translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: PRO

label: NET translator note

text: Heb “evil men,” although the context indicates a generic sense.


text: The Hitpael jussive is from the verb that means “to crave; to desire.” This is more of a coveting, an intense desire.


text: The preposition בְּ ( bet , “by; through”) in these two lines indicates means.


text: The expression בַּעוֹז ( ba ’ oz ) employs a beth essentiae , meaning he “ is strong,” not “in strength.”


label: NET textual note

text: The MT reads רָאמוֹת ( ra ’ mot , “corals”) – wisdom to the fool is corals, i.e., an unattainable treasure. With a slight change in the text, removing the א ( alef ), the reading is רָמוֹת ( ramot , “high”), i.e., wisdom is too high – unattainable – for a fool. The internal evidence favors the emendation, which is followed by most English versions including KJV.


text: Heb “[city] gate,” a metonymy of subject, meaning what goes on in the gate – court cases and business transactions. So it is in these assemblies that the fool keeps quiet. The term “court” has been used in the translation for clarity. Some English versions do not emphasize the forensic connotation here: NCV “in a discussion”; NLT “When the leaders gather.”


text: Heb “possessor of schemes”; NAB “an intriguer.” The picture of the wicked person is graphic: He devises plans to do evil and is known as a schemer. Elsewhere the “schemes” are outrageous and lewd (e.g., Lev 18:7 ; Judg 20:6 ). Here the description portrays him as a cold, calculating, active person: “the fool is capable of intense mental activity but it adds up to sin” (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 399).


text: Heb “the scheme of folly” (NIV similar). The genitive functions as an attributive genitive, meaning “foolish scheme.” But it could also be interpreted as a genitive of source, the scheme that comes from folly (or from the fool if “folly” were metonymical).


text: Heb “to a man”; cf. CEV “Everyone hates senseless fools.” sn This describes evil people who flout all morality and goodness; sooner or later the public will have had enough of them.


text: Heb “show yourself slack” (NASB similar). The verb רָפָה ( rafah ) means “to sink; to relax.” In the causative stems it means “to let slacken; to let go; to refrain; to fail; to do nothing.” In the Hitpael stem BDB 952 s.v. defines it as “to show yourself slack.” It has also been rendered as “give up” (NCV, CEV); “fail” (NLT); “falter” (NIV). The colon implies a condition, for which the second part of the verse is the apodosis.


text: The verse employs a paronomasia to underscore the point: “trouble” is צָרָה ( tsarah ), literally “a bind; a strait [or, narrow] place”; “small” is צַר ( tsar ), with the same idea of “narrow” or “close.”


text: The idea of “slipping” (participle from מוֹט , mot ) has troubled some commentators. G. R. Driver emends it to read “at the point of” (“Problems in Proverbs,” ZAW 50 [1932]: 146). But the MT as it stands makes good sense. The reference would be general, viz., to help any who are in mortal danger or who might be tottering on the edge of such disaster – whether through sin, or through disease, war, or danger. Several English versions (e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV) render this term as “staggering.” sn God holds people responsible for rescuing those who are in mortal danger. The use of “death” and “slaughter” seems rather strong in the passage, but they have been used before in the book for the destruction that comes through evil.


text: Heb “weighs” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV) meaning “tests” or “evaluates.”


text: D. W. Thomas argues for a meaning of “seek” in place of “know” (“Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” JTS 38 [1937]: 400-403).


text: The phrase “is sweet” is supplied in the translation as a clarification.


text: The term “it” is supplied in the translation.


text: Heb “there will be an end.” The word is אַחֲרִית (’ akhrit , “after-part, end”). BDB 31 s.v. b says in a passage like this it means “a future,” i.e., a happy close of life, sometimes suggesting the idea of posterity promised to the righteous, often parallel to “hope.”


text: The word “wicked” could be taken as a vocative (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, “O wicked man ”); but since the next line refers to the wicked this is unlikely. It serves better as an adverbial accusative (“like the wicked”).


text: The clause beginning with כִּי ( ki ) could be interpreted as causal or conditional; but in view of the significance of the next clause it seems better to take it as a concessive clause (“although”). Its verb then receives a modal nuance of possibility. The apodosis is then “and he rises up,” which could be a participle or a perfect tense; although he may fall, he gets up (or, will get up). sn The righteous may suffer adversity or misfortune any number of times – seven times here – but they will “rise” for virtue triumphs over evil in the end (R. N. Whybray, Proverbs [CBC], 140).


text: The verb could be translated with an English present tense (“are brought down,” so NIV) to express what happens to the wicked in this life; but since the saying warns against being like the wicked, their destruction is more likely directed to the future.


text: Heb “and [it is] evil in his eyes.”


text: Heb “there is no end [i.e., future] for the evil.”


text: Heb “my son,” but there is no indication in the immediate context that this should be limited only to male children.


text: Heb “do not get mixed up with”; cf. TEV “Have nothing to do with”; NIV “do not join with.” The verb עָרַב (’ arav ) is used elsewhere meaning “to exchange; to take on pledge.” In the Hitpael stem it means “to have fellowship; to share; to associate with.” Some English versions (e.g., KJV) interpret as “to meddle” in this context, because “to have fellowship” is certainly not what is meant.


