Proverbs 9:7

9:7 Whoever corrects ¹  a mocker is asking for ²  insult; ³ 

whoever reproves a wicked person receives ⁴  abuse.

Proverbs 11:2

11:2 When pride ⁵  comes, ⁶  then comes disgrace, ⁷ 

but with humility ⁸  comes ⁹  wisdom.

Proverbs 12:16

12:16 A fool’s annoyance ¹⁰  is known at once, ¹¹ 

but the prudent ¹²  overlooks ¹³  an insult.

Proverbs 13:18

13:18 The one who neglects ¹⁴  discipline ends up in ¹⁵  poverty and shame,

but the one who accepts reproof is honored. ¹⁶ 

Proverbs 18:3

18:3 When a wicked person ¹⁷  arrives, contempt ¹⁸  shows up with him,

and with shame comes ¹⁹  a reproach.

Proverbs 22:10

22:10 Drive out the scorner ²⁰  and contention will leave;

strife and insults will cease. ²¹ 

[9:7]  ¹ tn The active participle יֹסֵר (yoser) describes one who tries to correct by means of instruction and discipline; it is paralleled by the Hiphil participle which refers to someone who rebukes or reproves another. Anyone trying this on these types of people would be inviting trouble.

[9:7]  ² tn Heb “receives for himself.”

[9:7]  ³ tn The word means “dishonor” or “disgrace.” It is paralleled with מוּמוֹ (mumo), translated “abuse.” The latter term means “blemish,” although some would emend the text to read “reproach.” The MT is figurative but not impossible to interpret: Whoever tries to rebuke a wicked person will receive only insults and perhaps physical attack.

[9:7]  ⁴ tn The verb “receives” is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[11:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “presumptuousness.” This term is from the root זִיד, zid (or זוּד, zud) which means “to boil; to seethe; to act proudly; to act presumptuously.” The idea is that of boiling over the edge of the pot, signifying overstepping the boundaries (e.g., Gen 25:29).

[11:2]  ⁶ tn The verbs show both the sequence and the correlation. The first is the perfect tense of בּוֹא (bo’, “to enter; to come”); it is followed by the preterite with vav consecutive from the same verb, showing that one follows or comes with the other. Because the second verb in the colon is sequential to the first, the first may be subordinated as a temporal clause.

[11:2]  ⁷ sn This proverb does not state how the disgrace will come, but affirms that it will follow pride. The proud will be brought down.

[11:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “modesty”; KJV, ASV “the lowly.” The adjective צְנוּעִים (tsÿnu’im, “modest”) is used as a noun; this is an example of antimeria in which one part of speech is used in the place of another (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 491-506), e.g., “Let the dry [adjective] appear!” = dry land (Gen 1:9). The root צָנַע (tsana’, “to be modest; to be humble”) describes those who are reserved, retiring, modest. The plural form is used for the abstract idea of humility.

[11:2]  ⁹ tn The term “comes” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation from parallelism.

[12:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “The fool, at once his vexation is known.” This rhetorically emphatic construction uses an independent nominative absolute, which is then followed by the formal subject with a suffix. The construction focuses attention on “the fool,” then states what is to be said about him.

[12:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “on the day” or “the same day.”

[12:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “shrewd.”

[12:16]  ¹² tn Heb “covers.” The verb כָּסָה (casah) means “covers” in the sense of ignores or bides his time. The point is not that he does not respond at all, but that he is shrewd enough to handle the criticism or insult in the best way – not instinctively and irrationally.

[13:18]  ¹³ tn The verb III פָּרַע (para’) normally means “to let go; to let alone” and here “to neglect; to avoid; to reject” (BDB 828 s.v.).

[13:18]  ¹⁴ tn The phrase “ends up in” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

[13:18]  ¹⁵ sn Honor and success are contrasted with poverty and shame; the key to enjoying the one and escaping the other is discipline and correction. W. McKane, Proverbs (OTL), 456, notes that it is a difference between a man of weight (power and wealth, from the idea of “heavy” for “honor”) and the man of straw (lowly esteemed and poor).

[18:3]  ¹⁷ tc The MT has “a wicked [person].” Many commentators emend the text to רֶשַׁע (resha’, “wickedness”) which makes better parallelism with “shame” (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 521; R. B. Y. Scott, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes [AB], 112; C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 355; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV). However, there is no external evidence for this emendation.

[18:3]  ¹⁸ sn “Contempt” (בּוּז, buz) accompanies the wicked; “reproach” (חֶרְפָּה, kherpah) goes with shame. This reproach refers to the critical rebukes and taunts of the community against a wicked person.

[18:3]  ¹⁹ tn The term “comes” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[22:10]  ²¹ sn This proverb, written in loose synonymous parallelism, instructs that the scorner should be removed because he causes strife. The “scorner” is לֵץ (lets), the one the book of Proverbs says cannot be changed with discipline or correction, but despises and disrupts anything that is morally or socially constructive.

[22:10]  ²² tc The LXX freely adds “when he sits in council (ἐν συνεδρίῳ, ejn sunedriw), he insults everyone.” The MT does not suggest that the setting is in a court of law; so the LXX addition is highly unlikely.