translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: PRO

label: NET translator note

text: The construction uses the imperfect tense of instruction with the infinitive absolute to emphasize the careful discernment required on such occasions. Cf. NIV “note well”; NLT “pay attention.”


text: Or “who,” referring to the ruler (so ASV, NAB, TEV).


text: Heb “lord of appetite.” The idiom בַּעַל נֶפֶשׁ ( ba ’ al nefesh ) refers to someone who possesses a large appetite (cf. NAB “a ravenous appetite”). A person with a big appetite is in danger of taking liberties when invited to court.


text: Heb “his”; the referent (the ruler mentioned in v. 1 ) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “from your understanding cease.” In the context this means that the person should have enough understanding to stop wearing himself out trying to be rich (cf. NRSV “be wise enough to desist”).


label: NET textual note

text: The Kethib is הֲתָעוּף ( hata ’ uf ), “do your eyes fly [light] on it?” The Qere is the Hiphil, הֲתָעִיף ( hata ’ if ) “do you cause your eyes to fly on it?” But the line is difficult. The question may be indirect: If you cast your eyes on it, it is gone – when you think you are close, it slips away. tn The term “riches” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation based on the previous verse.


text: Heb “an evil eye.” This is the opposite of the “good eye” which meant the generous man. The “evil eye” refers to a person who is out to get everything for himself (cf. NASB, NCV, CEV “selfish”). He is ill-mannered and inhospitable (e.g., Prov 28:22 ). He is up to no good – even though he may appear to be a host.


text: The line is difficult; it appears to mean that the miser is the kind of person who has calculated the cost of everything in his mind as he offers the food. The LXX has: “Eating and drinking with him is as if one should swallow a hair; do not introduce him to your company nor eat bread with him.” The Hebrew verb “to calculate” ( שָׁעַר , sha ’ ar ) with a change of vocalization and of sibilant would yield “hair” ( שֵׂעָר , se ’ ar ) – “like a hair in the throat [ נֶפֶשׁ , nefesh ], so is he.” This would picture an irritating experience. The Instruction of Amenemope uses “blocking the throat” in a similar saying (chapt. 11, 14:7 [ ANET 423]). The suggested change is plausible and is followed by NRSV; but the rare verb “to calculate” in the MT would be easier to defend on the basis of the canons of textual criticism because it is the more difficult reading.


text: The phrase “the cost” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied by the verb; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.


text: Heb “soul.”


text: Or “your compliments” (so NASB, NIV); cf. TEV “your flattery.” sn This is the eighth saying; it claims that it would be a mistake to accept hospitality from a stingy person. He is always thinking about the cost, his heart is not in it, and any attempt at pleasant conversation will be lost.


text: Or “encroach on” (NIV, NRSV); Heb “go into.”


text: The participle גֹּאֵל ( go ’ el ) describes a “kinsman redeemer.” Some English versions explicitly cite “God” (e.g., NCV, CEV) or “the Lord” (e.g. TEV). sn The Hebrew term describes a “kinsman-redeemer.” That individual would be a rich or powerful relative who can protect the family; he does this by paying off the debts of a poor relative, buying up the property of a relative who sells himself into slavery, marrying the widow of a deceased relative to keep the inheritance in the family, or taking vengeance on someone who harms a relative, that vengeance often resulting in delivering (“redeeming”) the relative from bondage. If there was no human “kinsman redeemer,” then the defenseless had to rely on God to perform these actions (e.g., Gen 48:16 ; Exod 6:6 ; Job 19:25 ; –63). In the prophetic literature God is presented as the Redeemer in that he takes vengeance on the enemies (the Babylonians) to deliverer his people (kin). In this proverb the Lord is probably the Protector of these people who will champion their cause and set things right.


text: Heb “bring.” The Hiphil imperative “come; enter” means “to apply the heart,” to use the heart or mind in the process. The same would be true in the second half: “to bring the ears” would mean to listen very carefully. Cf. TEV “Pay attention.”


text: Or “punish” (NIV). The syntax of these two lines suggests a conditional clause (cf. NCV, NRSV).


text: Heb “his soul.” The term נֶפֶשׁ ( nefesh , “soul”) functions as a synecdoche of part (= soul) for the whole (= person); see BDB 660 s.v. 4 .


text: The term שְׁאוֹל ( shÿ ’ ol , “Sheol”) in this context probably means “death” (so NIV, NCV, NLT) and not the realm of the departed (wicked) spirits (cf. NAB “the nether world”). In the wisdom of other lands, Ahiqar 6:82 says, “If I strike you, my son, you will not die.” The idea is that discipline helps the child to a full life; if the child dies prematurely, it would be more than likely a consequence of not being trained by discipline. In the book of Proverbs the “death” mentioned here could be social as well as physical.


text: Heb “my son,” although the context does not limit this exhortation to male children.


text: Heb “my kidneys”; in biblical Hebrew the term was used for the innermost being, the soul, the central location of the passions. Cf. NASB, NIV “my inmost being.”


text: The verb in this line is אַל־יְקַנֵּא (’ al-yÿqanne ’), the Piel jussive negated. The verb means “to be jealous, to be zealous”; it describes passionate intensity for something. In English, if the object is illegitimate, it is called “envy”; if it is correct, it is called “zeal.” Here the warning is not to envy the sinners. The second colon could use the verb in the positive sense to mean “but rather let your passion burn for the fear of the Lord .”


