Proverbs 7:21-23

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

with her smooth talk ³  she compelled him. ⁴ 

7:22 Suddenly he went ⁵  after her

like an ox that goes to the slaughter,

like a stag prancing into a trapper’s snare ⁶ 

7:23 till an arrow pierces his liver ⁷  –

like a bird hurrying into a trap,

and he does not know that it will cost him his life. ⁸ 

Proverbs 13:20

13:20 The one who associates ⁹  with the wise grows wise,

but a companion of fools suffers harm. ¹⁰ 

Proverbs 20:19

20:19 The one who goes about gossiping ¹¹  reveals secrets;

therefore do not associate ¹²  with someone who is always opening his mouth. ¹³ 

Genesis 39:7-13

39:7 Soon after these things, his master’s wife took notice of ¹⁴  Joseph and said, “Have sex with me.” ¹⁵  39:8 But he refused, saying ¹⁶  to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not give any thought ¹⁷  to his household with me here, ¹⁸  and everything that he owns he has put into my care. ¹⁹  39:9 There is no one greater in this household than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. So how could I do ²⁰  such a great evil and sin against God?” 39:10 Even though she continued to speak ²¹  to Joseph day after day, he did not respond ²²  to her invitation to have sex with her. ²³ 

39:11 One day ²⁴  he went into the house to do his work when none of the household servants ²⁵  were there in the house. 39:12 She grabbed him by his outer garment, saying, “Have sex with me!” But he left his outer garment in her hand and ran ²⁶  outside. ²⁷  39:13 When she saw that he had left his outer garment in her hand and had run outside,

Jude 1:16-21

1:16 These people are grumblers and ²⁸  fault-finders who go ²⁹  wherever their desires lead them, ³⁰  and they give bombastic speeches, ³¹  enchanting folks ³²  for their own gain. ³³ 

Exhortation to the Faithful

1:17 But you, dear friends – recall the predictions ³⁴  foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. ³⁵  1:18 For they said to you, “In the end time there will come ³⁶  scoffers, propelled by their own ungodly desires.” ³⁷  1:19 These people are divisive, ³⁸  worldly, ³⁹  devoid of the Spirit. ⁴⁰  1:20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, ⁴¹  1:21 maintain ⁴²  yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating ⁴³  the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life. ⁴⁴ 

Psalms 1:1

Book 1
(Psalms 1-41)

Psalm 1 ⁴⁵ 

1:1 How blessed ⁴⁶  is the one ⁴⁷  who does not follow ⁴⁸  the advice ⁴⁹  of the wicked, ⁵⁰ 

or stand in the pathway ⁵¹  with sinners,

or sit in the assembly ⁵²  of scoffers! ⁵³ 

Psalms 50:18

50:18 When you see a thief, you join him; ⁵⁴ 

you associate with men who are unfaithful to their wives. ⁵⁵ 

Romans 16:18

16:18 For these are the kind who do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By their smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds ⁵⁶  of the naive.

Ephesians 5:11

5:11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather ⁵⁷  expose them. ⁵⁸ 

[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.

[7:22]  ⁵ tn The participle with “suddenly” gives a more vivid picture, almost as if to say “there he goes.”

[7:22]  ⁶ tn The present translation follows R. B. Y. Scott (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes [AB], 64). This third colon of the verse would usually be rendered, “fetters to the chastening of a fool” (KJV, ASV, and NASB are all similar). But there is no support that עֶכֶס (’ekhes) means “fetters.” It appears in Isaiah 3:16 as “anklets.” The parallelism here suggests that some animal imagery is required. Thus the ancient versions have “as a dog to the bonds.”

[7:23]  ⁷ sn The figure of an arrow piercing the liver (an implied comparison) may refer to the pangs of a guilty conscience that the guilty must reap along with the spiritual and physical ruin that follows (see on these expressions H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament).

[7:23]  ⁸ tn The expression that it is “for/about/over his life” means that it could cost him his life (e.g., Num 16:38). Alternatively, the line could refer to moral corruption and social disgrace rather than physical death – but this would not rule out physical death too.

