Discovery BoxProverbs 5:3-20
Context5:3 For the lips 1 of the adulterous woman drip honey,
and her seductive words 2 are smoother than olive oil,
5:4 but in the end 3 she is bitter 4 as wormwood, 5
sharp as a two-edged 6 sword.
5:5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead straight to the grave. 7
5:6 Lest 8 she should make level the path leading to life, 9
her paths are unstable 10 but she does not know it. 11
5:7 So now, children, 12 listen to me;
do not turn aside from the words I speak. 13
5:8 Keep yourself 14 far 15 from her,
and do not go near the door of her house,
5:9 lest you give your vigor 16 to others
and your years to a cruel person,
5:10 lest strangers devour 17 your strength, 18
and your labor 19 benefit 20 another man’s house.
5:11 And at the end of your life 21 you will groan 22
when your flesh and your body are wasted away. 23
5:12 And you will say, “How I hated discipline!
My heart spurned reproof!
5:13 For 24 I did not obey my teachers 25
and I did not heed 26 my instructors. 27
5:14 I almost 28 came to complete ruin 29
in the midst of the whole congregation!” 30
5:15 Drink water from your own cistern
and running water from your own well. 31
5:16 Should your springs be dispersed 32 outside,
your streams of water in the wide plazas?
5:17 Let them be for yourself 33 alone,
and not for strangers with you. 34
5:18 May your fountain be blessed, 35
and may you rejoice 36 in your young wife 37 –
5:19 a loving doe, 38 a graceful deer;
may her breasts satisfy you at all times,
may you be captivated 39 by her love always.
5:20 But why should you be captivated, 40 my son, by an adulteress,
and embrace the bosom of a different woman? 41
Proverbs 6:24
Context6:24 by keeping 42 you from the evil woman, 43
from the smooth tongue of 44 the loose woman. 45
Proverbs 7:5-23
Context7:5 so that they may keep you 46 from the adulterous 47 woman,
from the loose woman 48 who flatters you 49 with her words. 50
7:6 For at the window of my house
through my window lattice I looked out
7:7 and I saw among the naive –
I discerned among the youths 51 –
a young man 52 who lacked wisdom. 53
7:8 He was passing by the street near her corner,
making his way 54 along the road to her house 55
7:9 in the twilight, the evening, 56
in the dark of the night. 57
7:10 Suddenly 58 a woman came out to meet him!
She was dressed like a prostitute 59 and with secret intent. 60
7:11 (She is loud and rebellious,
she 61 does not remain 62 at home –
7:12 at one time outside, at another 63 in the wide plazas,
and by every corner she lies in wait.)
7:13 So she grabbed him and kissed him,
and with a bold expression 64 she said to him,
7:14 “I have 65 fresh meat at home; 66
today I have fulfilled my vows!
7:15 That is why I came out to meet you,
to look for you, 67 and I found you!
7:16 I have spread my bed with elegant coverings, 68
with richly colored fabric 69 from Egypt.
7:17 I have perfumed my bed
with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
7:18 Come, let’s drink deeply 70 of lovemaking 71 until morning,
let’s delight ourselves 72 with sexual intercourse. 73
7:19 For my husband 74 is not at home; 75
he has gone on a journey of some distance.
