Proverbs 5:18

5:18 May your fountain be blessed, ¹ 

and may you rejoice ²  in your young wife ³  –

Proverbs 10:11

10:11 The teaching ⁴  of the righteous is a fountain of life, ⁵ 

but the speech ⁶  of the wicked conceals ⁷  violence. ⁸ 

Proverbs 13:14

13:14 Instruction ⁹  from the wise ¹⁰  is like ¹¹  a life-giving fountain, ¹² 

to turn ¹³  a person ¹⁴  from deadly snares. ¹⁵ 

Proverbs 14:27

14:27 The fear of the Lord ¹⁶  is like ¹⁷  a life-giving fountain, ¹⁸ 

to turn ¹⁹  people ²⁰  from deadly snares. ²¹ 

Proverbs 16:22

16:22 Insight ²²  is like ²³  a life-giving fountain ²⁴  to the one who possesses it,

but folly leads to the discipline of fools. ²⁵ 

Proverbs 25:26

25:26 Like a muddied ²⁶  spring and a polluted ²⁷  well,

so is a righteous person who gives way ²⁸  before the wicked.

Proverbs 18:4

18:4 The words of a person’s mouth are like ²⁹  deep waters, ³⁰ 

and ³¹  the fountain of wisdom ³²  is like ³³  a flowing brook. ³⁴ 

[5:18]  ¹ sn The positive instruction is now given: Find pleasure in a fulfilling marriage. The “fountain” is another in the series of implied comparisons with the sexual pleasure that must be fulfilled at home. That it should be blessed (the passive participle of בָּרַךְ, barakh) indicates that sexual delight is God-given; having it blessed would mean that it would be endowed with fruitfulness, that it would fulfill all that God intended it to do.

[5:18]  ² tn The form is a Qal imperative with a vav (ו) of sequence; after the jussive of the first half this colon could be given an equivalent translation or logically subordinated.

[5:18]  ³ tn Or “in the wife you married when you were young” (cf. NCV, CEV); Heb “in the wife of your youth” (so NIV, NLT). The genitive functions as an attributive adjective: “young wife” or “youthful wife.” Another possibility is that it refers to the age in which a man married his wife: “the wife you married in your youth.”

[10:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “mouth.” The word “mouth” is metonymy of cause, representing what the righteous say and teach.

[10:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “a fountain of life is the mouth of the righteous” (NAB similar). The subject (“a fountain of life”) and the predicate (“the mouth of the righteous”) in the Hebrew text are reversed in the present translation (as in most English versions) for the sake of clarity and smoothness. The idea of this metaphor, “the fountain of life,” may come from Ps 36:9 (e.g., also Prov 13:14; 14:27; 16:22). What the righteous say is beneficial to life or life-giving. Their words are life-giving but the words of the wicked are violent. See R. B. Y. Scott, “Wise and Foolish, Righteous and Wicked,” VT 29 (1972): 145-65.

[10:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “the mouth.” The term פֶּה (peh, “mouth”) functions as a metonymy of cause for speech.

[10:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “covers.” Behind the speech of the wicked is aggressive violence (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 422).

[10:11]  ⁸ tn The syntax of this line is ambiguous. The translation takes “the mouth of the wicked” as the nominative subject and “violence” as the accusative direct object; however, the subject might be “violence,” hence: “violence covers the mouth of the wicked.”

[13:14]  ⁷ tn The term תוֹרָה (torah) in legal literature means “law,” but in wisdom literature often means “instruction; teaching” (BDB 435 s.v.); cf. NAV, NIV, NRSV “teaching”; NLT “advice.”

[13:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “instruction of the wise.” The term חָכָם (khakham, “the wise”) is a genitive of source.

[13:14]  ⁹ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[13:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “fountain of life” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV). The genitive חַיִּים (khayyim) functions as a genitive of material, similar to the expression “fountain of water.” The metaphor means that the teaching of the wise is life-giving. The second colon is the consequence of the first, explaining this metaphor.

