Proverbs 6:16

6:16 There are six things that the Lord hates,

even ¹  seven ²  things that are an abomination to him: ³ 

Proverbs 6:32

6:32 A man who commits adultery with a woman lacks wisdom, ⁴ 

whoever does it destroys his own life. ⁵ 

Proverbs 8:36

8:36 But the one who does not find me ⁶  brings harm ⁷  to himself; ⁸ 

all who hate me ⁹  love death.”

Proverbs 11:17

11:17 A kind person ¹⁰  benefits ¹¹  himself, ¹² 

but a cruel person brings himself trouble. ¹³ 

Proverbs 13:3-4

13:3 The one who guards his words ¹⁴  guards his life,

but ¹⁵  whoever is talkative ¹⁶  will come to ruin. ¹⁷ 

13:4 The appetite ¹⁸  of the sluggard ¹⁹  craves ²⁰  but gets nothing,

but the desire of the diligent will be abundantly satisfied. ²¹ 

Proverbs 13:25

13:25 The righteous has enough food to satisfy his appetite, ²² 

but the belly of the wicked lacks food. ²³ 

Proverbs 14:10

14:10 The heart knows its own bitterness, ²⁴ 

and with its joy no one else ²⁵  can share. ²⁶ 

Proverbs 15:32

15:32 The one who refuses correction despises himself, ²⁷ 

but whoever hears ²⁸  reproof acquires understanding. ²⁹ 

Proverbs 16:17

16:17 The highway ³⁰  of the upright is to turn ³¹  away from evil;

the one who guards ³²  his way safeguards his life. ³³ 

Proverbs 18:7

18:7 The mouth of a fool is his ruin,

and his lips are a snare for his life. ³⁴ 

Proverbs 19:8

19:8 The one who acquires wisdom ³⁵  loves himself; ³⁶ 

the one who preserves understanding will prosper. ³⁷ 

Proverbs 19:16

19:16 The one who obeys commandments guards ³⁸  his life;

the one who despises his ways ³⁹  will die. ⁴⁰ 

Proverbs 20:2

20:2 The king’s terrifying anger ⁴¹  is like the roar of a lion;

whoever provokes him ⁴²  sins against himself. ⁴³ 

Proverbs 22:5

22:5 Thorns and snares ⁴⁴  are in the path of the perverse,

but the one who guards himself keeps far from them.

Proverbs 29:10

29:10 Bloodthirsty people ⁴⁵  hate someone with integrity; ⁴⁶ 

as for the upright, they seek his life. ⁴⁷ 

[6:16]  ¹ tn The conjunction has the explicative use here (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 71, §434).

[6:16]  ² sn This saying involves a numerical ladder, paralleling six things with seven things (e.g., also 30:15, 18, 21, 24, 29). The point of such a numerical arrangement is that the number does not exhaust the list (W. M. Roth, “The Numerical Sequence x / x +1 in the Old Testament,” VT 12 [1962]: 300-311; and his “Numerical Sayings in the Old Testament,” VT 13 [1965]: 86).

[6:16]  ³ tn Heb “his soul.”

[6:32]  ⁴ tn Heb “heart.” The term “heart” is used as a metonymy of association for discernment, wisdom, good sense. Cf. NAB “is a fool”; NIV “lacks judgment”; NCV, NRSV “has no sense.”

[6:32]  ⁵ tn Heb “soul.” The noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) functions as a metonymy of association for “life” (BDB 659 s.v. 3.c).

[8:36]  ⁷ tn Heb “the one sinning [against] me.” The verb חָטָא (khata’, “to sin”) forms a contrast with “find” in the previous verse, and so has its basic meaning of “failing to find, miss.” So it is talking about the one who misses wisdom, as opposed to the one who finds it.

[8:36]  ⁸ tn The Qal active participle functions verbally here. The word stresses both social and physical harm and violence.

[8:36]  ⁹ tn Heb “his soul.”

[8:36]  ¹⁰ tn The basic idea of the verb שָׂנֵא (sane’, “to hate”) is that of rejection. Its antonym is also used in the line, “love,” which has the idea of choosing. So not choosing (i.e., hating) wisdom amounts to choosing (i.e., loving) death.

[11:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “man of kindness.”

