Proverbs 5:3

5:3 For the lips ¹  of the adulterous woman drip honey,

and her seductive words ²  are smoother than olive oil,

Proverbs 5:10

5:10 lest strangers devour ³  your strength, ⁴ 

and your labor ⁵  benefit ⁶  another man’s house.

Proverbs 5:20

5:20 But why should you be captivated, ⁷  my son, by an adulteress,

and embrace the bosom of a different woman? ⁸ 

Proverbs 6:1

Admonitions and Warnings against Dangerous and Destructive Acts ⁹ 

6:1 My child, ¹⁰  if you have made a pledge ¹¹  for your neighbor,

and ¹²  have become a guarantor ¹³  for a stranger, ¹⁴ 

Proverbs 11:15

11:15 The one who puts up security for a stranger ¹⁵  will surely have trouble, ¹⁶ 

but whoever avoids ¹⁷  shaking hands ¹⁸  will be secure.

Proverbs 14:10

14:10 The heart knows its own bitterness, ¹⁹ 

and with its joy no one else ²⁰  can share. ²¹ 

Proverbs 20:16

20:16 Take a man’s ²²  garment ²³  when he has given security for a stranger, ²⁴ 

and when he gives surety for strangers, ²⁵  hold him ²⁶  in pledge.

Proverbs 22:14

22:14 The mouth ²⁷  of an adulteress is like ²⁸  a deep pit; ²⁹ 

the one against whom the Lord is angry ³⁰  will fall into it. ³¹ 

Proverbs 27:2

27:2 Let another ³²  praise you, and not your own mouth; ³³ 

someone else, ³⁴  and not your own lips.

Proverbs 27:13

27:13 Take a man’s ³⁵  garment when he has given security for a stranger,

and when he gives surety for a stranger, ³⁶  hold him in pledge. ³⁷ 

[5:3]  ¹ sn “Lips” is a metonymy of cause, referring to her words. Dripping honey is an implied comparison between the product and her words, which are flattering and smooth (cf. Song 4:11). See M. Dahood, “Honey That Drips. Notes on Proverbs 5:2-3,” Bib 54 (1973): 65-66.

[5:3]  ² tn Heb “her palate.” The word חֵךְ (khekh, “palate; roof of the mouth; gums”) is a metonymy of cause (= organ of speech) for what is said (= her seductive speech). The present translation clarifies this metonymy with the phrase “her seductive words.”

[5:10]  ³ tn Or “are sated, satisfied.”

[5:10]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn “labor, painful toil.”

[5:10]  ⁶ tn The term “benefit” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[5:20]  ⁵ tn In the interrogative clause the imperfect has a deliberative nuance.

[5:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “foreigner” (so ASV, NASB), but this does not mean that the woman is non-Israelite. This term describes a woman who is outside the moral boundaries of the covenant community – she is another man’s wife, but since she acts with moral abandonment she is called “foreign.”

[6:1]  ⁷ sn The chapter advises release from foolish indebtedness (1-5), admonishes avoiding laziness (6-11), warns of the danger of poverty (9-11) and deviousness (12-15), lists conduct that the Lord hates (16-19), and warns about immorality (20-35).

[6:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “my son” (likewise in vv. 3, 20).

[6:1]  ⁹ sn It was fairly common for people to put up some kind of financial security for someone else, that is, to underwrite another’s debts. But the pledge in view here was foolish because the debtor was a neighbor who was not well known (זָר, zar), perhaps a misfit in the community. The one who pledged security for this one was simply gullible.

[6:1]  ¹⁰ tn The conjunction “and” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

[6:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “struck your hands”; NIV “have struck hands in pledge”; NASB “have given a pledge.” The guarantee of a pledge was signaled by a handshake (e.g., 11:15; 17:18; 22:26).

[6:1]  ¹² tn Heb “stranger.” The term זוּר (zur, “stranger”) probably refers to a neighbor who was not well-known. Alternatively, it could describe a person who is living outside the norms of convention, a moral misfit in the community. In any case, this “stranger” is a high risk in any financial arrangement.

