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 8:36

8:36 But the one who does not find me ³  brings harm ⁴  to himself; ⁵ 

all who hate me ⁶  love death.”

Proverbs 15:32

15:32 The one who refuses correction despises himself, ⁷ 

but whoever hears ⁸  reproof acquires understanding. ⁹ 

Proverbs 20:2

20:2 The king’s terrifying anger ¹⁰  is like the roar of a lion;

whoever provokes him ¹¹  sins against himself. ¹² 

[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).

[8:36]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn The Qal active participle functions verbally here. The word stresses both social and physical harm and violence.

[8:36]  ⁵ tn Heb “his soul.”

[8:36]  ⁶ 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.

[15:32]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Or “heeds” (so NAB, NIV); NASB “listens to.”

[15:32]  ⁹ 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.

[20:2]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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”).