Proverbs 8:35

8:35 For the one who finds me finds ¹  life

and receives ²  favor from the Lord.

Proverbs 10:32--11:1

10:32 The lips of the righteous know ³  what is pleasing, ⁴ 

but the speech ⁵  of the wicked is perverse.

11:1 The Lord abhors ⁶  dishonest scales, ⁷ 

but an accurate weight ⁸  is his delight.

Proverbs 11:20

11:20 The Lord abhors ⁹  those who are perverse in heart, ¹⁰ 

but those who are blameless in their ways ¹¹  are his delight. ¹² 

Proverbs 11:27

11:27 The one who diligently seeks ¹³  good seeks favor,

but the one who searches ¹⁴  for evil – it will come to him. ¹⁵ 

Proverbs 12:2

12:2 A good person obtains favor from the Lord,

but the Lord ¹⁶  condemns a person with wicked schemes. ¹⁷ 

Proverbs 12:22

12:22 The Lord ¹⁸  abhors a person who lies, ¹⁹ 

but those who deal truthfully ²⁰  are his delight. ²¹ 

Proverbs 14:35

14:35 The king shows favor ²²  to a wise ²³  servant,

but his wrath falls ²⁴  on one who acts shamefully.

Proverbs 15:8

15:8 The Lord abhors ²⁵  the sacrifices ²⁶  of the wicked, ²⁷ 

but the prayer ²⁸  of the upright pleases him. ²⁹ 

Proverbs 16:13

16:13 The delight of kings ³⁰  is righteous counsel, ³¹ 

and they love the one who speaks ³²  uprightly. ³³ 

Proverbs 16:15

16:15 In the light of the king’s face ³⁴  there is life,

and his favor is like the clouds ³⁵  of the spring rain. ³⁶ 

Proverbs 18:22

18:22 The one who finds ³⁷  a wife finds what is enjoyable, ³⁸ 

and receives a pleasurable gift ³⁹  from the Lord. ⁴⁰ 

Proverbs 19:12

19:12 A king’s wrath is like ⁴¹  the roar of a lion, ⁴² 

but his favor is like dew on the grass. ⁴³ 

[8:35]  ¹ tc The Kethib reads plurals: “those who find me are finders of life”; this is reflected in the LXX and Syriac. But the Qere is singular: “whoever finds me finds life.” The Qere is generally favored as the original reading in such cases as these.

[8:35]  ² tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive carries the same nuance as the perfect tense that came before it, setting out the timeless principle.

[10:32]  ³ sn The verb “know” applied to “lips” is unusual. “Lips” is a metonymy for what the righteous say; and their words “know” (a personification) what is pleasing, i.e., they are acquainted with.

[10:32]  ⁴ sn The righteous say what is pleasing, acceptable, or delightful; but the wicked say perverse and destructive things.

[10:32]  ⁵ tn Heb “lips.” The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause for what is said.

[11:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) is a subjective genitive.

[11:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “scales of deception.” The genitive is attributive: “deceptive scales.” This refers to dishonesty in the market where silver was weighed in the scales. God condemns dishonest business practices (Deut 25:13-16; Lev 10:35-36), as did the ancient Near East (ANET 388, 423).

[11:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “a perfect stone.” Stones were used for measuring amounts of silver on the scales; here the stone that pleases the Lord is whole, complete, perfect (from שָׁלֵם, shalem). It was one that would give an honest, accurate measurement.

[11:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) functions as a subjective genitive. Cf. NIV “detests”; NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT “hates.”

[11:20]  ⁸ sn The word עִקְּשֵׁי (“crooked; twisted; perverted”) describes the wicked as having “twisted minds.” Their mentality is turned toward evil things.

[11:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “those who are blameless of way.” The noun דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) is a genitive of specification: “blameless in their way.”

[11:20]  ¹⁰ sn The noun means “goodwill, favor, acceptance, will”; it is related to the verb רָצַה (ratsah) which means “to be pleased with; to accept favorably.” These words are used frequently in scripture to describe what pleases the Lord, meaning, what he accepts. In particular, sacrifices offered properly find acceptance with God (Ps 51:19). Here the lifestyle that is blameless pleases him.

[11:27]  ⁹ tn Two separate words are used here for “seek.” The first is שָׁחַר (shakhar, “to seek diligently”) and the second is בָּקַשׁ (baqash, “to seek after; to look for”). Whoever is seeking good is in effect seeking favor – from either God or man (e.g., Ps 5:12; Isa 49:8).

[11:27]  ¹⁰ tn The participle דֹּרֵשׁ (doresh) means “to seek; to inquire; to investigate.” A person generally receives the consequences of the kind of life he seeks.

[11:27]  ¹¹ tn The verb is the imperfect tense, third feminine singular, referring to “evil,” the object of the participle.

[12:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “but he condemns”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:2]  ¹² tn Heb “a man of wicked plans.” The noun מְזִמּוֹת (mÿzimmot, “evil plans”) functions as an attributive genitive: “an evil-scheming man.” Cf. NASB “a man who devises evil”; NAB “the schemer.”

[12:22]  ¹³ tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) is a subjective genitive.

