לא תדע in Proverbs v 6,” JTS 37 (1936): 59.

[5:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “man.”

[5:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:21]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Heb “all his”; the referent (the person mentioned in the first half of the verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.