Proverbs 5:8-10

5:8 Keep yourself ¹  far ²  from her,

and do not go near the door of her house,

5:9 lest you give your vigor ³  to others

and your years to a cruel person,

5:10 lest strangers devour ⁴  your strength, ⁵ 

and your labor ⁶  benefit ⁷  another man’s house.

Proverbs 6:26

6:26 for on account ⁸  of a prostitute one is brought down to a loaf of bread,

but the wife of another man ⁹  preys on your precious life. ¹⁰ 

Proverbs 21:17

21:17 The one who loves ¹¹  pleasure ¹²  will be ¹³  a poor person; ¹⁴ 

whoever loves wine and anointing oil ¹⁵  will not be rich.

Proverbs 21:20

21:20 There is desirable treasure and olive oil ¹⁶  in the dwelling of the wise,

but a foolish person ¹⁷  devours all he has. ¹⁸ 

Proverbs 28:7

28:7 The one who keeps the law ¹⁹  is a discerning child, ²⁰ 

but a companion of gluttons brings shame ²¹  to his parents. ²² 

Proverbs 28:19

28:19 The one who works his land will be satisfied with food, ²³ 

but whoever chases daydreams ²⁴  will have his fill ²⁵  of poverty.

Luke 15:13

15:13 After ²⁶  a few days, ²⁷  the younger son gathered together all he had and left on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered ²⁸  his wealth ²⁹  with a wild lifestyle.

Luke 15:30

15:30 But when this son of yours ³⁰  came back, who has devoured ³¹  your assets with prostitutes, ³²  you killed the fattened calf ³³  for him!’

[5:8]  ¹ tn Heb “your way.”

[5:8]  ² sn There is a contrast made between “keep far away” (הַרְחֵק, harkheq) and “do not draw near” (וְאַל־תִּקְרַב, vÿ’al-tiqrav).

[5:9]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Or “are sated, satisfied.”

[5:10]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn “labor, painful toil.”

[5:10]  ⁷ tn The term “benefit” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[6:26]  ⁸ tn The word בְעַד (bÿ’ad) may be taken either as “on account of” (= by means of a) prostitute (cf. ASV, NASB), or “for the price of” a prostitute (cf. NAB). Most expositors take the first reading, though that use of the preposition is unattested, and then must supply “one is brought to.” The verse would then say that going to a prostitute can bring a man to poverty, but going to another man’s wife can lead to death. If the second view were taken, it would mean that one had a smaller price than the other. It is not indicating that one is preferable to the other; both are to be avoided.

[6:26]  ⁹ tn Heb “the wife of a man.”

[6:26]  ¹⁰ tn These two lines might be an example of synthetic parallelism, that is, “A, what’s more B.” The A-line describes the detrimental moral effect of a man going to a professional prostitute; the B-line heightens this and describes the far worse effect – moral and mortal! – of a man committing adultery with another man’s wife. When a man goes to a prostitute, he lowers himself to become nothing more than a “meal ticket” to sustain the life of that woman; however, when a man commits adultery, he places his very life in jeopardy – the rage of the husband could very well kill him.

[21:17]  ¹¹ sn The participle “loves” (אֹהֵב, ’ohev) indicates in this context that more is involved than the enjoyment of pleasure, for which there is no problem. The proverb is looking at “love” in the sense of needing and choosing, an excessive or uncontrolled indulgence in pleasure.

[21:17]  ¹² sn “Pleasure” is actually the Hebrew word “joy” (שִׂמְחָה, simkhah). It is a metonymy of effect, the cause being the good life that brings the joy. In the second colon, “wine” and “oil” would be metonymies of cause, the particular things in life that bring joy. Therefore the figures in the lines work together to give the complete picture.

[21:17]  ¹³ tn The phrase “will be” is supplied in the translation.

[21:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a man of poverty”; NRSV “will suffer want.”

[21:17]  ¹⁵ sn In elaborate feasts and celebrations the wine was for drinking but the oil was for anointing (cf. NAB, NCV “perfume”). Both of these characterize the luxurious life (e.g., Ps 23:5; 104:15; Amos 6:6).

[21:20]  ¹⁶ tn The mention of “olive oil” (שֶׁמֶן, shemen) is problematic in the line – how can a fool devour it? Several attempts have been made to alleviate the problem. The NIV interprets “treasure” as “choice food,” so that food and oil would make more sense being swallowed. C. H. Toy (Proverbs [ICC], 406) suggests dropping “oil” altogether based on the reading in the LXX, but the Greek is too general for any support: It has “precious treasure will rest on the mouth of the sage.” W. McKane wants to change “oil” to an Arabic word “expensive” to read “desirable and rare wealth” (Proverbs [OTL], 552), but this idea does not match the metaphor any better. The figure of “devouring” in the second line simply means the fool uses up whatever he has.

[21:20]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a fool of a man.”

[21:20]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “he swallows it.” The imagery compares swallowing food with consuming one’s substance. The fool does not prepare for the future.

[28:7]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew word could refer (1) to “instruction” by the father (cf. NCV) or (2) the Mosaic law (so most English versions). The chapter seems to be stressing religious obedience, so the referent is probably the law. Besides, the father’s teaching will be what the law demands, and the one who associates with gluttons is not abiding by the law.

[28:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “son,” but the immediate context does not suggest limiting this only to male children.

[28:7]  ²¹ sn The companion of gluttons shames his father and his family because such a life style as he now embraces is both unruly and antisocial.

[28:7]  ²² tn Heb “father,” but the immediate context does not suggest limiting this only to the male parent.

[28:19]  ²³ tn Or “will have plenty of food” (Heb “bread”); so NAB, NASB, NCV.

[28:19]  ²⁴ tn Heb “empty things” or “vain things”; NRSV “follows worthless pursuits.”

[28:19]  ²⁵ tn The repetition of the verb strengthens the contrast. Both halves of the verse use the verb יִשְׂבַּע (yisba’, “will be satisfied; will be filled with; will have enough”). It is positive in the first colon, but negative in the second – with an ironic twist to say one is “satisfied” with poverty.

[15:13]  ²⁶ tn Grk “And after.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[15:13]  ²⁷ tn Grk “after not many days.”

[15:13]  ²⁸ tn Or “wasted.” This verb is graphic; it means to scatter (L&N 57.151).

[15:13]  ²⁹ tn Or “estate” (the same word has been translated “estate” in v. 12).

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

[15:30]  ³¹ 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]  ³² 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]  ³³ sn See note on the phrase “fattened calf” in v. 23.