[12:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “lips of lying.” The genitive שָׁקֶר (shaqer, “lying”) functions as an attributive genitive: “lying lips.” The term “lips” functions as a synecdoche of part (= lips) for the whole (= person): “a liar.”

[12:22]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “but doers of truthfulness.” The term “truthfulness” is an objective genitive, meaning: “those who practice truth” or “those who act in good faith.” Their words and works are reliable.

[12:22]  ¹⁶ sn The contrast between “delight/pleasure” and “abomination” is emphatic. What pleases the Lord is acting truthfully or faithfully.

[14:35]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the favor of a king.” The noun “king” functions as a subjective genitive: “the king shows favor….”

[14:35]  ¹⁶ sn The wise servant is shown favor, while the shameful servant is shown anger. Two Hiphil participles make the contrast: מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil, “wise”) and מֵבִישׁ (mevish, “one who acts shamefully”). The wise servant is a delight and enjoys the favor of the king because he is skillful and clever. The shameful one botches his duties; his indiscretions and incapacity expose the master to criticism (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 470).

[14:35]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “is” (so KJV, ASV).

[15:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) functions as a subjective genitive: “the Lord abhors.” Cf. NIV “the Lord detests”; NCV, NLT “the Lord hates”; CEV “the Lord is disgusted.”

[15:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “sacrifice” (so many English versions).

[15:8]  ¹⁹ sn The sacrifices of the wicked are hated by the Lord because the worshipers are insincere and blasphemous (e.g., Prov 15:29; 21:3; 28:9; Ps 40:6-8; Isa 1:10-17). In other words, the spiritual condition of the worshiper determines whether or not the worship is acceptable to God.

[15:8]  ²⁰ sn J. H. Greenstone notes that if God will accept the prayers of the upright, he will accept their sacrifices; for sacrifice is an outer ritual and easily performed even by the wicked, but prayer is a private and inward act and not usually fabricated by unbelievers (Proverbs, 162).

[15:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “[is] his pleasure.” The 3rd person masculine singular suffix functions as a subjective genitive: “he is pleased.” God is pleased with the prayers of the upright.

[16:13]  ¹⁹ tn The MT has the plural, even though the verb “loves” is masculine singular. The ancient versions and two Hebrew mss read “a king.”

[16:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “lips of righteousness”; cf. NAB, NIV “honest lips.” The genitive “righteousness” functions as an attributive adjective. The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause for what is said: “righteous speech” or “righteous counsel.”

[16:13]  ²¹ tn The MT has the singular participle followed by the plural adjective (which is here a substantive). The editors of BHS wish to follow the ancient versions in making the participle plural, “those who speak uprightly.”

[16:13]  ²² sn The verse is talking about righteous kings, of course – they love righteousness and not flattery. In this proverb “righteous” and “upright” referring to what is said means “what is right and straight,” i.e., the truth (cf. NCV).

[16:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “the light of the face of the king.” This expression is a way of describing the king’s brightened face, his delight in what is taking place. This would mean life for those around him.

[16:15]  ²² tn Heb “cloud.”

[16:15]  ²³ tn Heb “latter rain” (so KJV, ASV). The favor that this expression represents is now compared to the cloud of rain that comes with the “latter” rain or harvest rain. The point is that the rain cloud was necessary for the successful harvest; likewise the king’s pleasure will ensure the success and the productivity of the people under him. E.g., also Psalm 72:15-17; the prosperity of the land is portrayed as a blessing on account of the ideal king.

[18:22]  ²³ tn The verb מָצָא (matsa’, translated “finds”) is used twice in the first colon. It is paralleled by the verb פּוּק (puq, translated “receives”) in the second colon, which carries the same nuance as the preceding verbs. The first perfect tense verb might function in a hypothetical or conditional sense: “If a man finds…then he finds.” But taken as a principle the nuances of the verbs would be gnomic or characteristic.

[18:22]  ²⁴ tn Heb “good.” The term טוֹב (tov, “good; enjoyable; fortune”) might be an allusion to Gen 2:18, which affirms that it is not good for man to be alone. The word describes that which is pleasing to God, beneficial for life, and abundantly enjoyable.

[18:22]  ²⁵ tn Heb “what is pleasant.” The noun רָצוֹן (ratson, “what is pleasing”) is often interpreted in a religious-theological sense here: “receives favor from the Lord” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV). However, this term is probably referring to the pleasure that a person enjoys in marriage, so it should be understood in a nonreligious, marital sense: “pleasure” (e.g., Esth 1:8; HALOT 1282 s.v. 1); cf. CEV “she is a gift from the Lord.”

[18:22]  ²⁶ tc The LXX adds this embellishment to complete the thought: “Whoever puts away a good wife puts away good, and whoever keeps an adulteress is foolish and ungodly.”

[19:12]  ²⁵ sn The verse contrasts the “rage” of the king with his “favor” by using two similes. The first simile presents the king at his most dangerous – his anger (e.g., 20:2; Amos 3:4). The second simile presents his favor as beneficial for life (e.g., 16:14-15; 28:15).

[19:12]  ²⁶ tn Heb “is a roaring like a lion.”

[19:12]  ²⁷ sn The proverb makes an observation about a king’s power to terrify or to refresh. It advises people to use tact with a king.