Proverbs 6:32

6:32 A man who commits adultery with a woman lacks wisdom, ¹ 

whoever does it destroys his own life. ² 

Proverbs 18:9

18:9 The one who ³  is slack ⁴  in his work

is a brother ⁵  to one who destroys. ⁶ 

Proverbs 28:24

28:24 The one who robs ⁷  his father and mother and says, “There is no transgression,”

is a companion ⁸  to the one ⁹  who destroys.

[6:32]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “soul.” The noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) functions as a metonymy of association for “life” (BDB 659 s.v. 3.c).

[18:9]  ³ tn Heb “Also, the one who.” Many commentators and a number of English versions omit the word “also.”

[18:9]  ⁴ tn The form מִתְרַפֶּה (mitrappeh) is the Hitpael participle, “showing oneself slack.” The verb means “to sink; to relax,” and in the causative stem “to let drop” the hands. This is the lazy person who does not even try to work.

[18:9]  ⁵ sn These two troubling types, the slacker and the destroyer, are closely related.

[18:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “possessor of destruction.” This idiom means “destroyer” (so ASV); KJV “a great waster”; NRSV “a vandal.”

[28:24]  ⁵ sn While the expression is general enough to cover any kind of robbery, the point seems to be that because it can be rationalized it may refer to prematurely trying to gain control of the family property through some form of pressure and in the process reducing the parents’ possessions and standing in the community. The culprit could claim what he does is not wrong because the estate would be his anyway.

[28:24]  ⁶ sn The metaphor of “companion” here means that a person who would do this is just like the criminally destructive person. It is as if they were working together, for the results are the same.

[28:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “man who destroys” (so NASB); TEV “no better than a common thief.”