translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: PRO

label: NET study note

text: People should follow honesty even if it leads to poverty (e.g., Prov 18:23; 19:22 ).


text: The “heart raging” is a metonymy of cause (or adjunct); it represents the emotions that will lead to blaming God for the frustration. Genesis 42:28 offers a calmer illustration of this as the brothers ask what God was doing to them.


text: This proverb simply makes an observation on life: People pursue wealthy folk hoping that they can gain something from the rich, but the poor are deserted even by friends, who fear that the poor will try to gain something from them.


text: The proverb acknowledges the fact of life; but it also reminds people of the value of gifts in life, especially in business or in politics.


text: The verse is the same as v. 5 , except that the last word changes to the verb “will perish” (cf. NCV “will die”; CEV, NLT “will be destroyed”; TEV “is doomed”).


text: The verse is simply observing two things that are misfits. It is not concerned with a fool who changes and can handle wealth, or a servant who changes to become a nobleman. It is focused on things that are incongruous.


text: In the ancient world the prince would be trained for his rule (hence, one of the original purposes of Proverbs). A slave ruling over princes would be arrogant and cruel, or foolish and unwise. For other unbearable things, e.g., 11:22; 17:7; 26:1; and 30:21-23 .


text: “Glory” signifies the idea of beauty or adornment. D. Kidner explains that such patience “brings out here the glowing colours of a virtue which in practice may look drably unassertive” ( Proverbs [TOTC], 133).


text: 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 ).


text: The proverb makes an observation about a king’s power to terrify or to refresh. It advises people to use tact with a king.


text: This statement describes a wife who has a skillful use of knowledge and discretion that proves to be successful. This contrasts with the preceding verse. The proverb is not concerned about unhappy marriages or bad wives (both of which exist); it simply affirms that when a marriage works out well one should credit it as a gift from God.


text: The two lines are related in a metonymical sense: “deep sleep” is the cause of going hungry, and “going hungry” is the effect of deep sleep.


text: The expression his ways could refer either (1) to the conduct of the individual himself, or (2) to the commandments as the Lord ’s ways. If the latter is the case, then the punishment is more certain.


text: The participle חוֹנֵן ( khonen , “shows favor to”) is related to the word for “grace.” The activity here is the kind favor shown poor people for no particular reason and with no hope of repayment. It is literally an act of grace.


text: The promise of reward does not necessarily mean that the person who gives to the poor will get money back; the rewards in the book of Proverbs involve life and prosperity in general.


text: The Hebrew word means “indemnity, fine”; this suggests that the trouble could be legal, and the angry person has to pay for it.


text: The advice refers in all probability to the teachings of the sages that will make one wise.


text: The plans (from the Hebrew verb חָשַׁב [ khashav ], “to think; to reckon; to devise”) in the human heart are many. But only those which God approves will succeed.


text: The second half of the proverb presents the logical inference: The liar would be without “loyal love” entirely, and so poverty would be better than this. A poor person who wishes to do better is preferable to a person who makes promises and does not keep them.


text: This humorous portrayal is an exaggeration; but the point is that laziness can overcome hunger. It would have a wider application for anyone who would start a project and then lack the interest or energy to finish it (R. N. Whybray, Proverbs [CBC], 111). Ibn Ezra proposes that the dish was empty, because the sluggard was too lazy to provide for himself.


text: Different people learn differently. There are three types of people in this proverb: the scorner with a closed mind, the simpleton with an empty mind, and the discerning person with an open mind (D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 135). The simpleton learns by observing a scoffer being punished, even though the punishment will have no effect on the scoffer.


text: The word is related to “shrewdness” (cf. 1:4 ). The simpleton will learn at least where the traps are and how to avoid them.


text: “Father” and “mother” here represent a stereotypical word pair in the book of Proverbs, rather than describing separate crimes against each individual parent. Both crimes are against both parents.