Proverbs 6:11

6:11 and your poverty will come like a robber, ¹ 

and your need like an armed man. ² 

Proverbs 18:17

18:17 The first to state his case ³  seems ⁴  right,

until his opponent ⁵  begins to ⁶  cross-examine him. ⁷ 

Proverbs 24:34

24:34 and your poverty will come like a bandit,

and your need like an armed robber.” ⁸ 

[6:11]  ¹ tn Heb “like a wayfarer” or “like a traveler” (cf. KJV). The LXX has “swiftness like a traveler.” It has also been interpreted as a “highwayman” (cf. NAB) or a “dangerous assailant.” W. McKane suggests “vagrant” (Proverbs [OTL], 324); cf. NASB “vagabond.” Someone traveling swiftly would likely be a robber.

[6:11]  ² tn The Hebrew word for “armed” is probably connected to the word for “shield” and “deliver” (s.v. גָּנַן). G. R. Driver connects it to the Arabic word for “bold; insolent,” interpreting its use here as referring to a beggar or an insolent man (“Studies in the Vocabulary of the Old Testament, IV,” JTS 33 [1933]: 38-47).

[18:17]  ³ tn Heb “in his legal case”; NAB “who pleads his case first.”

[18:17]  ⁴ tn The term “seems” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness (cf. KJV “seemeth”).

[18:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “his neighbor”; NRSV “the other.”

[18:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “comes and.” The Kethib is the imperfect יָבֹא (yavo’), and the Qere is the conjunction with the participle/perfect tense form וּבָא (uva’). The latter is reflected in most of the ancient versions. There is not an appreciable difference in the translations, except for the use of the conjunction.

[18:17]  ⁷ sn The proverb is a continuous sentence teaching that there must be cross-examination to settle legal disputes. There are two sides in any disputes, and so even though the first to present his case sounds right, it must be challenged. The verb הָקַר (haqar, translated “cross-examines”) is used for careful, diligent searching and investigating to know something (e.g., Ps 139:1).

[24:34]  ⁵ tn Heb “a man of shield.” This could refer to an armed warrior (so NRSV) but in this context, in collocation with the other word for “robber” in the previous line, it must refer to an armed criminal.