Proverbs 9:18

9:18 But they do not realize ¹  that the dead ²  are there,

that her guests are in the depths of the grave. ³ 

Proverbs 8:27

8:27 When he established the heavens, I was there;

when he marked out the horizon ⁴  over the face of the deep,

Proverbs 15:17

15:17 Better a meal of vegetables where there is love ⁵ 

than a fattened ox where there is hatred. ⁶ 

[9:18]  ¹ tn Heb “he does not know.”

[9:18]  ² sn The “dead” are the Rephaim, the “shades” or dead persons who lead a shadowy existence in Sheol (e.g., Prov 2:18-19; Job 3:13-19; Ps 88:5; Isa 14:9-11). This approximates an “as-if” motif of wisdom literature: The ones ensnared in folly are as good as in Hell. See also Ptah-hotep’s sayings (ANET 412-414).

[9:18]  ³ tc The LXX adds to the end of v. 18: “But turn away, linger not in the place, neither set your eye on her: for thus will you go through alien water; but abstain from alien water, drink not from an alien fountain, that you may live long, that years of life may be added to you.”

[8:27]  ⁴ sn The infinitive construct בְּחוּקוֹ (bÿkhuqo, “to cut; to engrave; to mark”) and the noun חוּג (khug, “horizon; circle”) form a paronomasia in the line.

[15:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “and love there.” This clause is a circumstantial clause introduced with vav, that becomes “where there is love.” The same construction is used in the second colon.

[15:17]  ⁸ sn Again the saying concerns troublesome wealth: Loving relationships with simple food are better than a feast where there is hatred. The ideal, of course, would be loving family and friends with a great meal in addition, but this proverb is only comparing two things.