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

[11:17]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Heb “brings trouble to his flesh.”

[13:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “mouth” (so KJV, NAB). The term פֶּה (peh, “mouth”) functions as a metonymy of cause for speech.

[13:3]  ¹⁴ tn The term “but” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[13:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “opens wide his lips.” This is an idiom meaning “to be talkative” (BDB 832 s.v. פָּשַׂק Qal). Cf. NIV “speaks rashly”; TEV “a careless talker”; CEV “talk too much.”

[13:3]  ¹⁶ sn Tight control over what one says prevents trouble (e.g., Prov 10:10; 17:28; Jas 3:1-12; Sir 28:25). Amenemope advises to “sleep a night before speaking” (5:15; ANET 422, n. 10). The old Arab proverb is appropriate: “Take heed that your tongue does not cut your throat” (O. Zockler, Proverbs, 134).

[13:4]  ¹⁶ tn The noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, traditionally “soul”) has a broad range of meanings, and here denotes “appetite” (e.g., Ps 17:9; Prov 23:3; Eccl 2:24; Isa 5:14; Hab 2:5; BDB 660 s.v. 5.c) or (2) “desire” (e.g., Deut 12:20; Prov 19:8; 21:10; BDB 660 s.v. 6.a).

[13:4]  ¹⁷ sn The contrast is between the “soul (= appetite) of the sluggard” (נַפְשׁוֹ עָצֵל, nafsho ’atsel) and the “soul (= desire) of the diligent” (נֶפֶשׁ חָרֻצִים, nefesh kharutsim) – what they each long for.

[13:4]  ¹⁸ tn The Hitpael verb means “to lust after; to crave.” A related verb is used in the Decalogue’s prohibition against coveting (Exod 20:17; Deut 5:21).

[13:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “will be made fat” (cf. KJV, NASB); NRSV “is richly supplied.”

[13:25]  ¹⁹ tn The noun נֶפֶשׁ (traditionally “soul”; cf. KJV, ASV) here means “appetite” (BDB 660 s.v. 5.a).

[13:25]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he will lack.” The term “food” is supplied in the translation as a clarification. The wicked may go hungry, or lack all they desire, just as the first colon may mean that what the righteous acquire proves satisfying to them.

[14:10]  ²² tn Heb “bitterness of its soul.”

[14:10]  ²³ tn Heb “stranger” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).

[14:10]  ²⁴ 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.

[15:32]  ²⁵ sn To “despise oneself” means to reject oneself as if there was little value. The one who ignores discipline is not interested in improving himself.

[15:32]  ²⁶ tn Or “heeds” (so NAB, NIV); NASB “listens to.”

[15:32]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew text reads קוֹנֶה לֵּב (qoneh lev), the participle of קָנָה (qanah, “to acquire; to possess”) with its object, “heart.” The word “heart” is frequently a metonymy of subject, meaning all the capacities of the human spirit and/or mind. Here it refers to the ability to make judgments or discernment.

[16:17]  ²⁸ sn The point of righteous living is made with the image of a highway, a raised and well-graded road (a hypocatastasis, implying a comparison between a highway and the right way of living).

[16:17]  ²⁹ tn The form סוּר (sur) is a Qal infinitive; it indicates that a purpose of the righteous life is to turn away from evil. “Evil” here has the sense of sinful living. So the first line asserts that the well-cared-for life avoids sin.

[16:17]  ³⁰ sn The second half of the verse uses two different words for “guard”; this one is נֹצֵר (notser) “the one who guards his way,” and the first is שֹׁמֵר (shomer) “the one who guards his life” (the order of the words is reversed in the translation). The second colon then explains further the first (synthetic parallelism), because to guard one’s way preserves life.

[16:17]  ³¹ tc The LXX adds three lines after 17a and one after 17b: “The paths of life turn aside from evils, and the ways of righteousness are length of life; he who receives instruction will be prosperous, and he who regards reproofs will be made wise; he who guards his ways preserves his soul, and he who loves his life will spare his mouth.”

[18:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “his soul” (so KJV, NASB, NIV).

[19:8]  ³⁴ tn Heb “heart.” Most English versions translate as “wisdom,” but cf. NAB “intelligence.” This refers to a mind that works (e.g., Prov 7:7; 9:4).

