Proverbs 7:21

7:21 She persuaded him ¹  with persuasive words; ² 

with her smooth talk ³  she compelled him. ⁴ 

Proverbs 14:14

14:14 The backslider ⁵  will be paid back ⁶  from his own ways,

but a good person will be rewarded ⁷  for his.

Proverbs 20:2

20:2 The king’s terrifying anger ⁸  is like the roar of a lion;

whoever provokes him ⁹  sins against himself. ¹⁰ 

Proverbs 24:18

24:18 lest the Lord see it, and be displeased, ¹¹ 

and turn his wrath away from him. ¹² 

Proverbs 25:16

25:16 When you find ¹³  honey, eat only what is sufficient for you,

lest you become stuffed ¹⁴  with it and vomit it up. ¹⁵ 

Proverbs 28:1

28:1 The wicked person flees when there is no one pursuing, ¹⁶ 

but the righteous person is as confident ¹⁷  as a lion.

Proverbs 31:5

31:5 lest they drink and forget what is decreed,

and remove ¹⁸  from all the poor ¹⁹  their legal rights. ²⁰ 

Proverbs 31:18

31:18 She knows ²¹  that her merchandise is good,

and her lamp ²²  does not go out in the night.

Proverbs 31:25

31:25 She is clothed ²³  with strength ²⁴  and honor, ²⁵ 

and she can laugh ²⁶  at the time ²⁷  to come.

[7:21]  ¹ tn Heb “she turned him aside.” This expression means that she persuaded him. This section now begins the description of the capitulation, for the flattering speech is finished.

[7:21]  ² sn The term לֶקַח (leqakh) was used earlier in Proverbs for wise instruction; now it is used ironically for enticement to sin (see D. W. Thomas, “Textual and Philological Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 280-92).

[7:21]  ³ tn Heb “smooth of her lips”; cf. NAB “smooth lips”; NASB “flattering lips.” The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause representing what she says.

[7:21]  ⁴ tn The verb means “to impel; to thrust; to banish,” but in this stem in this context “to compel; to force” into some action. The imperfect tense has the nuance of progressive imperfect to parallel the characteristic perfect of the first colon.

[14:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “a turning away of heart.” The genitive לֵב (lev, “heart”) functions as an attributive adjective: “a backslidden heart.” The term סוּג (sug) means “to move away; to move backwards; to depart; to backslide” (BDB 690 s.v. I סוּג). This individual is the one who backslides, that is, who departs from the path of righteousness.

[14:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “will be filled”; cf. KJV, ASV. The verb (“to be filled, to be satisfied”) here means “to be repaid,” that is, to partake in his own evil ways. His faithlessness will come back to haunt him.

[14:14]  ⁷ tn The phrase “will be rewarded” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[20:2]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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”).

[24:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “and [it is] evil in his eyes.”

[24:18]  ¹⁴ sn The judgment of God should strike a note of fear in the heart of people (e.g., Lev 19:17-18). His judgment is not to be taken lightly, or personalized as a victory. If that were to happen, then the Lord might take pity on the enemies in their calamity, for he champions the downtrodden and defeated. These are probably personal enemies; the imprecatory psalms and the prophetic oracles present a different set of circumstances for the downfall of God’s enemies – even the book of Proverbs says that brings joy to the community.

[25:16]  ¹⁷ tn The verse simply begins “you have found honey.” Some turn this into an interrogative clause for the condition laid down (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NLT); most make the form in some way subordinate to the following instruction: “when you find…eat.”

[25:16]  ¹⁸ tn The verb means “to be satisfied; to be sated; to be filled.” Here it means more than satisfied, since it describes one who overindulges and becomes sick. The English verb “stuffed” conveys this idea well.

[25:16]  ¹⁹ sn The proverb warns that anything overindulged in can become sickening. The verse uses formal parallelism to express first the condition and then its consequences. It teaches that moderation is wise in the pleasures of life.

[28:1]  ²¹ sn The line portrays the insecurity of a guilty person – he flees because he has a guilty conscience, or because he is suspicious of others around him, or because he fears judgment.

[28:1]  ²² tn The verb בָּטַח (batakh) means “to trust; to be secure; to be confident.” Cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “bold.”

[31:5]  ²⁵ tn The verb means “change,” perhaps expressed in reversing decisions or removing rights.

[31:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “all the children of poverty.” This expression refers to the poor by nature. Cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV “the afflicted”; NIV “oppressed.”

[31:5]  ²⁷ sn The word is דִּין (din, “judgment”; so KJV). In this passage it refers to the cause or the plea for justice, i.e., the “legal rights.”

[31:18]  ²⁹ tn The first word of the ninth line begins with ט (tet), the ninth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[31:18]  ³⁰ sn The line may be taken literally to mean that she is industrious throughout the night (“burning the midnight oil”) when she must in order to follow through a business deal (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 668); cf. TEV. But the line could also be taken figuratively, comparing “her light” to the prosperity of her household – her whole life – which continues night and day.

[31:25]  ³³ sn The idea of clothing and being clothed is a favorite figure in Hebrew. It makes a comparison between wearing clothes and having strength and honor. Just as clothes immediately indicate something of the nature and circumstances of the person, so do these virtues.

[31:25]  ³⁴ tn The first word of the sixteenth line begins with ע (ayin), the sixteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[31:25]  ³⁵ sn This word appears in Ps 111:3 which says that the Lord’s work is honorable, and here the woman is clothed with strength and honor.

[31:25]  ³⁶ sn Here “laugh” is either a metonymy of adjunct or effect. The point is that she is confident for the future because of all her industry and planning.

[31:25]  ³⁷ tn Heb “day.” This word is a metonymy of subject meaning any events that take place on the day or in the time to come.