7:20 He has taken a bag of money with him; 76
he will not return until 77 the end of the month.” 78
7:21 She persuaded him 79 with persuasive words; 80
with her smooth talk 81 she compelled him. 82
7:22 Suddenly he went 83 after her
like an ox that goes to the slaughter,
like a stag prancing into a trapper’s snare 84
7:23 till an arrow pierces his liver 85 –
like a bird hurrying into a trap,
and he does not know that it will cost him his life. 86
Proverbs 22:14
Context22:14 The mouth 87 of an adulteress is like 88 a deep pit; 89
the one against whom the Lord is angry 90 will fall into it. 91
Proverbs 23:27
Context23:27 for a prostitute is like 92 a deep pit;
a harlot 93 is like 94 a narrow well. 95
Genesis 39:3-12
Context39:3 His master observed that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he was doing successful. 96 39:4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal attendant. 97 Potiphar appointed Joseph 98 overseer of his household and put him in charge 99 of everything he owned. 39:5 From the time 100 Potiphar 101 appointed him over his household and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed 102 the Egyptian’s household for Joseph’s sake. The blessing of the Lord was on everything that he had, both 103 in his house and in his fields. 104 39:6 So Potiphar 105 left 106 everything he had in Joseph’s care; 107 he gave no thought 108 to anything except the food he ate. 109
Now Joseph was well built and good-looking. 110 39:7 Soon after these things, his master’s wife took notice of 111 Joseph and said, “Have sex with me.” 112 39:8 But he refused, saying 113 to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not give any thought 114 to his household with me here, 115 and everything that he owns he has put into my care. 116 39:9 There is no one greater in this household than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. So how could I do 117 such a great evil and sin against God?” 39:10 Even though she continued to speak 118 to Joseph day after day, he did not respond 119 to her invitation to have sex with her. 120
39:11 One day 121 he went into the house to do his work when none of the household servants 122 were there in the house. 39:12 She grabbed him by his outer garment, saying, “Have sex with me!” But he left his outer garment in her hand and ran 123 outside. 124
Nehemiah 13:26-27
Context13:26 Was it not because of things like these that King Solomon of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made 125 him king over all Israel. But the foreign wives made even him sin! 13:27 Should we then in your case hear that you do all this great evil, thereby being unfaithful to our God by marrying 126 foreign wives?”
Ecclesiastes 7:26
ContextMore bitter than death is the kind of 128 woman 129 who is like a hunter’s snare; 130
her heart is like a hunter’s net and her hands are like prison chains.
The man who pleases God escapes her,
but the sinner is captured by her.
[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.”
[5:4] 3 sn Heb “her end” (so KJV). D. Kidner notes that Proverbs does not allow us to forget that there is an afterward (Proverbs [TOTC], 65).
[5:4] 4 sn The verb “to be bitter” (מָרַר, marar) describes things that are harmful and destructive for life, such as the death of the members of the family of Naomi (Ruth 1:20) or finding water that was undrinkable (Exod 15:22-27). The word indicates that the sweet talking will turn out badly.
[5:4] 5 tn The Hebrew term translated “wormwood” refers to the aromatic plant that contrasts with the sweetness of honey. Some follow the LXX and translate it as “gall” (cf. NIV). The point is that there was sweetness when the tryst had alluring glamour, but afterward it had an ugly ring (W. G. Plaut, Proverbs, 74).
[5:4] 6 sn The Hebrew has “like a sword of [two] mouths,” meaning a double-edged sword that devours/cuts either way. There is no movement without damage. There may be a wordplay here with this description of the “sword with two mouths,” and the subject of the passage being the words of her mouth which also have two sides to them. The irony is cut by the idiom.
[5:5] 7 tn The term שְׁאוֹל (she’ol, “grave”) is paralleled to “death,” so it does not refer here to the realm of the unblessed.
[5:6] 8 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] 9 tn Heb “the path of life.” The noun חַיִּים (khayyim, “of life”) functions as a genitive of direction (“leading to”).
[5:6] 10 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] 11 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.
[5:7] 13 tn Heb “the words of my mouth” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV).
[5:8] 15 sn There is a contrast made between “keep far away” (הַרְחֵק, harkheq) and “do not draw near” (וְאַל־תִּקְרַב, vÿ’al-tiqrav).
[5:9] 16 sn The term הוֹד (hod, “vigor; splendor; majesty”) in this context means the best time of one’s life (cf. NIV “your best strength”), the full manly vigor that will be wasted with licentiousness. Here it is paralleled by “years,” which refers to the best years of that vigor, the prime of life. Life would be ruined by living this way, or the revenge of the woman’s husband would cut it short.
[5:10] 17 tn Or “are sated, satisfied.”
[5:10] 18 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] 19 tn “labor, painful toil.”
[5:10] 20 tn The term “benefit” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.
[5:11] 21 tn Heb “at your end.”
[5:11] 22 tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav consecutive; it is equal to a specific future within this context.
