translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: PRO

label: NET translator note

text: Heb “causeless curse” (KJV similar) describes an undeserved curse (cf. NIV, NRSV). The Hebrew word translated “causeless” is the adverb from ָחנַן ( khanan ); it means “without cause; gratuitous.” sn This proverb is saying that a curse that is uttered will be powerless if that curse is undeserved. It was commonly believed in the ancient world that blessings and curses had power in themselves, that once spoken they were effectual. But scripture makes it clear that the power of a blessing or a curse depends on the power of the one behind it (e.g., Num 22:38; 23:8 ). A curse would only take effect if the one who declared it had the authority to do so, and he would only do that if the curse was deserved.


label: NET textual note

text: The MT has the negative with the verb “to enter; to come” to mean “will not come” ( לֹא תָבֹא , lo ’ tavo ’). This is interpreted to mean “will not come to rest” or “will not come home.” Some commentators have taken the Qere reading of לוֹ ( lo ) instead, and read it as “will come home to him.” This is also a little difficult; but it gives the idea that an undeserved curse will come [back] to him [who gave it]. Just as a bird will fly around and eventually come home, so will the undeserved curse return on the one who gave it. This is plausible; but there is no referent for the suffix, making it syntactically difficult.


text: Heb “in his own eyes” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).


text: The participle could be taken as the subject of the sentence: “the one who sends…cuts off…and drinks.”


text: Heb “like the legs which hang down from the lame” (so NASB). The is דַּלְיוּ ( dalyu ), from דָּלַל ( dalal , “to hang; to be low; to languish”) although the spelling of the form indicates it would be from דָּלָה ( dalah , “to draw” [water]). The word indicates the uselessness of the legs – they are there but cannot be used. Luther gave the verse a fanciful but memorable rendering: “Like dancing to a cripple, so is a proverb in the mouth of the fool.”


text: The proverb does not begin with a כְּ ( bet ) preposition to indicate a simile; but the analogy within the verse makes it clear that the first line is the emblem. The conjunction vav then indicates the equation – “so.”


text: The translation “like tying a stone in a sling” seems to make the most sense, even though the word for “sling” occurs only here. sn The point is that only someone who does not know how a sling works would do such a stupid thing (R. N. Whybray, Proverbs [CBC], 152). So to honor a fool would be absurd; it would be counterproductive, for he would still be a fool.


text: Heb “who wounds everyone” (so NASB). A similar rendering is given by ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, and NLT; it is the only one that makes sense out of a verse that most commentators consider hopelessly corrupt. That is not to say it is the correct rendering, only that it makes sense as a required negative statement in a proverb. The first line has רַב מְחוֹלֵל־כֹּל ( rav mÿkholel-col ). The first word, רַב ( rav ), can mean “archer,” “ master,” or “much.” The verb מְחוֹלֵל ( mÿkholel ) can mean “to wound” or “to bring forth.” The possibilities are: “a master performs [or, produces] all,” “a master injures all,” “an archer wounds all,” or “much produces all.” The line probably should be stating something negative, so the idea of an archer injuring or wounding people [at random] is preferable. An undisciplined hireling will have the same effect as an archer shooting at anything and everything (cf. NLT “an archer who shoots recklessly”).


text: The participle שֹׂכֵר ( shokher ) is rendered here according to its normal meaning “hires” or “pays wages to.” Other suggestions include “one who rewards a fool” (derived from the idea of wages) and “one who stops a fool” (from a similar word).


text: The verse simply uses a perfect tense. The meaning of the verse would be the same if this were interpreted as an affirmation rather than as an interrogative. The first line calls such a person to one’s attention.


text: Heb “in his own eyes” (so NAB, NASB, NIV). sn The subject matter of the verse is the person who is wise in his own opinion. Self-conceit is actually part of the folly that the book of Proverbs criticizes; those who think they are wise even though they are not are impossible to help. For someone to think he is wise when he is not makes him a conceited ignoramus (W. G. Plaut, Proverbs , 268).


text: Heb “in the broad plazas”; NAB, NASB “in the square.” This proverb makes the same point as 22:13 , namely, that the sluggard uses absurd excuses to get out of work. D. Kidner notes that in this situation the sluggard has probably convinced himself that he is a realist and not a lazy person ( Proverbs [TOTC], 163).


text: The comparative “like” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied from context in the translation.


text: The term “turns” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation from the parallelism.


text: Heb “buries” (so many English versions); KJV “hideth”; NAB “loses.”


text: Heb “in his eyes.” The lazy person thinks that he has life all figured out and has chosen the wise course of action – but he is simply lazy. J. H. Greenstone says, for example, “Much anti-intellectualism may be traced to such rationalization for laziness” ( Proverbs , 269).


