Footnotes

1. Proverbs 15:19 tn Heb “like an overgrowth”; NRSV “overgrown with thorns”; cf. CEV “like walking in a thorn patch.” The point of the simile is that the path of life taken by the lazy person has many obstacles that are painful—it is like trying to break through a hedge of thorns. The LXX has “strewn with thorns.”
2. Proverbs 15:19 tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.
3. Proverbs 15:19 sn The contrast to the “thorny way” is the highway, the Hebrew word signifying a well built-up road (סָלַל, salal, “to heap up”). The upright have no reason to swerve, duck, or detour, but may expect “clear sailing.” Prov 28:19 pairs similar concepts while Prov 6:10 and 10:26 speak of the hardships associated with laziness.