[5:11] 23 tn Heb “in the finishing of your flesh and your body.” The construction uses the Qal infinitive construct of כָּלָה (calah) in a temporal clause; the verb means “be complete, at an end, finished, spent.”
[5:13] 24 tn The vav that introduces this clause functions in an explanatory sense.
[5:13] 25 tn The Hebrew term מוֹרַי (moray) is the nominal form based on the Hiphil plural participle with a suffix, from the root יָרָה (yarah). The verb is “to teach,” the common noun is “instruction, law [torah],” and this participle form is teacher (“my teachers”).
[5:13] 26 sn The idioms are vivid: This expression is “incline the ear”; earlier in the first line is “listen to the voice,” meaning “obey.” Such detailed description emphasizes the importance of the material.
[5:13] 27 tn The form is the Piel plural participle of לָמַד (lamad) used substantivally.
[5:14] 28 tn The expression כִּמְעַט (kim’at) is “like a little.” It means “almost,” and is used of unrealized action (BDB 590 s.v. 2). Cf. NCV “I came close to”; NLT “I have come to the brink of.”
[5:14] 29 tn Heb “I was in all evil” (cf. KJV, ASV).
[5:14] 30 tn The text uses the two words “congregation and assembly” to form a hendiadys, meaning the entire assembly.
[5:15] 31 sn Paul Kruger develops this section as an allegory consisting of a series of metaphors. He suggests that what is at issue is private versus common property. The images of the cistern, well, or fountain are used of a wife (e.g., Song 4:15) because she, like water, satisfies desires. Streams of water in the street would then mean sexual contact with a lewd woman. According to 7:12 she never stays home but is in the streets and is the property of many (P. Kruger, “Promiscuity and Marriage Fidelity? A Note on Prov 5:15-18,” JNSL 13 [1987]: 61-68).
[5:16] 32 tn The verb means “to be scattered; to be dispersed”; here the imperfect takes a deliberative nuance in a rhetorical question.
[5:17] 33 tn The ל (lamed) preposition denotes possession: “for you” = “yours.” The term לְבַדֶּךָ (lÿvadekha) is appositional, underscoring the possession as exclusive.
[5:17] 34 sn The point is that what is private is not to be shared with strangers; it belongs in the home and in the marriage. The water from that cistern is not to be channeled to strangers or to the public.
[5:18] 35 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] 36 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] 37 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.”
[5:19] 38 tn The construct expression “a doe of loves” is an attributive genitive, describing the doe with the word “loves.” The plural noun may be an abstract plural of intensification (but this noun only occurs in the plural). The same construction follows with a “deer of grace” – a graceful deer.
[5:19] 39 sn The verb שָׁגָה (shagah) means “to swerve; to meander; to reel” as in drunkenness; it signifies a staggering gait expressing the ecstatic joy of a captivated lover. It may also mean “to be always intoxicated with her love” (cf. NRSV).
[5:20] 40 tn In the interrogative clause the imperfect has a deliberative nuance.
[5:20] 41 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.”
[6:24] 42 tn The infinitive construct is epexegetical here, explaining how these teachings function as lights: “by keeping you.” This verse is the transition from the general admonition about heeding the teachings to the practical application.
[6:24] 43 tc The word translated “woman” is modified by רַע (ra’, “evil”) in the sense of violating the codes of the community and inflicting harm on others. The BHS editors propose changing it to read “strange woman” as before, but there is not support for that. Some commentaries follow the LXX and read רַע as “wife of a neighbor” (cf. NAB; also NRSV “the wife of another”; CEV “someone else’s wife”) but that seems to be only a clarification.
[6:24] 44 tn The word “tongue” is not in construct; the word “foreign woman” is in apposition to “smooth of tongue,” specifying whose it is. The word “smooth” then is the object of the preposition, “tongue” is the genitive of specification, and “foreign woman” in apposition.
[6:24] 45 sn The description of the woman as a “strange woman” and now a “loose [Heb “foreign”] woman” is within the context of the people of Israel. She is a “foreigner” in the sense that she is a nonconformist, wayward, and loose. It does not necessarily mean that she is not ethnically an Israelite.