text: The term means “taste; judgment.” The related verb means “to taste; to perceive,” that is, “to examine by tasting,” or examine by experiencing (e.g., Ps 34:9 ). Here the idea is expressed with the participle in construct, “those returners [of] good sense,” those who answer tastefully, with discretion. Cf. NIV “who (+ can NRSV) answer discreetly.”


text: Heb “grabs the ears of a dog. The word “wild” has been supplied in the translation to make clear that these were not domesticated pets. CEV, to accomplish the same point, has “a mad dog,” but there is no indication of that in context. sn Someone who did this ran a serious risk of injury or harm. Dogs were not domestic pets in the ancient Near East; they were scavengers that ran in packs like jackals.


text: The word מִתְעַבֵּר ( mit ’ abber ) means “to put oneself in a fury” or “become furious” (BDB 720 s.v.). The Latin version apparently assumed the verb was עָרַב (’ arav ), for it has the sense of “meddle” (so also NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). However, the MT reading could easily fit the verse, referring to anyone passing by who gets furious over a fight that is not his.


text: The term כְּמִתְלַהְלֵהַּ ( kÿmitlahleah ) is the Hitpalpel participle of the quadriliteral verbal root לִהְלֵהַּ ( lihleah ), which means “to amaze; to startle” (BDB 529 s.v.). Here it functions as a substantive – the object of the preposition – and has the meaning of “madman” (cf. NRSV “maniac”). This is the only occurrence of the term.


text: Heb “arrows and death” (so KJV, NASB). This expression can be understood as a nominal hendiadys: “deadly arrows” (so NAB, NIV).


text: Heb “man.”


text: Heb “becomes silent.”


text: The Pilpel infinitive construct לְחַרְחַר ( lÿkharkhar ) from חָרַר ( kharar , “to be hot; to be scorched; to burn”) means “to kindle; to cause to flare up.”


text: The proverb is essentially the same as 18:8 ; it observes how appealing gossip is.


text: The traditional translation of “silver dross” (so KJV, ASV, NASB) never did make much sense because the parallel idea deals with hypocrisy – “fervent lips with an evil heart.” But silver dross would not be used over earthenware – instead it is discarded. Yet the MT clearly has “silver dross” ( כֶּסֶף סִיגִים , kesef sigim ). Ugaritic turned up a word spsg which means “glaze,” and this found a parallel in Hittite zapzaga[y]a. H. L. Ginsberg repointed the Hebrew text to k’sapsagim , “like glaze,” and this has been adopted by many commentators and recent English versions (e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). The final ם ( mem ) is then classified as enclitic. See, among others, K. L. Barker, “The Value of Ugaritic for Old Testament Studies,” BSac 133 (1976): 128-29.


text: The word translated “fervent” actually means “burning, glowing”; the LXX has “flattering lips” (as if from חָלַק [ khalaq ] rather than דָּלַק [ dalaq ]).


text: The Niphal imperfect from נָכַר ( nakhar ) means “to act [or, treat] as a foreigner [or, stranger]; to misconstrue; to disguise.” The direct object (“it”) is not present in the Hebrew text but is implied. In this passage it means that the hater speaks what is “foreign” to his thought; in other words, he dissembles.


text: Or “places; puts; lays up” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB).


text: Heb “within him” (so KJV, ASV) or “in his midst”; NAB “in his inmost being.” sn Hypocritical words may hide a wicked heart. The proverb makes an observation: One who in reality despises other people will often disguise that with what he says.


text: The particle כִּי ( ki ) is here interpreted with a temporal nuance. It is also possible that it could be read as concessive (so NIV, NLT “Though”).


text: The meaning of the rare Piel form of חָנַן ( khanan ) is “to make gracious; to make favorable.” The subject is קוֹלוֹ ( qolo , “his voice”), a metonymy of cause for what he says. The idea is that what he says is very gracious in its content and its effect.


text: The referent is apparently the individual of vv. 24-25 .


text: The form תִּכַּסֶּה ( tikkasseh ) is the Hitpael imperfect (with assimilation); it is probably passive, meaning “is concealed,” although it could mean “conceals itself” (naturally). Since the proverb uses antithetical parallelism, an imperfect tense nuance of possibility (“may be concealed”) works well here (cf. NIV, NLT).


text: Heb “the tongue of deception.” The subject matter of this proverb is deceptive speech. The “tongue of deception” (using a metonymy of cause with an attributive genitive) means that what is said is false. Likewise the “smooth mouth” means that what is said is smooth, flattering.