Proverbs 8:35

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

and receives ²  favor from the Lord.

Proverbs 10:32

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

but the speech ⁵  of the wicked is perverse.

Proverbs 11:27

11:27 The one who diligently seeks ⁶  good seeks favor,

but the one who searches ⁷  for evil – it will come to him. ⁸ 

Proverbs 12:2

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

but the Lord ⁹  condemns a person with wicked schemes. ¹⁰ 

Proverbs 14:35

14:35 The king shows favor ¹¹  to a wise ¹²  servant,

but his wrath falls ¹³  on one who acts shamefully.

Proverbs 16:13

16:13 The delight of kings ¹⁴  is righteous counsel, ¹⁵ 

and they love the one who speaks ¹⁶  uprightly. ¹⁷ 

Proverbs 18:22

18:22 The one who finds ¹⁸  a wife finds what is enjoyable, ¹⁹ 

and receives a pleasurable gift ²⁰  from the Lord. ²¹ 

[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.

[11:27]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn The verb is the imperfect tense, third feminine singular, referring to “evil,” the object of the participle.

[12:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “but he condemns”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:2]  ⁸ 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.”

[14:35]  ⁹ tn Heb “the favor of a king.” The noun “king” functions as a subjective genitive: “the king shows favor….”

[14:35]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “is” (so KJV, ASV).

[16:13]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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).

[18:22]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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.”