[13:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “walks.” When used with the preposition אֶת (’et, “with”), the verb הָלַךְ (halakh, “to walk”) means “to associate with” someone (BDB 234 s.v. הָלַךְ II.3.b; e.g., Mic 6:8; Job 34:8). The active participle of הָלַךְ (“to walk”) stresses continual, durative action. One should stay in close association with the wise, and move in the same direction they do.

[13:20]  ¹⁰ tn The verb form יֵרוֹעַ (yeroa’) is the Niphal imperfect of רָעַע (ra’a’), meaning “to suffer hurt.” Several have attempted to parallel the repetition in the wordplay of the first colon. A. Guillaume has “he who associates with fools will be left a fool” (“A Note on the Roots רִיע, יָרַע, and רָעַע in Hebrew,” JTS 15 [1964]: 294). Knox translated the Vulgate thus: “Fool he ends that fool befriends” (cited by D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 104).

[20:19]  ¹¹ sn The word describes a slanderer (NASB), a tale-bearer (KJV, ASV), or an informer. BDB 940 s.v. רָכִיל says the Hebrew expression “goers of slander” means slanderous persons. However, W. McKane observes that these people are not necessarily malicious – they just talk too much (Proverbs [OTL], 537).

[20:19]  ¹² tn The form is the Hitpael imperfect (of prohibition or instruction) from עָרַב (’arav). BDB 786-88 lists six roots with these radicals. The first means “to mix,” but only occurs in derivatives. BDB 786 lists this form under the second root, which means “to take on a pledge; to exchange.” The Hitpael is then defined as “to exchange pledges; to have fellowship with [or, share].” The proverb is warning people to have nothing to do with gossips.

[20:19]  ¹³ tn The verb פֹּתֶה (poteh) is a homonym, related to I פָּתָה (patah, “to be naive; to be foolish”; HALOT 984-85 s.v. I פתה) or II פָּתָה (“to open [the lips]; to chatter”; HALOT 985 s.v. II פתה). So the phrase וּלְפֹתֶה שְׂפָתָיו may be understood either (1) as HALOT 985 s.v. II פתה suggests, “one opens his lips” = he is always talking/gossiping, or (2) as BDB suggests, “one who is foolish as to his lips” (he lacks wisdom in what he says; see BDB 834 s.v. פָּתָה 1, noted in HALOT 984 s.v. I פתה 1). The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause for what is said: gossip. If such a person is willing to talk about others, he will be willing to talk about you, so it is best to avoid him altogether.

[39:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “she lifted up her eyes toward,” an expression that emphasizes her deliberate and careful scrutiny of him.

[39:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “lie with me.” Here the expression “lie with” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[39:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and he said.”

[39:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “know.”

[39:8]  ¹⁸ tn The word “here” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[39:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “hand.” This is a metonymy for being under the control or care of Joseph.

[39:9]  ²⁰ tn The nuance of potential imperfect fits this context.

[39:10]  ²¹ tn The verse begins with the temporal indicator, followed by the infinitive construct with the preposition כְּ (kÿ). This clause could therefore be taken as temporal.

[39:10]  ²² tn Heb “listen to.”

[39:10]  ²³ tn Heb “to lie beside her to be with her.” Here the expression “to lie beside” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[39:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and it was about this day.”

[39:11]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the men of the house.”

[39:12]  ²⁶ tn Heb “he fled and he went out.” The construction emphasizes the point that Joseph got out of there quickly.

[39:12]  ²⁷ sn For discussion of this episode, see A. M. Honeyman, “The Occasion of Joseph’s Temptation,” VT 2 (1952): 85-87.

[1:16]  ²⁸ tn “And” is not in Greek, but is supplied for the sake of English style.

[1:16]  ²⁹ tn Or “going.” Though the participle is anarthrous, so also is the subject. Thus, the participle could be either adverbial or adjectival.

[1:16]  ³⁰ tn Grk “(who go/going) according to their own lusts.”

[1:16]  ³¹ tn Grk “and their mouth speaks bombastic things.”

[1:16]  ³² sn Enchanting folks (Grk “awing faces”) refers to the fact that the speeches of these false teachers are powerful and seductive.

[1:16]  ³³ tn Or “to their own advantage.”

[1:17]  ³⁴ tn Grk “words.” In conjunction with προεῖπον (proeipon), however, the meaning of the construction is that the apostles uttered prophecies.