text: Heb “the fear of the Lord .” This expression features an objective genitive: “fearing the Lord .”


text: Heb “end” (so KJV); ASV “a reward.”


text: Heb “my son,” but the immediate context does not limit this to male children.


text: Heb “do not be among,” but in the sense of “associate with” (TEV); “join” (NIV); “consort…with” (NAB).


text: The verb סָבָא ( sava ’) means “to imbibe; to drink largely.” The participial construction here, סֹבְאֵי־יַיִן ( sov ’ e-yayin ), describes “drunkards” (cf. NLT) which is somewhat stronger than saying it refers to “people who drink too much” (cf. NIV, TEV).


text: The verb זָלַל ( zalal ) means “to be light; to be worthless; to make light of.” Making light of something came to mean “to be lavish with; to squander,” especially with regard to food. So it describes “gluttons” primarily; but in the expression there is also room for the person who wastes a lot of food as well.


text: Here “drowsiness” is a metonymy of effect or adjunct, put for the drunkenness and gluttony that causes it. So all of it, the drunkenness and the drowsiness that comes from it, brings on the ruin (cf. CEV “you will end up poor”). Likewise, “rags” is a metonymy of adjunct, associated with the poverty brought on by a dissolute lifestyle.


text: Heb “buy” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NLT); CEV “Invest in truth.” sn The sixteenth saying is an instruction to buy/acquire the kind of life that pleases God and brings joy to parents. “Getting truth” would mean getting training in the truth, and getting wisdom and understanding would mean developing the perception and practical knowledge of the truth.


text: The Qere reading has the imperfect יָגִיל ( yagil ) with the cognate accusative גִּיל ( gil ) which intensifies the meaning and the specific future of this verb.


text: The term “child” is supplied for the masculine singular adjective here.


text: The form תָגֵל ( tagel ) is clearly a short form and therefore a jussive (“may she…rejoice”); if this second verb is a jussive, then the parallel יִשְׂמַח ( yismakh ) should be a jussive also (“may your father and your mother have joy”).


text: Heb “my son”; the reference to a “son” is retained in the translation here because in the following lines the advice is to avoid women who are prostitutes.


text: The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.


text: Heb “foreign woman” (so ASV). The term נָכְרִיָּה ( nokhriyyah , “foreign woman”) often refers to a prostitute (e.g., Prov 2:6; 5:20; 6:24; 7:5 ). While not all foreign women in Israel were prostitutes, their prospects for economic survival were meager and many turned to prostitution to earn a living. Some English versions see this term referring to an adulteress as opposed to a prostitute (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).


text: The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.


text: The noun חֶתֶף ( khetef ) is defined by BDB 369 s.v. as “prey,” but this is the only occurrence of the word. The related verb BDB 368-69 s.v. חָתַף defines as “to seize; to snatch away” (with an Aramaic cognate meaning “to break in pieces” [ Pa ], and an Arabic word “death”). But the only occurrence of that word is in Job 9:12 , where it is defined as “seizes.” So in this passage the noun could have either a passive sense (what is seized = prey), or an active sense (the one who seizes = a robber, bandit). The traditional rendering is “prey” (KJV); most modern English versions have the active sense (“robber” or similar; cf. NIV “like a bandit”). Since the prepositional phrase (the simile) is modifying the woman, the active sense works better in the translation.


text: The participle means “unfaithful [men]” (masculine plural); it could also be interpreted as “unfaithfulness” in the abstract sense. M. Dahood interprets it to mean “garments” (which would have to be repointed), saying that she collects garments in pledge for her service (M. Dahood, “To Pawn One’s Cloak,” Bib 42 [1961]: 359-66). But that is far-fetched; it might have happened on occasion, but as a common custom it is unlikely. Besides that, the text in the MT makes perfectly good sense without such a change. sn Such a woman makes more people prove unfaithful to the law of God through her practice.


text: Heb “its eye gives.” With CEV’s “bubbling up in the glass” one might think champagne was in view.


text: The expression is difficult, and is suspected of having been added from Song 7:10 , although the parallel is not exact. The verb is the Hitpael imperfect of הָלַךְ ( halakh ); and the prepositional phrase uses the word “upright; equity; pleasing,” from יָשָׁר ( yashar ). KJV has “when it moveth itself aright”; much more helpful is ASV: “when it goeth down smoothly.” Most recent English versions are similar to ASV. The phrase obviously refers to the pleasing nature of wine.


text: Heb “its end”; NASB “At the last”; TEV (interpretively) “The next morning.”


text: The feminine plural of זָר ( zar , “strange things”) refers to the trouble one has in seeing and speaking when drunk.


text: Heb “heart.” The idiom here means “middle”; KJV “in the midst.”


text: The phrase “You will say” is supplied in the translation to make it clear that the drunkard is now speaking.


text: The last line has only “I will add I will seek it again.” The use of אוֹסִיף (’ osif ) signals a verbal hendiadys with the next verb: “I will again seek it.” In this context the suffix on the verb refers to the wine – the drunkard wants to go and get another drink.