[7:5] 46 tn The infinitive construct with the preposition shows the purpose of associating closely with wisdom: Wisdom will obviate temptations, the greatest being the sexual urge.
[7:5] 47 tn Heb “strange” (so KJV, ASV).
[7:5] 48 tn Heb “strange woman.” This can be interpreted as a “wayward wife” (so NIV) or an “unfaithful wife” (so NCV). As discussed earlier, the designations “strange woman” and “foreign woman” could refer to Israelites who stood outside the community in their lawlessness and loose morals – an adulteress or wayward woman. H. Ringgren and W. Zimmerli, however, suggest that she is also a promoter of a pagan cult, but that is not entirely convincing (Spruche/Prediger [ATD], 19).
[7:5] 49 tn The term “you” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.
[7:5] 50 tn Heb “she makes smooth her words.” This expression means “she flatters with her words.”
[7:7] 52 tn Heb “lad” or “youth.”
[7:8] 54 tn The verb צָעַד (tsa’ad) means “to step; to march.” It suggests that the youth was intentionally making his way to her house. The verb is the imperfect tense; it stresses continual action parallel to the active participle that began the verse, but within a context that is past time.
[7:8] 55 tn Heb “way of her house.” This expression uses an adverbial accusative of location, telling where he was marching along. The term “house” is the genitive of location, giving the goal.
[7:9] 56 tn Heb “in the evening of the day.”
[7:9] 57 tn Heb “in the middle of the night, and dark”; KJV “in the black and dark night”; NRSV “at the time of night and darkness.”
[7:10] 58 tn The particle וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh) introduces a dramatic sense of the immediate to the narrative; it has a deictic force, “and look! – there was a woman,” or “all of a sudden this woman….”
[7:10] 59 tn Heb “with the garment of a prostitute.” The noun שִׁית (shith, “garment”) is an adverbial accusative specifying the appearance of the woman. The words “she was” are supplied in the translation to make a complete English sentence.
[7:10] 60 tn Heb “kept secret of heart”; cf. ASV, NRSV “wily of heart.” The verbal form is the passive participle from נָצַר (natsar) in construct. C. H. Toy lists the suggestions of the commentators: false, malicious, secret, subtle, excited, hypocritical (Proverbs [ICC], 149). The LXX has “causes the hearts of the young men to fly away.” The verb means “to guard; to watch; to keep”; to be guarded of heart means to be wily, to have secret intent – she has locked up her plans and gives nothing away (e.g., Isaiah 48:6 as well). Interestingly enough, this contrasts with her attire which gives everything away.
[7:11] 61 tn Heb “her feet.” This is a synecdoche, a part for the whole; the point is that she never stays home, but is out and about all the time.
[7:11] 62 tn Heb “dwell” or “settle”; NAB “her feet cannot rest.”
[7:12] 63 tn The repetition of the noun “time, step,” usually translated “now, this time,” signifies here “at one time…at another time” (BDB 822 s.v. פַּעַם 3.e).
[7:13] 64 tn Heb “she makes bold her face.” The Hiphil perfect of עָזַז (’azar, “to be strong”) means she has an impudent face (cf. KJV, NAB, NRSV), a bold or brazen expression (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT).
[7:14] 66 tn Heb “I have peace offerings.” The peace offerings refer to the meat left over from the votive offering made at the sanctuary (e.g., Lev 7:11-21). Apparently the sacrificial worship meant as little to this woman spiritually as does Christmas to modern hypocrites who follow in her pattern. By expressing that she has peace offerings, she could be saying nothing more than that she has fresh meat for a meal at home, or that she was ceremonially clean, perhaps after her period. At any rate, it is all probably a ruse for winning a customer.
[7:15] 67 tn Heb “to look diligently for your face.”
[7:16] 68 tn Heb “with spreads.” The sentence begins with the cognate accusative: “with spreads I have spread my bed.” The construction enhances the idea – she has covered her bed.