[1:17]  ³⁵ sn This verse parallels 2 Pet 3:2 both conceptually and in much of the verbiage. There is one important difference, however: In 2 Pet 3:2 the prophets and apostles speak; here, just the apostles speak. This makes good sense if Jude is using 2 Peter as his main source and is urging his readers to go back to the authoritative writings, both OT and now especially NT.

[1:18]  ³⁶ tn Grk “be.”

[1:18]  ³⁷ tn Grk “going according to their own desires of ungodliness.”

[1:19]  ³⁸ tn Grk “these are the ones who cause divisions.”

[1:19]  ³⁹ tn Or “natural,” that is, living on the level of instincts, not on a spiritual level (the same word occurs in 1 Cor 2:14 as a description of nonbelievers).

[1:19]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “not having [the] Spirit.”

[1:20]  ⁴¹ tn The participles in v. 20 have been variously interpreted. Some treat them imperativally or as attendant circumstance to the imperative in v. 21 (“maintain”): “build yourselves up…pray.” But they do not follow the normal contours of either the imperatival or attendant circumstance participles, rendering this unlikely. A better option is to treat them as the means by which the readers are to maintain themselves in the love of God. This both makes eminently good sense and fits the structural patterns of instrumental participles elsewhere.

[1:21]  ⁴² tn Or “keep.”

[1:21]  ⁴³ tn Or “waiting for.”

[1:21]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “unto eternal life.”

[1:1]  ⁴⁵ sn Psalm 1. In this wisdom psalm the author advises his audience to reject the lifestyle of the wicked and to be loyal to God. The psalmist contrasts the destiny of the wicked with that of the righteous, emphasizing that the wicked are eventually destroyed while the godly prosper under the Lord’s protective care.

[1:1]  ⁴⁶ tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see v. 3; Pss 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[1:1]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender and age specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” (Generic “he” is employed in vv. 2-3). Since the godly man described in the psalm is representative of followers of God (note the plural form צַדִּיקִים [tsadiqim, “righteous, godly”] in vv. 5-6), one could translate the collective singular with the plural “those” both here and in vv. 2-3, where singular pronouns and verbal forms are utilized in the Hebrew text (cf. NRSV). However, here the singular form may emphasize that godly individuals are usually outnumbered by the wicked. Retaining the singular allows the translation to retain this emphasis.

[1:1]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “walk in.” The three perfect verbal forms in v. 1 refer in this context to characteristic behavior. The sequence “walk–stand–sit” envisions a progression from relatively casual association with the wicked to complete identification with them.

[1:1]  ⁴⁹ tn The Hebrew noun translated “advice” most often refers to the “counsel” or “advice” one receives from others. To “walk in the advice of the wicked” means to allow their evil advice to impact and determine one’s behavior.

[1:1]  ⁵⁰ tn In the psalms the Hebrew term רְשָׁעִים (rÿsha’im, “wicked”) describes people who are proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21).

[1:1]  ⁵¹ tn “Pathway” here refers to the lifestyle of sinners. To “stand in the pathway of/with sinners” means to closely associate with them in their sinful behavior.

[1:1]  ⁵² tn Here the Hebrew term מוֹשַׁב (moshav), although often translated “seat” (cf. NEB, NIV), appears to refer to the whole assembly of evildoers. The word also carries the semantic nuance “assembly” in Ps 107:32, where it is in synonymous parallelism with קָהָל (qahal, “assembly”).

[1:1]  ⁵³ tn The Hebrew word refers to arrogant individuals (Prov 21:24) who love conflict (Prov 22:10) and vociferously reject wisdom and correction (Prov 1:22; 9:7-8; 13:1; 15:12). To “sit in the assembly” of such people means to completely identify with them in their proud, sinful plans and behavior.

[50:18]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “you run with him.”

[50:18]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “and with adulterers [is] your portion.”

[16:18]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “hearts.”

[5:11]  ⁵⁷ tn The Greek conjunction καὶ (kai) seems to be functioning here ascensively, (i.e., “even”), but is difficult to render in this context using good English. It may read something like: “but rather even expose them!”

[5:11]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “rather even expose.”