[13:14]  ¹¹ tn The infinitive construct with preposition לְ (lamed) gives the result (or, purpose) of the first statement. It could also be taken epexegetically, “by turning.”

[13:14]  ¹² tn The term “person” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[13:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “snares of death” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). The genitive מָוֶת (mavet) functions as an attributive adjective. The term “snares” makes an implied comparison with hunting; death is like a hunter. W. McKane compares the idea to the Ugaritic god Mot, the god of death, carrying people off to the realm of the departed (Proverbs [OTL], 455). The expression could also mean that the snares lead to death.

[14:27]  ¹⁰ sn The verse is similar to Prov 13:14 except that “the fear of the Lord” has replaced “the teaching of the wise.”

[14:27]  ¹¹ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[14:27]  ¹² tn Heb “fountain of life.”

[14:27]  ¹³ tn The infinitive construct with prefixed ל (lamed) indicates the purpose/result of the first line; it could also function epexegetically, explaining how fear is a fountain: “by turning….”

[14:27]  ¹⁴ tn The term “people” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

[14:27]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “snares of death” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); CEV “deadly traps.”

[16:22]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew noun שֵׂכֵל (sekhel, “prudence; insight”; cf. KJV, NASB, NIV “understanding”; NAB, CEV “good sense”) is related to the verb that means “to have insight; to give attention to; to act circumspectly [or, prudently],” as well as “to prosper; to have success.” These words all describe the kind of wise action that will be successful.

[16:22]  ¹⁴ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[16:22]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “fountain of life.” The point of the metaphor is that like a fountain this wisdom will be a constant provision for living in this world.

[16:22]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the discipline of fools [is] folly.” The “discipline” (מוּסָר, musar) in this proverb is essentially a requital for sin (hence “punishment,” so NIV, NCV, NRSV); discipline which is intended to correct is normally rejected and despised by fools. So the line is saying that there is very little that can be done for or with the fool (cf. NLT “discipline is wasted on fools”).

[25:26]  ¹⁶ tn The Niphal participle is from רָפַס (rafas), which means “to stamp; to tread; to foul by treading [or, by stamping].” BDB 952 s.v. defines it here as a “fountain befouled.” The picture is one of a spring of water where men and beasts gather and muddy it by their trampling in and out of it.

[25:26]  ¹⁷ tn The Hophal participle from שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to ruin; to destroy; to corrupt”) provides a general description – the well has been “ruined” or “corrupted” (so ASV) and is therefore unusable.

[25:26]  ¹⁸ tn The verb מָט (mat) means “to give way; to move.” This probably refers to the integrity of the righteous being lost – comparing it to moving [off course]. T. T. Perowne writes, “To see a righteous man moved from his steadfastness through fear or favour in the presence of the wicked is as disheartening as to find the stream turbid and defiled at which you were longing to quench your thirst” (Proverbs, 161). But the line may refer to the loss of social standing and position by the righteous due to the plots of the wicked – just as someone muddied the water, someone made the righteous slip from his place.

[18:4]  ¹⁹ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[18:4]  ²⁰ sn The metaphor “deep waters” indicates either that the words have an inexhaustible supply or that they are profound.

[18:4]  ²¹ tn There is debate about the nature of the parallelism between lines 4a and 4b. The major options are: (1) synonymous parallelism, (2) antithetical parallelism (e.g., NAB, NIV, NCV) or (3) formal parallelism. Normally a vav (ו) would begin an antithetical clause; the structure and the ideas suggest that the second colon continues the idea of the first half, but in a parallel way rather than as additional predicates. The metaphors used in the proverb elsewhere describe the wise.

[18:4]  ²² sn This is an implied comparison (hypocatastasis), the fountain of wisdom being the person who speaks. The Greek version has “fountain of life” instead of “wisdom,” probably influenced from 10:11.

[18:4]  ²³ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[18:4]  ²⁴ sn The point of this metaphor is that the wisdom is a continuous source of refreshing and beneficial ideas.