[7:16] 69 tn The feminine noun means “dark-hued stuffs” (BDB 310 s.v. חֲטֻבוֹת). The form is a passive participle from a supposed root II חָטַב (khatav), which in Arabic means to be of a turbid, dusky color mixed with yellowish red. Its Aramaic cognate means “variegated”; cf. NAB “with brocaded cloths of Egyptian linen.” BDB’s translation of this colon is unsatifactory: “with dark hued stuffs of yarn from Egypt.”
[7:18] 70 tn The form נִרְוֶה (nirveh) is the plural cohortative; following the imperative “come” the form expresses the hortatory “let’s.” The verb means “to be saturated; to drink one’s fill,” and can at times mean “to be intoxicated with.”
[7:18] 71 tn Heb “loves.” The word דּוֹד (dod) means physical love or lovemaking. It is found frequently in the Song of Solomon for the loved one, the beloved. Here the form (literally, “loves”) is used in reference to multiple acts of sexual intercourse, as the phrase “until morning” suggests.
[7:18] 72 tn The form is the Hitpael cohortative of עָלַס (’alas), which means “to rejoice.” Cf. NIV “let’s enjoy ourselves.”
[7:19] 74 tn Heb “the man.” The LXX interpreted it as “my husband,” taking the article to be used as a possessive. Many English versions do the same.
[7:19] 75 tn Heb “in his house.”
[7:20] 76 tn Heb “in his hand.”
[7:20] 77 tn Heb “he will come back at.”
[7:20] 78 tn Heb “new moon.” Judging from the fact that the husband took a purse of money and was staying away until the next full moon, the woman implies that they would be safe in their escapade. If v. 9 and v. 20 are any clue, he could be gone for about two weeks – until the moon is full again.
[7:21] 79 tn Heb “she turned him aside.” This expression means that she persuaded him. This section now begins the description of the capitulation, for the flattering speech is finished.
[7:21] 80 sn The term לֶקַח (leqakh) was used earlier in Proverbs for wise instruction; now it is used ironically for enticement to sin (see D. W. Thomas, “Textual and Philological Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 280-92).
[7:21] 81 tn Heb “smooth of her lips”; cf. NAB “smooth lips”; NASB “flattering lips.” The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause representing what she says.
[7:21] 82 tn The verb means “to impel; to thrust; to banish,” but in this stem in this context “to compel; to force” into some action. The imperfect tense has the nuance of progressive imperfect to parallel the characteristic perfect of the first colon.
[7:22] 83 tn The participle with “suddenly” gives a more vivid picture, almost as if to say “there he goes.”
[7:22] 84 tn The present translation follows R. B. Y. Scott (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes [AB], 64). This third colon of the verse would usually be rendered, “fetters to the chastening of a fool” (KJV, ASV, and NASB are all similar). But there is no support that עֶכֶס (’ekhes) means “fetters.” It appears in Isaiah 3:16 as “anklets.” The parallelism here suggests that some animal imagery is required. Thus the ancient versions have “as a dog to the bonds.”
[7:23] 85 sn The figure of an arrow piercing the liver (an implied comparison) may refer to the pangs of a guilty conscience that the guilty must reap along with the spiritual and physical ruin that follows (see on these expressions H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament).
[7:23] 86 tn The expression that it is “for/about/over his life” means that it could cost him his life (e.g., Num 16:38). Alternatively, the line could refer to moral corruption and social disgrace rather than physical death – but this would not rule out physical death too.
[22:14] 87 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] 88 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] 89 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] 90 tn Heb “the one who is cursed by the
[22:14] 91 tn Heb “will fall there.” The “falling” could refer to the curse itself or to the result of the curse.
[23:27] 92 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.
[23:27] 93 tn Heb “foreign woman” (so ASV). The term נָכְרִיָּה (nokhriyyah, “foreign woman”) often refers to a prostitute (e.g., Prov 2:6; 5:20; 6:24; 7:5). While not all foreign women in Israel were prostitutes, their prospects for economic survival were meager and many turned to prostitution to earn a living. Some English versions see this term referring to an adulteress as opposed to a prostitute (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[23:27] 94 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.
