Proverbs 5:10

5:10 lest strangers devour ¹  your strength, ² 

and your labor ³  benefit ⁴  another man’s house.

Proverbs 29:3

29:3 The man ⁵  who loves wisdom brings joy to his father, ⁶ 

but whoever associates ⁷  with prostitutes wastes ⁸  his wealth. ⁹ 

Proverbs 29:8

29:8 Scornful people ¹⁰  inflame ¹¹  a city, ¹² 

but those who are wise turn away wrath.

Luke 15:13-15

15:13 After ¹³  a few days, ¹⁴  the younger son gathered together all he had and left on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered ¹⁵  his wealth ¹⁶  with a wild lifestyle. 15:14 Then ¹⁷  after he had spent everything, a severe famine took place in that country, and he began to be in need. 15:15 So he went and worked for ¹⁸  one of the citizens of that country, who ¹⁹  sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ²⁰ 

Luke 15:30

15:30 But when this son of yours ²¹  came back, who has devoured ²²  your assets with prostitutes, ²³  you killed the fattened calf ²⁴  for him!’

[5:10]  ¹ tn Or “are sated, satisfied.”

[5:10]  ² tn The word כֹּחַ (coakh, “strength”) refers to what laborious toil would produce (so a metonymy of cause). Everything that this person worked for could become the property for others to enjoy.

[5:10]  ³ tn “labor, painful toil.”

[5:10]  ⁴ tn The term “benefit” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[29:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “a man.” Here “man” is retained in the translation because the second colon mentions prostitutes.

[29:3]  ⁶ tn Or “causes his father to rejoice”; NAB “makes his father glad.”

[29:3]  ⁷ tn The active participle רֹעֶה (ro’eh) is from the second root רָעָה (ra’ah), meaning “to associate with.” The verb occurs only a few times, and mostly in the book of Proverbs. It is related to רֵעֶה (re’eh, “friend; companion; fellow”). To describe someone as a “companion” or “friend” of prostitutes is somewhat euphemistic; it surely means someone who is frequently engaging the services of prostitutes.

[29:3]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew verb יְאַבֶּד (yÿ’abbed) means “destroys”; it is the Piel imperfect of the verb that means “to perish.”

[29:3]  ⁹ sn Wealth was seen as a sign of success and of God’s blessings, pretty much as it always has been. To be seen as honorable in the community meant one had acquired some substance and kept his reputation. It would be a disgrace to the family to have a son who squandered his money on prostitutes (e.g., Prov 5:10; 6:31).

[29:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “men of scorn”; NAB “Arrogant men”; ASV, NRSV “Scoffers”; NIV, NLT “Mockers.”

[29:8]  ¹¹ tn The verb means “to blow; to breathe” (BDB 806 s.v. פּוּחַ). In the Hiphil imperfect its meaning here is “to excite; to inflame” a city, as in blowing up a flame or kindling a fire. It is also used with “words” in 6:19 and 12:17 – they “puff out words.” Such scornful people make dangerous situations worse, whereas the wise calm things down (e.g., 2 Sam 20).

[29:8]  ¹² tn The term “city” is a metonymy of subject; it refers to the people in the city who can easily be set in an uproar by such scornful people.

[15:13]  ¹³ tn Grk “And after.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[15:13]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “after not many days.”

[15:13]  ¹⁵ tn Or “wasted.” This verb is graphic; it means to scatter (L&N 57.151).

[15:13]  ¹⁶ tn Or “estate” (the same word has been translated “estate” in v. 12).

[15:14]  ¹⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the sequence of events in the parable. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style generally does not.

[15:15]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “joined himself to” (in this case an idiom for beginning to work for someone).

[15:15]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “and he.” Here the conjunction καί (kai) and the personal pronoun have been translated by a relative pronoun to improve the English style.

[15:15]  ²⁰ sn To a Jew, being sent to the field to feed pigs would be an insult, since pigs were considered unclean animals (Lev 11:7).

[15:30]  ²¹ sn Note the younger son is not “my brother” but this son of yours (an expression with a distinctly pejorative nuance).

[15:30]  ²² sn This is another graphic description. The younger son’s consumption had been like a glutton. He had both figuratively and literally devoured the assets which were given to him.

[15:30]  ²³ sn The charge concerning the prostitutes is unproven, but essentially the older brother accuses the father of committing an injustice by rewarding his younger son’s unrighteous behavior.

[15:30]  ²⁴ sn See note on the phrase “fattened calf” in v. 23.