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Proverbs 15:3
New International Version
Proverbs 15:3
New International Version
Proverbs 15:3
New English Translation
Proverbs 15:3
New English Translation
3 The eyes of the Lord[a] are in every place,
keeping watch on[b] those who are evil and those who are good.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 15:3 sn The proverb uses anthropomorphic language to describe God’s exacting and evaluating knowledge of all people.
- Proverbs 15:3 tn The form צֹפוֹת (tsofot, “watching”) is a feminine plural participle agreeing with “eyes.” God’s watching eyes comfort good people but convict evil.
Proverbs 17:13
New International Version
Proverbs 17:13
New International Version
Proverbs 17:13
New English Translation
Proverbs 17:13
New English Translation
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Footnotes
- Proverbs 17:13 tn The sentence begins with the participle מֵשִׁיב (meshiv, “the one who repays”). The whole first colon may be taken as an independent nominative absolute, with the formal sentence to follow. Some English versions have made the first colon a condition by supplying “if” (NAB, NIV, TEV, NLT).
- Proverbs 17:13 tn The verb מוּשׁ (mush) means “to depart; to remove.” The Kethib is a Hiphil, which would yield a meaning of “to take away”; so the Qere, which is the Qal, makes more sense in the line.
- Proverbs 17:13 sn The proverb does not explain whether God will turn evil back on him directly or whether people will begin to treat him as he treated others.
Proverbs 17:26
New International Version
Proverbs 17:26
New International Version
26 If imposing a fine on the innocent is not good,(A)
surely to flog honest officials is not right.
Proverbs 17:26
New English Translation
Proverbs 17:26
New English Translation
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Footnotes
- Proverbs 17:26 tn Heb “not good.” This is an example of tapeinosis—an understatement that implies the worst-case scenario: “it is terrible.”
- Proverbs 17:26 tn The verb עָנַשׁ (ʿanash), here a Qal infinitive construct, properly means “to fine” (cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT) but is taken here to mean “to punish” in general. The infinitive functions as the subject of the clause.
- Proverbs 17:26 tn The form is the Hiphil infinitive construct from נָכָה (nakhah, “to strike; to smite”). It may well refer to public beatings, so “flog” is used in the translation, since “strike” could refer to an individual’s action and “beat” could be taken to refer to competition.
- Proverbs 17:26 tn Heb “[is] against uprightness.” The expression may be rendered “contrary to what is right.”sn The two lines could be synonymous parallelism, but the second part is being used to show how wrong the first act would be—punishing the righteous makes about as much sense as beating an official of the court for doing what is just.
Proverbs 20:8
New International Version
Proverbs 20:8
New International Version
Proverbs 20:8
New English Translation
Proverbs 20:8
New English Translation
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Footnotes
- Proverbs 20:8 tn The infinitive construct דִּין (din, “to judge”) indicates purpose (so NIV, NCV), even though it does not have a preposition with it.
- Proverbs 20:8 tn The second line uses the image of winnowing (cf. NIV, NRSV) to state that the king’s judgment removes evil from the realm. The verb form is מְזָרֶה (mezareh), the Piel participle. It has been translated “to sift; to winnow; to scatter” and “to separate”—i.e., separate out evil from the land. The text is saying that a just government roots out evil (cf. NAB “dispels all evil”), but few governments have been consistently just.
- Proverbs 20:8 sn The phrase with his eyes indicates that the king will closely examine or look into all the cases that come before him.
Proverbs 28:10
New International Version
Proverbs 28:10
New International Version
10 Whoever leads the upright along an evil path
will fall into their own trap,(A)
but the blameless will receive a good inheritance.
Proverbs 28:10
New English Translation
Proverbs 28:10
New English Translation
10 The one who leads the upright astray in an evil way
will himself fall into his own pit,[a]
but the blameless will inherit what is good.[b]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 28:10 sn The image of falling into a pit (a figure of speech known as hypocatastasis, involving implied comparison) is meant to say that the evil to which he guides people will ultimately destroy him.
- Proverbs 28:10 sn This proverb is teaching that those who corrupt others will be destroyed, usually by their own devices, but those who manage to avoid being corrupted will be rewarded. According to this proverb the righteous can be led astray (e.g., 26:27).
