Proverbs 6:30

6:30 People ¹  do not despise a thief when he steals

to fulfill his need ²  when he is hungry.

Proverbs 30:9

30:9 lest I become satisfied and act deceptively ³ 

and say, “Who is the Lord?”

Or lest I become poor and steal

and demean ⁴  the name of my God.

[6:30]  ¹ tn Heb “they do not despise.”

[6:30]  ² tn Heb “himself” or “his life.” Since the word נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, traditionally “soul”) refers to the whole person, body and soul, and since it has a basic idea of the bundle of appetites that make up a person, the use here for satisfying his hunger is appropriate.

[30:9]  ³ tn The verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) means “to be disappointing; to deceive; to fail; to grow lean.” In the Piel stem it means “to deceive; to act deceptively; to cringe; to disappoint.” The idea of acting deceptively is illustrated in Hos 9:2 where it has the connotation of “disowning” or “refusing to acknowledge” (a meaning very close to its meaning here).

[30:9]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew verb literally means “to take hold of; to seize”; this produces the idea of doing violence to the reputation of God.