text: The form rendered “rebellious” is difficult; it appears to be the Qal active participle, plural, from שָׁנָה ( shanah ), “to change” – “those who change.” The RV might have thought of the idea of “change” when they rendered it “political agitators.” The Syriac and Tg . Prov 24:21 have “fools,” the Latin has “detractors,” and the LXX reads, “do not disobey either of them,” referring to God and the king in the first line. Accordingly the ruin predicted in the next line would be the ruin that God and the king can inflict. If the idea of “changers” is retained, it would have to mean people who at one time feared God and the king but no longer do.


text: Heb “will rise” (so NASB).


text: Heb “the ruin of the two of them.” Judgment is sent on the rebels both by God and the king. The term פִּיד ( pid , “ruin; disaster”) is a metonymy of effect, the cause being the sentence of judgment (= “ruinous judgment” in the translation; cf. NLT “punishment”). The word “two of them” is a subjective genitive – they two bring the disaster on the rebels. The referents (the Lord and the king) have been specified in the translation for clarity. sn The reward for living in peace under God in this world is that those who do will escape the calamities that will fall on the rebellious. Verse 21 a is used in 1 Peter 2:17 , and v. 22 is used in Romans 13:1-7 (v. 4 ). This is the thirtieth and last of this collection.


text: Heb “to recognize faces”; KJV, ASV “to have respect of persons”; NLT “to show favoritism.”


text: Heb “not good.” This is a figure known as tapeinosis – a deliberate understatement to emphasize a worst-case scenario: “it is terrible!”


text: The word means “wicked; guilty” or “criminal”; the contrast could be “wicked – righteous” (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB) or “innocent – guilty” (cf. NIV, TEV, CEV). Since this line follows the statement about showing partiality in judgment, it involves a forensic setting. Thus the statement describes one who calls a guilty person innocent or acquitted.


text: Or “righteous”; the same Hebrew word may be translated either “innocent” or “righteous” depending on the context.


text: The verb means “to be indignant.” It can be used within the range of “have indignation,” meaning “loathe” or “abhor,” or express indignation, meaning “denounce” or “curse.” In this passage, in collocation with the previous term “curse,” the latter is intended (cf. NAB, NIV, NLT).


text: The verb means “to be pleasant; to be delightful.” The imperfect tense promises that there “will be delight” to those who rebuke the wicked.


text: The verb יָכַח ( yakhakh ) means “to decide; to adjudge; to prove.” This word occurs frequently in the book of Proverbs meaning “to reprove” or “to rebuke.” It deals with disputes, legal or otherwise. It can refer to a charge against someone or starting a dispute (and so rebuke); it can mean quarrel, argue; and it can mean settle a dispute. In this context the first or last use would work: (1) reproving the wicked for what they do (cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV), or (2) convicting them in a legal setting (cf. NAB, NIV, NLT). In light of the previous forensic context the second sense is preferred here.


text: “The guilty” is supplied in the translation for clarity based on the preceding context. See the previous note on the word “convict”: If a non-forensic context is preferred for vv. 23-25 , “wicked” would be supplied here.


text: The expression is בִרְכַּת־טוֹב ( birkat-tov , “blessing of good”); the genitive “good” has to be an attributive genitive modifying “blessings.” The word is general enough to mean any number of things – rich, healthy, pleasing, etc. The parallelism here narrows the choice. Some English versions interpret the “blessing” here as prosperity (cf. NAB, TEV, CEV).


text: Heb “the one who returns right words kisses the lips.” This is an implied comparison for giving an honest answer. Honesty is like a kiss. The kiss would signify love, devotion, sincerity, and commitment (in that culture) – an outward expression of what is in the heart. It is an apt illustration of telling the truth. Some English versions now replace the figure to avoid cultural misunderstanding (cf. TEV, CEV “a sign of true friendship”; NLT “an honor”).


text: The perfect tense with vav following the imperatives takes on the force of an imperative here.


text: Heb “lips.” The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause; it means “what is said.” Here it refers to what is said in court as a false witness.


text: Heb “repay to the man.” The verb is שׁוּב ( shuv ), which in the Hiphil stem means “to restore; to repay; to return” (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT “I’ll get even”). The idea is that of repaying someone for what he did.


text: Heb “lacks heart”; KJV “understanding”; NAB, NASB, NLT “sense.”


text: The Hebrew term וְהִנֵּה ( vÿhinneh , traditionally “and, lo” [KJV, ASV]) is a deictic particle that calls attention to what comes next. “And look” is too abrupt here; “I saw” calls attention to the field that was noticed.


text: Heb “its face” (so KJV, ASV).


text: Heb “I looked, I received instruction.” There are four verbs in the two parts of this verse: “I saw…I set…I saw…I received.” It is clear that the first two verbs in each half verse are the foundation for the next two. At the beginning of the verse the form is the preterite with the vav ( ו ) consecutive; it can be subordinated as a temporal clause to the next verb, probably to be identified as a preterite with the vav – “when I saw, I put.” The next two verbs are both perfect tenses; their construction would parallel the first half of the verse, even though there are no conjunctions here – “[when] I saw, I received.” sn The teacher makes several observations of the state of the sluggard that reveal that his continued laziness will result in poverty. The reminiscence used here may be a literary device to draw a fictional but characteristically true picture of the lazy person.


text: Heb “a man of shield.” This could refer to an armed warrior (so NRSV) but in this context, in collocation with the other word for “robber” in the previous line, it must refer to an armed criminal.