Proverbs 28:21
New International Version
Proverbs 28:21
New International Version
Proverbs 28:21
New English Translation
Proverbs 28:21
New English Translation
21 To show partiality[a] is terrible,[b]
for a person will transgress over the smallest piece of bread.[c]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 28:21 tn The construction uses the Hiphil infinitive הַכֵּר (hakken) as the subject of the sentence: “to have respect for [or, recognize] persons is not good” (e.g., 24:23; 18:5; Deut 1:17; Lev 19:15). Such favoritism is “not good”; instead, it is a miscarriage of justice and is to be avoided.
- Proverbs 28:21 tn Heb “not good.” This is a figure of speech known as tapeinosis—a deliberate understatement to emphasize a worst-case scenario: “it is terrible!”
- Proverbs 28:21 tn The meaning and connection of the line is not readily clear. It could be taken in one of two ways: (1) a person can steal even a small piece of bread if hungry, and so the court should show some compassion, or it should show no partiality even in such a pathetic case; (2) a person could be bribed for a very small price (a small piece of bread being the figure representing this). This second view harmonizes best with the law.
Proverbs 31:10-12
New International Version
Proverbs 31:10-12
New International Version
Epilogue: The Wife of Noble Character
Footnotes
- Proverbs 31:10 Verses 10-31 are an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
Proverbs 31:10-12
New English Translation
Proverbs 31:10-12
New English Translation
The Wife of Noble Character[a]
10 Who can find[b] a wife[c] of noble character?[d]
For her value[e] is far more than rubies.[f]
11 Her husband’s heart has trusted[g] her,
and he does not lack the dividends.[h]
12 She has rewarded him[i] with good and not harm[j]
all the days of her life.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 31:10 sn The book of Proverbs comes to a close with this poem about the noble wife. A careful reading of the poem will show that it is extolling godly wisdom that is beneficial to the family and the society. Traditionally it has been interpreted as a paradigm for godly women. And while that is valid in part, there is much more here. The poem captures all the themes of wisdom that have been presented in the book and arranges them in this portrait of the ideal woman (Claudia V. Camp, Wisdom and the Feminine in the Book of Proverbs, 92-93). Any careful reading of the passage would have to conclude that if it were merely a paradigm for women what it portrays may well be out of reach—she is a wealthy aristocrat who runs an estate with servants and conducts business affairs of real estate, vineyards, and merchandising, and also takes care of domestic matters and is involved with charity. Moreover, it says nothing about the woman’s personal relationship with her husband, her intellectual and emotional strengths, or her religious activities (E. Jacob, “Sagesse et Alphabet: Pr. 31:10-31,” Hommages à A. Dont-Sommer, 287-95). In general, it appears that the “woman” of Proverbs 31 is a symbol of all that wisdom represents. The poem, then, plays an important part in the personification of wisdom so common in the ancient Near East. But rather than deify Wisdom as the other ANE cultures did, Proverbs simply describes wisdom as a woman. Several features will stand out in the study of this passage. First, it is an alphabetic arrangement of the virtues of wisdom (an acrostic poem). Such an acrostic was a way of organizing the thoughts and making them more memorable (M. H. Lichtenstein, “Chiasm and Symmetry in Proverbs 31,” CBQ 44 [1982]: 202-11). Second, the passage is similar to hymns, but this one extols wisdom. A comparison with Psalm 111 will illustrate the similarities. Third, the passage has similarities with heroic literature. The vocabulary and the expressions often sound more like an ode to a champion than to a domestic scene. Putting these features together, one would conclude that Proverbs 31:10-31 is a hymn to Lady Wisdom, written in the heroic mode. Using this arrangement allows the sage to make all the lessons of wisdom in the book concrete and practical, it provides a polemic against the culture that saw women as merely decorative, and it depicts the greater heroism as moral and domestic rather than only exploits on the battlefield. The poem certainly presents a pattern for women to follow. But it also presents a pattern for men to follow as well, for this is the message of the book of Proverbs in summary.
- Proverbs 31:10 sn The poem begins with a rhetorical question (a figure of speech known as erotesis). This is intended to establish the point that such a noble wife is rare. As with wisdom in the book of Proverbs, she has to be found.