[23:27] 95 sn In either case, whether a prostitute or an adulteress wife is involved, the danger is the same. The metaphors of a “deep pit” and a “narrow well” describe this sin as one that is a trap from which there is no escape. The “pit” is a gateway to Sheol, and those who enter are as good as dead, whether socially or through punishment physically.
[39:3] 96 tn The Hebrew text adds “in his hand,” a phrase not included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[39:4] 97 sn The Hebrew verb translated became his personal attendant refers to higher domestic service, usually along the lines of a personal attendant. Here Joseph is made the household steward, a position well-attested in Egyptian literature.
[39:4] 98 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[39:4] 99 tn Heb “put into his hand.”
[39:5] 100 tn Heb “and it was from then.”
[39:5] 101 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Potiphar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[39:5] 102 sn The Hebrew word translated blessed carries the idea of enrichment, prosperity, success. It is the way believers describe success at the hand of God. The text illustrates the promise made to Abraham that whoever blesses his descendants will be blessed (Gen 12:1-3).
[39:5] 103 tn Heb “in the house and in the field.” The word “both” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[39:5] 104 sn The passage gives us a good picture of Joseph as a young man who was responsible and faithful, both to his master and to his God. This happened within a very short time of his being sold into Egypt. It undermines the view that Joseph was a liar, a tattletale, and an arrogant adolescent.
[39:6] 105 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Potiphar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[39:6] 106 sn The Hebrew verb translated left indicates he relinquished the care of it to Joseph. This is stronger than what was said earlier. Apparently Potiphar had come to trust Joseph so much that he knew it was in better care with Joseph than with anyone else.
[39:6] 107 tn Heb “hand.” This is a metonymy for being under the control or care of Joseph.
[39:6] 108 tn Heb “did not know.”
[39:6] 109 sn The expression except the food he ate probably refers to Potiphar’s private affairs and should not be limited literally to what he ate.
[39:6] 110 tn Heb “handsome of form and handsome of appearance.” The same Hebrew expressions were used in Gen 29:17 for Rachel.
[39:7] 111 tn Heb “she lifted up her eyes toward,” an expression that emphasizes her deliberate and careful scrutiny of him.
[39:7] 112 tn Heb “lie with me.” Here the expression “lie with” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
[39:8] 113 tn Heb “and he said.”
[39:8] 115 tn The word “here” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[39:8] 116 tn Heb “hand.” This is a metonymy for being under the control or care of Joseph.
[39:9] 117 tn The nuance of potential imperfect fits this context.
[39:10] 118 tn The verse begins with the temporal indicator, followed by the infinitive construct with the preposition כְּ (kÿ). This clause could therefore be taken as temporal.
[39:10] 119 tn Heb “listen to.”
[39:10] 120 tn Heb “to lie beside her to be with her.” Here the expression “to lie beside” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
[39:11] 121 tn Heb “and it was about this day.”
[39:11] 122 tn Heb “the men of the house.”
[39:12] 123 tn Heb “he fled and he went out.” The construction emphasizes the point that Joseph got out of there quickly.
[39:12] 124 sn For discussion of this episode, see A. M. Honeyman, “The Occasion of Joseph’s Temptation,” VT 2 (1952): 85-87.
[13:27] 126 tn Heb “give a dwelling to.”
[7:26] 127 tn The word “this” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
[7:26] 128 tn The phrase “kind of” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity (see the following note on the word “woman”).
[7:26] 129 tn The article on הָאִשָּׁה (ha’ishah) functions in a particularizing sense (“the kind of woman”) rather than in a generic sense (i.e., “women”).
[7:26] 130 tn Heb “is snares.” The plural form מְצוֹדִים (mÿtsodim, from the noun I מָצוֹד, matsod, “snare”) is used to connote either intensity, repeated or habitual action, or moral characteristic. For the function of the Hebrew plural, see IBHS 120-21 §7.4.2. The term II מָצוֹד “snare” is used in a concrete sense in reference to the hunter’s snare or net, but in a figurative sense of being ensnared by someone (Job 19:6; Prov 12:12; Eccl 7:26).