[11:15]  ⁹ sn The “stranger” could refer to a person from another country or culture, as it often does; but it could also refer to an unknown Israelite, with the idea that the individual stands outside the known and respectable community.

[11:15]  ¹⁰ tn The sentence begins with the Niphal imperfect and the cognate (רַע־יֵרוֹעַ, ra’-yeroa’), stressing that whoever does this “will certainly suffer hurt.” The hurt in this case will be financial responsibility for a bad risk.

[11:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “hates.” The term שֹׂנֵא (shoneh) means “to reject,” and here “to avoid.” The participle is substantival, functioning as the subject of the clause. The next participle, תֹקְעִים (toq’im, “striking hands”), is its object, telling what is hated. The third participle בּוֹטֵחַ (boteakh, “is secure”) functions verbally.

[11:15]  ¹² tn Heb “striking.” The imagery here is shaking hands to seal a contract. The term “hands” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

[14:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “bitterness of its soul.”

[14:10]  ¹² tn Heb “stranger” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).

[14:10]  ¹³ tn The verb is the Hitpael of II עָרַב (’arav), which means “to take in pledge; to give in pledge; to exchange.” Here it means “to share [in].” The proverb is saying that there are joys and sorrows that cannot be shared. No one can truly understand the deepest feelings of another.

[20:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “his garment.”

[20:16]  ¹⁴ sn Taking a garment was the way of holding someone responsible to pay debts. In fact, the garment was the article normally taken for security (Exod 22:24-26; Deut 24:10-13). Because this is a high risk security pledge (e.g., 6:1-5), the creditor is to deal more severely than when the pledge is given by the debtor for himself.

[20:16]  ¹⁵ tc The Kethib has the masculine plural form, נָכְרִים (nakhrim), suggesting a reading “strangers.” But the Qere has the feminine form נָכְרִיָּה (nakhriyyah), “strange woman” or “another man’s wife” (e.g., 27:13). The parallelism would suggest “strangers” is the correct reading, although theories have been put forward for the interpretation of “strange woman” (see below).

[20:16]  ¹⁶ tn M. Dahood argues that the cloak was taken in pledge for a harlot (cf. NIV “a wayward woman”). Two sins would then be committed: taking a cloak and going to a prostitute (“To Pawn One’s Cloak,” Bib 42 [1961]: 359-66; also Snijders, “The Meaning of זָר,” 85-86). In the MT the almost identical proverb in 27:13 has a feminine singular form here.

[20:16]  ¹⁷ tn Or “hold it” (so NIV, NCV).

[22:14]  ¹⁵ sn The word “mouth” is a metonymy of cause; it refers to the seductive speech of the strange woman (e.g., 2:16-22; and chs. 5, 7).

[22:14]  ¹⁶ 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.

[22:14]  ¹⁷ sn The point of the metaphor is that what the adulteress says is like a deep pit. The pit is like the hunter’s snare; it is a trap that is difficult to escape. So to succumb to the adulteress – or to any other folly this represents – is to get oneself into a difficulty that has no easy escape.

[22:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the one who is cursed by the Lord” (cf. NASB). The construction uses the passive participle in construct with Yahweh. The “Lord” is genitive of agency after the passive form. The verb means “be indignant, express indignation.” So it is talking about one against whom the Lord is angry.

[22:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “will fall there.” The “falling” could refer to the curse itself or to the result of the curse.

[27:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a stranger.” This does not necessarily refer to a non-Israelite, as has been demonstrated before in the book of Proverbs, but these are people outside the familiar and accepted circles. The point is that such a person would be objective in speaking about your abilities and accomplishments.

[27:2]  ¹⁸ sn “Mouth” and “lips” are metonymies of cause; they mean “what is said.” People should try to avoid praising themselves. Self praise can easily become a form of pride, even if it begins with trivial things. It does not establish a reputation; reputation comes from what others think about you.

[27:2]  ¹⁹ tn “a foreigner”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV “a stranger.”

[27:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “his garment.”

[27:13]  ²⁰ tn Or “for a strange (= adulterous) woman.” Cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NLT; NIV “a wayward woman.”

[27:13]  ²¹ tn This proverb is virtually identical to 20:16.