Proverbs 14:25-27

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Proverbs 14:25 tn Heb “a witness of truth”; cf. CEV “an honest witness.”
2. Proverbs 14:25 tn The noun נְפָשׁוֹת (n^efashot) often means “souls,” but here “lives”—it functions as a metonymy for life (BDB 659 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 3.c).sn The setting of this proverb is the courtroom. One who tells the truth “saves” (מַצִּיל [matsil, “rescues; delivers”]) the lives of those falsely accused.
3. Proverbs 14:25 tc In the MT the verb lacks agreement with the two nouns in either gender or number so that there is no clear subject: “but he breathes lies, deceit.” Revocalizing the consonants from וְיָפִחַ (v^eyafiakh, “and he breathes/testifies”) to וִיפֵחַ (vifeakh, “and a witness [of lies]”) and from מִרְמָה (mirmah, “deceit”) to the Piel participle מְרַמֶּה (m^erammeh, “betrays, deceives, leads astray”) produces a grammatically acceptable text. One may also supply by parallelism “…betrays lives.”
4. Proverbs 14:26 tn Heb “In the fear of the Lord [there is] confidence of strength.” The verb “one has” is supplied in the translation for the Hebrew nominal clause for the sake of smoothness.
5. Proverbs 14:26 tn Heb “confidence of strength.” This construct phrase features an attributive genitive: “strong confidence” (so most English versions; NIV “a secure fortress”).
6. Proverbs 14:26 sn The fear of the Lord will not only provide security for the parent but will also be a refuge for children. The line recalls Exod 20:5-6 where children will reap the benefits of the righteous parents. The line could also be read as “he [= God] will be a refuge for the children.”
7. Proverbs 14:27 sn The verse is similar to Prov 13:14 except that “the fear of the Lord” has replaced “the teaching of the wise.”
8. Proverbs 14:27 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.
9. Proverbs 14:27 tn Heb “fountain of life.”
10. Proverbs 14:27 tn The infinitive construct with prefixed ל (lamed) indicates the purpose/result of the first line; it could also function epexegetically, explaining how fear is a fountain: “by turning….”
11. Proverbs 14:27 tn The term “people” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.
12. Proverbs 14:27 tn Heb “snares of death” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); CEV “deadly traps.”