Proverbs 9:9

9:9 Give instruction ¹  to a wise person, ²  and he will become wiser still;

teach ³  a righteous person and he will add to his ⁴  learning.

Proverbs 12:14

12:14 A person will be satisfied with good from the fruit of his words, ⁵ 

and the work of his hands ⁶  will be rendered to ⁷  him.

Proverbs 28:10

28:10 The one who leads the upright astray in an evil way

will himself fall into his own pit, ⁸ 

but the blameless will inherit what is good. ⁹ 

[9:9]  ¹ tn The noun “instruction” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation.

[9:9]  ² sn The parallelism shows what Proverbs will repeatedly stress, that the wise person is the righteous person.

[9:9]  ³ tn The Hiphil verb normally means “to cause to know, make known”; but here the context suggests “to teach” (so many English versions).

[9:9]  ⁴ tn The term “his” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for the sake of smoothness and clarity.

[12:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “fruit of the lips.” The term “fruit” is the implied comparison, meaning what is produced; and “lips” is the metonymy of cause, referring to speech. Proper speech will result in good things.

[12:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “the work of the hands of a man.”

[12:14]  ⁷ tc The Kethib has the Qal imperfect, “will return” to him (cf. NASB); the Qere preserves a Hiphil imperfect, “he/one will restore/render” to him (cf. KJV, ASV). The Qere seems to suggest that someone (God or people) will reward him in kind. Since there is no expressed subject, it may be translated as a passive voice.

[28:10]  ⁹ sn The image of falling into a pit (a figure of speech known as hypocatastasis, involving implied comparison) is meant to say that the evil to which he guides people will ultimately destroy him.

[28:10]  ¹⁰ sn This proverb is teaching that those who corrupt others will be destroyed, usually by their own devices, but those who manage to avoid being corrupted will be rewarded. According to this proverb the righteous can be led astray (e.g., 26:27).