[19:8]  ³⁵ tn Heb “his own soul.” The expression “loves his soul” means that he is paying attention to his needs or taking care of his life (cf. NAB “is his own best friend”). This expression works with its parallel to provide the whole idea: “loving the soul” is the metonymy of the cause for prospering, and “prospering” is the metonymy of the effect (of loving).

[19:8]  ³⁶ tn Heb “finds good” (similar KJV, NASB); NCV “will succeed.” The MT reads לִמְצֹא (limtso’), a Qal infinitive construct. The LXX (as well as the other major early versions) renders it as a future, which reflects a Vorlage of יִמְצָא (yimtsa’). The infinitive is used here in a modal sense, meaning “is destined to” or “is certain of” finding good in life.

[19:16]  ³⁷ tn The verb שָׁמַר (shamar) is repeated twice in this line but with two different senses, creating a polysemantic wordplay: “he who obeys/keeps (ֹֹשׁמֵר, shomer) the commandment safeguards/keeps (שֹׁמֵר, shomer) his life.”

[19:16]  ³⁸ sn The expression his ways could refer either (1) to the conduct of the individual himself, or (2) to the commandments as the Lord’s ways. If the latter is the case, then the punishment is more certain.

[19:16]  ³⁹ tc The Kethib is יָוְמֻת (yavmut), “will be put to death,” while the Qere reads יָמוּת (yamut, “will die”). The Qere is the preferred reading and is followed by most English versions.

[20:2]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “the terror of a king” (so ASV, NASB); The term “terror” is a metonymy of effect for cause: the anger of a king that causes terror among the people. The term “king” functions as a possessive genitive: “a king’s anger” (cf. NIV “A king’s wrath”; NLT “The king’s fury”).

[20:2]  ⁴¹ tn The verb מִתְעַבְּרוֹ (mit’abbÿro) is problematic; in the MT the form is the Hitpael participle with a pronominal suffix, which is unusual, for the direct object of this verb usually takes a preposition first: “is angry with.” The LXX rendered it “angers [or, irritates].”

[20:2]  ⁴² sn The expression “sins against himself” has been taken by some to mean “forfeits his life” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “endangers his life” (cf. NCV, NLT). That may be the implication of getting oneself in trouble with an angry king (cf. TEV “making him angry is suicide”).

[22:5]  ⁴³ tc Because MT reading צִנִּים (tsinnim, “thorns”) does not make a very good match with “traps,” it has created some difficulty for interpreters. The word “thorns” may be obscure, but it is supported by the LXX (“prickly plants”) and an apparent cognate “thorns” in Num 33:55 and Josh 23:13. But some (including the editors of BHS) suggest changing it to צַמִּים (tsammim, “traps” changing a נ [nun] to a מ [mem]). But BDB 855 s.v. צַמִּים acknowledges that this word is a doubtful word, attested only a couple of times in Job (e.g., 18:9). W. McKane traces a development from the idea of צֵן (tsen, “basket; trap”) to support this change (Proverbs [OTL], 565). The present translation (like many other English versions) has retained “thorns,” even though the parallelism with “traps” is not very good; as the harder reading it is preferred. The variant readings have little textual or philological support, and simplify the line.

[29:10]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “men of bloods.” The Hebrew word for “blood” is written in the plural to reflect the shedding of blood. So the expression “men of bloods” means people who shed blood – murderers, bloodthirsty men, or those who would not hesitate to commit murder in order to get what they want.

[29:10]  ⁴⁷ sn The Hebrew word describes the “blameless” or “innocent” who maintain integrity. The bloodthirsty despise people who insist on decency and integrity.

[29:10]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “and the upright seek his life.” There are two ways this second line can be taken. (1) One can see it as a continuation of the first line, meaning that the bloodthirsty men also “seek the life of the upright” (cf. NIV, NRSV). The difficulty is that the suffix is singular but the apparent referent is plural. (2) One can take it is as a contrast: “but as for the upright, they seek his life” – a fairly straightforward rendering (cf. ASV). The difficulty here is that “seeking a life” is normally a hostile act, but it would here be positive: “seeking” a life to preserve it. The verse would then say that the bloodthirsty hate the innocent, but the righteous protect them (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 637; cf. NAB, NASB, TEV).