Proverbs 5:9

5:9 lest you give your vigor ¹  to others

and your years to a cruel person,

Proverbs 11:17

11:17 A kind person ²  benefits ³  himself, ⁴ 

but a cruel person brings himself trouble. ⁵ 

Proverbs 12:10

12:10 A righteous person cares for ⁶  the life of his animal,

but even the most compassionate acts ⁷  of the wicked are cruel.

Proverbs 17:11

17:11 An evil person seeks only rebellion, ⁸ 

and so ⁹  a cruel messenger ¹⁰  will be sent against him.

[5:9]  ¹ 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.

[11:17]  ² tn Heb “man of kindness.”

[11:17]  ³ tn The term גֹּמֶל (gomel) means “to deal fully [or “adequately”] with” someone or something. The kind person will benefit himself.

[11:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “his own soul.” The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) is used as a synecdoche of part (= soul) for the whole (= person): “himself” (BDB 660 s.v. 4).

[11:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “brings trouble to his flesh.”

[12:10]  ³ tn Heb “knows”; NLT “concerned for the welfare of.” The righteous take care of animals, not just people.

[12:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “but the mercies.” The additional words appear in the translation for the sake of clarification. The line can be interpreted in two ways: (1) when the wicked exhibit a kind act, they do it in a cruel way, or (2) even the kindest of their acts is cruel by all assessments, e.g., stuffing animals with food to fatten them for market – their “kindness” is driven by ulterior motives (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 129).

[17:11]  ⁴ sn The proverb is set up in a cause and effect relationship. The cause is that evil people seek rebellion. The term מְרִי (mÿri) means “rebellion.” It is related to the verb מָרָה (marah, “to be contentious; to be rebellious; to be refractory”). BDB 598 s.v. מְרִי translates the line “a rebellious man seeketh only evil” (so NASB).

[17:11]  ⁵ tn The parallelism seems to be formal, with the idea simply continuing to the second line; the conjunction is therefore translated to reflect this. However, the proverb could be interpreted as antithetical just as easily.

[17:11]  ⁶ sn Those bent on rebellion will meet with retribution. The messenger could very well be a merciless messenger from the king; but the expression could also figuratively describe something God sends – storms, pestilence, or any other misfortune.