Proverbs 17:15
New English Translation
15 The one who acquits the guilty and the one who condemns the innocent[a]—
both of them are an abomination to the Lord.[b]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 17:15 tn Heb “he who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous” (so NASB). The first colon uses two Hiphil participles, מַצְדִּיק (matsdiq) and מַרְשִׁיעַ (marshiaʿ). The first means “to declare righteous” (a declarative Hiphil), and the second means “to make wicked [or, guilty]” or “to condemn” (i.e., “to declare guilty”). To declare someone righteous who is a guilty criminal, or to condemn someone who is innocent, are both abominations for the Righteous Judge of the whole earth.
- Proverbs 17:15 tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.”
Proverbs 17:15
Lexham English Bible
15 He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous,
the two of them are both abominations of Yahweh.
Proverbs 17:15
New International Version
Proverbs 18:5
New English Translation
5 It is terrible[a] to show partiality[b] to the wicked,[c]
by depriving[d] a righteous man of justice.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 18:5 tn Heb “not good.” This is a figure known as tapeinosis, a deliberate understatement to emphasize a worst-case scenario: “it is terrible!”
- Proverbs 18:5 tn The idiom “lifting up the face of” (שְׂאֵת פְּנֵי, seʾet pene) means “to show partiality” in decisions (e.g., Deut 10:17; Mal 2:9); cf. CEV, NLT “to favor.” The verbal form is the Qal infinitive construct from נָשָׂא (nasaʾ), which functions as the subject of the clause.
- Proverbs 18:5 tn Or “the guilty,” since in the second colon “righteous” can also be understood in contrast as “innocent” (cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT).
- Proverbs 18:5 tn Heb “to turn aside” (so ASV); NASB “to thrust aside.” The second half of the verse may illustrate this reprehensible action. The Hiphil infinitive construct לְהַטּוֹת (lehattot) may serve either (1) as result, “showing partiality…so that the righteous are turned away,” or (2) as epexegetical infinitive, “showing partiality…by turning the righteous away.” The second is preferred in the translation. Depriving the innocent of their rights is a perversion of justice.
Proverbs 18:5
Lexham English Bible
5 Being partial to faces of evil is not good,
nor to subvert the righteous at the judgment.
Proverbs 18:5
New International Version
Proverbs 21:8
New English Translation
Footnotes
- Proverbs 21:8 tn The first line of the proverb is difficult. Since וָזָר (vazar) occurs only here it has been given much attention. The translation of “guilty” is drawn from an Arabic cognate meaning “to bear a burden” and so “to be sin laden” or “guilty” (cf. NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT). G. R. Driver prefers to read the line as “a man crooked of ways is false [zar]” (“Problems in the Hebrew Text of Proverbs,” Bib 32 [1951]: 185). C. H. Toy adopts the meaning of “proud” (Proverbs [ICC], 400). Whatever the reading, “guilty” or “proud” or “false,” the idea is that such people are devious. Bad people are underhanded; good people are aboveboard (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 400). Another way to analyze the line is to read it with the definition “strange, stranger”: “The way of a man and a stranger is perverse.” But this is unclear, and would form no satisfactory contrast to 8b. Another suggestion is “the way of (usual) man is changeable and strange, but the pure fellow leads a straight and even course” (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 244); cf. NLT “the innocent travel a straight road.”
- Proverbs 21:8 tn The form הֲפַכְפַךְ (hafakhpakh) is an adjective with an intensified meaning due to the duplication of the second and third radicals; it means “very devious; crooked” (from the verb “to overturn”).
- Proverbs 21:8 tn If this translation stands, then the construction is formed with an independent nominative absolute, resumed by the suffixed noun as the formal subject. It draws attention to the “pure” or “innocent” person in contrast to the previously mentioned wicked.
Proverbs 21:8
Lexham English Bible
8 Crooked is the way of a man and a foreigner,
but the pure is upright in his conduct.
Proverbs 21:8
New International Version
8 The way of the guilty is devious,(A)
but the conduct of the innocent is upright.
Proverbs 24:23-25
New English Translation
Further Sayings of the Wise
23 These sayings also are from the wise:
To show partiality[a] in judgment is terrible:[b]
24 The one who says to the guilty,[c] “You are innocent,”[d]
peoples will curse him, and nations will denounce[e] him.
25 But there will be delight[f] for those who convict[g] the guilty,[h]
and a pleasing blessing[i] will come on them.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 24:23 tn Heb “to recognize faces”; KJV, ASV “to have respect of persons”; NLT “to show favoritism.”
- Proverbs 24:23 tn Heb “not good.” This is a figure known as tapeinosis—a deliberate understatement to emphasize a worst-case scenario: “it is terrible!”
- Proverbs 24:24 tn 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.
- Proverbs 24:24 tn Or “righteous”; the same Hebrew word may be translated either “innocent” or “righteous” depending on the context.
- Proverbs 24:24 tn 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).
- Proverbs 24:25 tn The verb means “to be pleasant; to be delightful.” The imperfect tense promises that there “will be delight” to those who rebuke the wicked.
- Proverbs 24:25 tn 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.
- Proverbs 24:25 tn “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.
- Proverbs 24:25 tn 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).
Proverbs 24:23-25
Lexham English Bible
23 These sayings are also for the wise:
Partiality[a] in judgment is not good.
24 Whoever says to the guilty, “You are righteous,” the people will curse him;
the nations will abhor him.
25 But they who rebuke will have delight,
and upon them blessings of goodness will come.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 24:23 Literally “acknowledge faces”
Proverbs 24:23-25
New International Version
Further Sayings of the Wise
23 These also are sayings of the wise:(A)
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