- Proverbs 31:10 tn The first word in the Hebrew text (אֵשֶׁת, ʾeshet) begins with א (ʾalef), the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet. The word אֵשֶׁת, (ʾeshet) can refer to a wife or to a woman. Ruth is called an אֵשֶׁת חַיִל (ʾeshet khayil) “worthy woman” while still a widow. While the term need not refer to a wife, that was certainly the most common status of the adult woman in ancient Israel and the following description portrays a woman who is both wife and mother.
- Proverbs 31:10 tn Heb “a woman of valor.” This is the same expression used to describe Ruth (e.g., Ruth 3:11). The term חַיִל (khayil) here means “moral worth” (BDB 298 s.v.); cf. KJV “a virtuous woman.” Elsewhere the term is used of physical valor in battle, e.g., “mighty man of valor,” the land-owning aristocrat who could champion the needs of his people in times of peace or war (e.g., Judg 6:12). Here the title indicates that the woman possesses all the virtues, honor, and strength to do the things that the poem will set forth.
- Proverbs 31:10 sn This line expresses that her value (Heb “her price”), like wisdom, is worth more than rubies (e.g., 3:15; 8:11).
- Proverbs 31:10 tn Heb “gems.” It is not known which particular gem the term refers to or whether it means gems in a generic sense.
- Proverbs 31:11 tn The first word of the second line begins with ב (bet), the second letter in the Hebrew alphabet.tn The verb בָּטַח (batakh) means “to trust; to have confidence in.” With the subject of the verb being “the heart of her husband,” the idea is strengthened—he truly trusts her. Cf. NCV “trusts her completely”; NIV “has full confidence in her.” The verb בָּטַח (batakh) may be stative or dynamic (the evidence is inconclusive). The perfect form of a stative verb could be past tense or present tense, while a dynamic verb would be past or perfective. Given the context of past time verbs throughout the description, it is best to understand this verb as perfective, “has trusted.”
- Proverbs 31:11 sn The Hebrew word used here for “dividends” (שָׁלָל, shalal) usually refers to “plunder, spoil,” primarily from war (e.g., Isa 8:1-4 and the name Maher Shalal Hash Baz). Here it refers to gain in a more broad sense, but a gain that has come through the work of another. Having unleashed her capabilities through his trust, her work has enriched the husband and family.
- Proverbs 31:12 tn The first word of the third line begins with ג (gimel), the third letter of the Hebrew alphabet. tn As the perfect form of a dynamic root, the verb (גְּמָלַתְהוּ, gemalatehu) should be understood as past or perfective. It represents prototypical behavior whose effects continue. The verb means to “repay; reward.” This is how she has rewarded her husband’s trust.tn The passage begins a description of the woman given in the past tense, predominantly with perfect verbs (past tense or perfective for dynamic roots) and preterite verbs (past tense). The few participles and imperfect verbs (here past habitual) derive their time frame from context and are also past time. Most translations have rendered all the descriptions of the woman in the present tense, perhaps out of the habit of changing the Hebrew past tense verbs to present tense in English in the short proverbial sayings. (Most English proverbs are in the present tense, some in the future, the fewest in the past, e.g. “curiosity killed the cat.”) The Hebrew verb forms were considered to have a present tense in proverbial sayings, but proverbial sayings do not need to be in the present tense and the understanding of the Hebrew forms has been corrected (M. Rogland, Alleged Non-Past Uses of Qatal in Classical Hebrew [Assen, Netherlands: Van Gorcum, 2003]; J. Cook, “Genericity, Tense, and Verbal Patterns in the Sentence Literature of Proverbs” in Seeking Out the Wisdom of the Ancients, ed. Ronald Troxel [Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2005]; B. Webster “The Perfect Verb and the Perfect Woman in Proverbs” in Windows to the Ancient World of the Hebrew Bible, ed. B. Arnold, N. Erickson, J. Walton [Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2014]).
- Proverbs 31:12 sn The Bible frequently joins these two words, “good” and “evil,” (or “benefit” and “harm”). They contrast the prosperity and well-being of her contribution with what would be devastating and painful. The way of wisdom is always characterized by “good”; the way of folly is associated with “evil.”
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